NORTH KOREA
Area:
total: 120,540 sq km
land: 120,410 sq km
water: 130 sq km
Area—comparative: slightly smaller than Mississippi
Coastline: 2,495 km
Climate: temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer
Terrain: mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys; coastal plains wide in west, discontinuous in east
Natural resources: coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite, iron ore, copper, gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar, hydropower
Environment—current issues: localized air pollution attributable to inadequate industrial controls; water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water
Age structure:
0-14 years: 26% (male 2,800,857; female 2,669,250)
15-64 years: 68% (male 7,089,039; female 7,406,901)
65 years and over: 6% (male 387,011; female 881,329) (July 1998
est.)
Population growth rate: -0.03% (1998 est.)
Birth rate: 15.3 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Death rate: 15.57 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 87.83 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 51.32 years
male: 48.88 years
female: 53.88 years (1998 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.6 children born/woman (1998 est.)
Ethnic groups: racially homogeneous; there is a small Chinese community and a few ethnic Japanese
Religions: Buddhism and Confucianism, some Christianity and syncretic
Chondogyo
note: autonomous religious activities now almost nonexistent;
government-sponsored religious groups exist to provide illusion of religious
freedom
Languages: Korean
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write Korean
total population: 99%
male: 99%
female: 99% (1990 est.)
Independence: 9 September 1948 Democratic People's Republic of
Korea (DPRK) Foundation Day
note: 15 August 1945, date of independence from the Japanese
and celebrated in North Korea as National Liberation Day
National holiday: Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Foundation Day, 9 September (1948)
Constitution: adopted 1948, completely revised 27 December 1972, revised again in April 1992
Suffrage: 17 years of age; universal
Political parties and leaders: major party—Korean Workers' Party (KWP), KIM Chong-il, General Secretary; Korean Social Democratic Party, KIM Pyong-sik, chairman; Chondoist Chongu Party, YU Mi-yong, chairwoman
GDP—real growth rate: -3.7% (1997 est.)
GDP—composition by sector:
agriculture: 25%
industry: 60%
services: 15% (1995 est.)
Agriculture—products: rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pulses; cattle, pigs, pork, eggs
Exports:
total value: $912 million (f.o.b., 1996 est.)
commodities: minerals, metallurgical products, agricultural
and fishery products, manufactures (including armaments)
partners: China, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Hong Kong, Russia
Imports:
total value: $1.95 billion (c.i.f., 1996 est.)
commodities: petroleum, grain, coking coal, machinery and equipment,
consumer goods
partners: China, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, Russia, Singapore
Debt—external: $12 billion (1996 est.)
Currency: 1 North Korean won (Wn) = 100 chon
Military manpower—fit for military service:
males: 3,449,880 (1998 est.)
Military expenditures—dollar figure: $5 billion to $7 billion (1995 est.)
Military expenditures—percent of GDP: 25% (1995 est.)