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About North Korea

The people

Population: 22,224,195 (July 2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.1% (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 22.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: Total population: 71.3 years; female: 74.44 years; male: 68.31 years

Ethnic groups: Racially homogeneous; there is a small Chinese community and a few ethnic Japanese

Religions: Traditionally Buddhist and Confucianist, some Christian and syncretic Chondogyo (Religion of the Heavenly Way). Autonomous religious activities now almost nonexistent.

Language: Korean

Literacy: Literacy: 99% of those age 15 and over can read and write

The country

Location: Eastern Asia, northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan, between China and South Korea

Area: 120,540 sq km, slightly smaller than Mississippi

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

Natural hazards: Late spring droughts often followed by severe flooding; occasional typhoons during the early fall

The government

Country name: Conventional long form: Democratic People's Republic of Korea; conventional short form: North Korea; local long form: Choson-minjujuui-inmin-konghwaguk; note: the North Koreans generally use the term "Choson" to refer to their country

Government type: Authoritarian socialist; one-man dictatorship