km
water: 130 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Mississippi

Land boundaries:
total: 1,673 km
border countries: China 1,416 km, South Korea 238 km, Russia 19 km

Coastline:
2,495 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
note: military boundary line 50 nm in the Sea of Japan and the
exclusive economic zone limit in the Yellow Sea where all foreign
vessels and aircraft without permission are banned

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

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m
highest point: Paektu-san 2,744 m

Natural resources:
coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite, iron ore, copper,
gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar, hydropower

Land use:
arable land: 20.76%
permanent crops: 2.49%
other: 76.75% (2001)

Irrigated land:
14,600 sq km (1998 est.)

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

Environment - current issues:
water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water; waterborne
disease; deforestation; soil erosion and degradation

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Environmental Modification, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Geography - note:
strategic location bordering China, South Korea, and Russia;
mountainous interior is isolated and sparsely populated

People Korea, North

Population:
22,912,177 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 24.2% (male 2,816,844/female 2,735,478)
15-64 years: 67.9% (male 7,668,581/female 7,883,267)
65 years and over: 7.9% (male 625,819/female 1,182,188) (2005 est.)

Median age:
total: 31.74 years
male: 30.47 years
female: 33 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate:
0.9% (2005 est.)

Birth rate:
16.09 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate:
7.05 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.53 male(s)/female
total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2005 est