Airports [time series]

50 total, 50 usable; about 30 with permanent-surface runways; fewer than 5 with runways over 3,659 m; 20 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 30 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

about 20,280 km (1980); 98.5% gravel, crushed stone, or earth surface; 1.5% concrete or bituminous

Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]

2,253 km; mostly navigable by small craft only

Merchant marine [time series]

65 ships (1,000 GRT and over) totaling 437,103 GRT/663,835 DWT; includes 1 passenger, 1 short-sea passenger, 1 passenger-cargo, 56 cargo, 2 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 3 bulk, 1 combination bulk

Pipelines [time series]

crude oil, 37 km

Ports [time series]

Ch'ongjin, Haeju, Hungnam, Namp'o, Wonsan, Songnim, Najin

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

4,535 km total operating in 1980; 3,870 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 665 km 0.762-meter narrow gauge, 159 km double track; 3,175 km electrified; government owned

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

stations--18 AM, no FM, 11 TV; 200,000 TV sets; 3,500,000 radio receivers; 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Ministry of People's Armed Forces (consists of the army, navy, and air force)

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

22% of GNP (1987)

Military manpower [time series]

males 15-49, 6,054,774; 3,699,088 fit for military service; 223,087 reach military age (18) annually

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

accounts for about 25% of GNP and 36% of work force; principal crops--rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pulses; livestock and livestock products--cattle, hogs, pork, eggs; not self-sufficient in grain; fish catch estimated at 1.7 million metric tons in 1987

Aid [time series]

Communist countries (1970-88), $1.3 billion

Budget [time series]

revenues $15.6 billion; expenditures $15.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1989)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

North Korean won (plural--won); 1 North Korean won (Wn) = 100 chon

Electricity [time series]

6,440,000 kW capacity; 40,250 million kWh produced, 1,740 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates [time series]

North Korean won (Wn) per US$1--2.3 (December 1989), 2.13 (December 1988), 0.94 (March 1987), NA (1986), NA (1985)

Exports [time series]

$2.4 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--minerals, metallurgical products, agricultural products, manufactures; partners--USSR, China, Japan, FRG, Hong Kong, Singapore

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$2.5 billion hard currency (1989)

Fiscal year [time series]

calendar year

GNP [time series]

$28 billion, per capita $1,240; real growth rate 3% (1989)

Imports [time series]

$3.1 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--petroleum, machinery and equipment, coking coal, grain; partners--USSR, Japan, China, FRG, Hong Kong, Singapore

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate NA%

Industries [time series]

machine building, military products, electric power, chemicals, mining, metallurgy, textiles, food processing

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

NA%

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

More than 90% of this command economy is socialized; agricultural land is collectivized; and state-owned industry produces 95% of manufactured goods. State control of economic affairs is unusually tight even for a Communist country because of the small size and homogeneity of the society and the strict one-man rule of Kim. Economic growth during the period 1984-89 has averaged approximately 3%. Abundant natural resources and hydropower form the basis of industrial development. Output of the extractive industries includes coal, iron ore, magnesite, graphite, copper, zinc, lead, and precious metals. Manufacturing emphasis is centered on heavy industry, with light industry lagging far behind. The use of high-yielding seed varieties, expansion of irrigation, and the heavy use of fertilizers have enabled North Korea to become largely self-sufficient in food production. North Korea, however, is far behind South Korea in economic development and living standards.

Unemployment rate [time series]

officially none

Climate [time series]

temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer

Coastline [time series]

2,495 km

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly smaller than Mississippi

Disputes - international (Disputes) [time series]

short section of boundary with China is indefinite; Demarcation Line with South Korea

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

mountainous interior is isolated, nearly inaccessible, and sparsely populated; late spring droughts often followed by severe flooding

Extended economic zone [time series]

200 nm;

Land boundaries [time series]

1,671 km total; China 1,416 km, South Korea 238 km, USSR 17 km

Land use [time series]

18% arable land; 1% permanent crops; NEGL% meadows and pastures; 74% forest and woodland; 7% other; includes 9% irrigated

Military boundary line [time series]

50 nm (all foreign vessels and aircraft without permission are banned)

Natural resources [time series]

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

Note [time series]

strategic location bordering China, South Korea, and USSR

Terrain [time series]

mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys; coastal plains wide in west, discontinuous in east

Maritime claims (Territorial sea) [time series]

12 nm;

Area (Total area) [time series]

120,540 km2; land area: 120,410 km2

Administrative divisions [time series]

9 provinces (do, singular and plural) and 3 special cities* (jikhalsi, singular and plural); Chagang-do, Hamgyong-namdo, Hamgyong-bukto, Hwanghae-namdo, Hwanghae-bukto, Kaesong-si*, Kangwon-do, Namp'o-si*, P'yongan-bukto, P'yongan-namdo, P'yongyang-si*, Yanggang-do

Capital [time series]

P'yongyang

Political parties (Communists) [time series]

KWP claims membership of about 2 million, or about one-tenth of population

Constitution [time series]

adopted 1948, revised 27 December 1972

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation) [time series]

none

Executive branch [time series]

president, two vice presidents, premier, nine vice premiers, State Administration Council (cabinet)

Flag [time series]

three horizontal bands of blue (top), red (triple width), and blue; the red band is edged in white; on the hoist side of the red band is a white disk with a red five-pointed star

Independence [time series]

9 September 1948

Judicial branch [time series]

Central Court Chief of State--President KIM Il-song (since 28 December 1972); Designated Successor KIM Chong-Il (son of President, born 16 February 1942); Head of Government--Premier YON Hyong-muk (since NA December 1988)

Legal system [time series]

based on German civil law system with Japanese influences and Communist legal theory; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch [time series]

unicameral Supreme People's Assembly (Choe Ko In Min Hoe Ui)

Country name (Long-form name) [time series]

Democratic People's Republic of Korea; abbreviated DPRK

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, ICAO, IMO, IPU, ITU, NAM, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WTO, UNIDO, WMO; official observer status at UN

National holiday [time series]

Independence Day, 9 September (1948)

Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

only party--Korean Workers' Party (KWP); Kim Il-song, General Secretary, and his son, Kim Chong-Il, Secretary, Central Committee

Suffrage [time series]

universal at age 17 President--last held 29 December 1986 (next to be held December 1990); results--President Kim Il Song was reelected without opposition; Supreme People's Assembly--last held on 2 November 1986 (next to be held November 1990, but the constitutional provision for elections every four years is not always followed); results--KWP is the only party; seats--(655 total) KWP 655; the KWP approves a single list of candidates who are elected without opposition

Government type (Type) [time series]

Communist state; one-man rule

Birth rate [time series]

22 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate [time series]

5 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

racially homogeneous

Infant mortality rate [time series]

27 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Labor force [time series]

9,615,000; 36% agricultural, 64% nonagricultural; shortage of skilled and unskilled labor (mid-1987 est.)

Languages (Language) [time series]

Korean

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

69 years male, 75 years female (1990)

Literacy [time series]

95% (est.)

Nationality [time series]

noun--Korean(s); adjective--Korean

Net migration rate [time series]

0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Organized labor [time series]

1,600,000 members; single-trade union system coordinated by the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea under the Central Committee

Population [time series]

21,292,649 (July 1990), growth rate 1.7% (1990)

Religions (Religion) [time series]

Buddhism and Confucianism; religious activities now almost nonexistent

Total fertility rate [time series]

2.1 children born/woman (1990)

Korea, North