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Where is North Korea?
About North Korea
The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media

North Korea is an above average size country in the south east of Asia.

North Korea has borders on the Sea of Japan and Korea Bay.

The land is mostly hills and mountains with a coastal plain in the west.

The geographical coordinates for the centre of North Korea, also known as lines of latitude and longtitude, are:-
Latitude - 40 00N
Longitude - 127 00E

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Check the weather in Pyongyang now.

This is the time in Pyongyang now

The North Korean flag is 3 horizontal stripes of blue at the top and bottom and a triple width stripe of red in the middle. The red band is edged in white. On the flag pole side of the red band is a white disc with a red 5-pointed star.

The capital of North Korea is Pyongyang.

North Korea is a single state presedential republic with a president as head of state and as head of the government.

In elections everyone over the age of 17 must vote.

The currency in North Korea is the won.

Korean is the official language.

Hear the National Anthem


These are the anthem words

The words ×

These are the words to the North Korean National Anthem called Patriotic Song. It was adopted as the National Anthem in 1947 by the Russian controlled northern part of what was then Korea. This is a translation of the words.

If anthem fails to play click here

Let morning shine on the silver and gold of this land,
Three thousand leagues packed with natural wealth.
My beautiful fatherland.
The glory of a wise people
Brought up in a culture brilliant
With a history five millennia long.
Let us devote our bodies and minds
To supporting this Korea for ever.

The firm will, bonded with truth,
Nest for the spirit of labour,
Embracing the atmosphere of Mount Paektu,
Will go forth to all the world.
The country established by the will of the people,
Breasting the raging waves with soaring strength.
Let us glorify for ever this Korea,
Limitlessly rich and strong.

We have already written our own history of England but are asking schools in North Korea to provide us with a detailed history of their own country. Check how here.


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The total land area of North Korea is 120,408 sq kms which is the 30th largest in Asia.

North Korea has lakes, rivers and canals which total 130 sq kms.

North Korea has boundaries with 3 countries

• China 1,352 kms
• South Korea 237 kms
• Russia 18 kms

North Korea has a coastline of 2,495 kms which is the 13th longest in Asia.

The highest point in North Korea is Paektu-san at 2,744 metres.

The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.

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The total population of North Korea is 25.12 million people, making it the 22nd largest country in Asia by population.

Of this number 12.93 million are females and 12.19 million are males.

A person from North Korea is called a North Korean.

To be a citizen of North Korea, one of your parents must be a citizen of North Korea. It is not sufficient to be born in North Korea. We have no information about how long you have to live in North Korea before you can apply for citizenship.

The largest five cities in North Korea, by population are:-

• Pyongyang 3,222,000 people
• Hamhung 559,056
• Namp’o 455,000
• Sunch’on 437,000
• Hungnam 346,082

For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre. Each little Owlbut is 1 person and the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.



60.9% of the people live in cities or towns.

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The birth rate in North Korea is 14.6 births per 1,000 of population

The death rate in North Korea is 9.3 deaths per 1,000 people.

Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.

There are 20.2 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 25.4 deaths of boys.

The median age for females is 35.6 and for males is 32.5. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number of people above the median age as below it.

We have no figures for the average age of a woman when she has her first child.

The elderly dependency ratio is 14.0. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).

The potential support ratio is 7.1. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.

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We have no figures for the amount North Korea spends of its total income on health care.

There are 3.51 doctors per 1,000 people.

There are 13.2 hospital beds per 1,000 people.

6.8% of the population are estimated as obese.

99.9% of the urban population and 99.4% of the rural population have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or protected rainwater collection facility.

87.9% of the urban population and 72.5% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer. a pit latrine (that is a permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.

North Korea releases 44.0 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the 28th highest in Asia.

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We have no figures for the amount North Korea spends of its total income on education.

Children usually start school at age 5 in North Korea. There is one year of Kindergarten education, five years of primary and 6 years of secondary education. All of this is compulsory. This may be followed by further education at a university or college.

We are awaiting information about the school year in North Korea.

100% of all people are able to read and write by the age of 15.

We have no figures for the number of people aged between 16 and 24 who are not in work.

The total number of people available for work in North Korea is is 14.00 million.

They work in the following sectors.

• Agriculture includes farming, fishing and forestry work
• Industry includes mining, manufacturing, construction and energy workers
• Services is everything else

25.6% of the workforce are unemployed.

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There are 39 paved in North Korea, which is the 16th highest number in Asia.


There are 7,435 kilometres of railways in North Korea, the 10th longest in Asia.


There are 724 kilometres of roads in North Korea, which means North Korea is in 48th place for the most kilometres of roads in Asia.

There are 4 major national newspapers in North Korea.

There are 3.60 million mobile phone users.

5% of the people have a fixed landline.



We have no figures for how many people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).

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