World Context: North Korea

Source and mapping status

This page maps the site registry entry “North Korea” to the supplied dataset entity “Korea, North.” Mapping status: alias-name. The source is a frozen 2025 snapshot; dates embedded in individual fields remain controlling.

• Source entity count: 1.
• Selected public fields present: 18.
• Independent corroboration in this page: none.

Place and environment

Location: Eastern Asia, northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan, between China and South Korea Area: total : 120,538 sq km; land: 120,408 sq km; water: 130 sq km Climate: temperate, with rainfall concentrated in summer; long, bitter winters Terrain: mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys; wide coastal plains in west, discontinuous in east Natural hazards: late spring droughts often followed by severe flooding; occasional typhoons during the early fall; volcanism: P'aektu-san (2,744 m) (also known as Baitoushan, Baegdu, or Changbaishan), on the Chinese border, is considered historically active Environmental issues: water pollution; inadequate potable water; deforestation; soil erosion and degradation

Population, settlement, and language context

Population: total: 26,402,841 (2025 est.); male: 12,884,269; female: 13,518,572 Population distribution: population concentrated in the plains and lowlands; least-populated regions are the mountainous provinces adjacent to the Chinese border; largest concentrations are in the western provinces, particularly the municipal district of Pyongyang, and around Hungnam and Wonsan in the east Urbanization: urban population: 63.2% of total population (2023); rate of urbanization: 0.85% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) Languages: Korean

Public and legal context

Capital: name: Pyongyang; geographic coordinates: 39 01 N, 125 45 E; time difference: UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time); time zone note: on 5 May 2018, North Korea reverted to UTC+9, the same time zone as South Korea; etymology: the name translates as "flat land" in Korean Government type: dictatorship, single-party communist state Legal system: civil law system based on the Prussian model; influenced by Japanese traditions and Communist legal theory

Economy and connectivity context

Economic overview: one of the last centrally planned economies; hard hit by COVID-19, crop failures, international sanctions, and isolationist policies; declining growth and trade, and heavily reliant on China; poor exchange rate stability; economic data integrity issues Industries: military products; machine building, electric power, chemicals; mining (coal, iron ore, limestone, magnesite, graphite, copper, zinc, lead, and precious metals), metallurgy; textiles, food processing; tourism Electricity access: electrification - total population: 54.7% (2022 est.) Airports: 81 (2025) Ports: total ports: 10 (2024); large: 0; medium: 0; small: 7; very small: 3; ports with oil terminals: 0; key ports: Ch'ongjin, Haeju Hang, Hungnam, Najin, Nampo, Senbong, Wonsan

Interpretation and freshness boundary

Use these fields to ask better questions about material conditions, access, distance, public administration, and information availability. Do not use them to infer intelligence capability, government intent, personal loyalty, protected traits, or a permanent national character. Reverify any time-sensitive claim before publication or comparison.