Korea, North (2003) | Botswana (2001) | |
Administrative divisions | 9 provinces (do, singular and plural) and 4 special cities* (si, singular and plural); Chagang-do (Chagang Province), Hamgyong-bukto (North Hamgyong Province), Hamgyong-namdo (South Hamgyong Province), Hwanghae-bukto (North Hwanghae Province), Hwanghae-namdo (South Hwanghae Province), Kaesong-si* (Kaesong City), Kangwon-do (Kangwon Province), Najin Sonbong-si*, Namp'o-si* (Namp'o City), P'yongan-bukto (North P'yongan Province), P'yongan-namdo (South P'yongan Province), P'yongyang-si* (Pyongyang City), Yanggang-do (Yanggang Province) | 10 districts and four town councils*; Central, Chobe, Francistown*, Gaborone*, Ghanzi, Kgalagadi, Kgatleng, Kweneng, Lobatse*, Ngamiland, North-East, Selebi-Pikwe*, South-East, Southern |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 25% (male 2,845,727; female 2,763,800)
15-64 years: 67.8% (male 7,485,310; female 7,746,603) 65 years and over: 7.2% (male 541,155; female 1,083,886) (2003 est.) |
0-14 years:
40.3% (male 321,164; female 318,007) 15-64 years: 55.56% (male 423,954; female 457,227) 65 years and over: 4.14% (male 26,691; female 39,076) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pulses; cattle, pigs, pork, eggs | sorghum, corn, millet, pulses, groundnuts (peanuts), beans, cowpeas, sunflower seed; livestock |
Airports | 72 (2002) | 92 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 34
over 3,047 m: 5 2,438 to 3,047 m: 18 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 3 (2002) |
total:
11 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 38
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 18 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 7 (2002) |
total:
81 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 56 under 914 m: 22 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 120,540 sq km
land: 120,410 sq km water: 130 sq km |
total:
600,370 sq km land: 585,370 sq km water: 15,000 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Mississippi | slightly smaller than Texas |
Background | Following World War II, Korea was split, with the northern half coming under Communist domination and the southern portion becoming Western-oriented. KIM Chong-il has ruled North Korea since his father and the country's founder, president KIM Il-song, died in 1994. After decades of mismanagement, the North relies heavily on international food aid to feed its population while continuing to expend resources to maintain an army of about 1 million. North Korea's long-range missile development and research into nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and massive conventional armed forces are of major concern to the international community. In December 2002, North Korea repudiated a 1994 agreement that shut down its nuclear reactors and expelled UN monitors, further raising fears it would produce nuclear weapons. | Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name upon independence in 1966. The economy, one of the most robust on the continent, is dominated by diamond mining. |
Birth rate | 17.61 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 28.85 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA |
revenues:
$1.6 billion expenditures: $1.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $560 million (FY96) |
Capital | Pyongyang | Gaborone |
Climate | temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer | semiarid; warm winters and hot summers |
Coastline | 2,495 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | adopted 1948, completely revised 27 December 1972, revised again in April 1992 and September 1998 | March 1965, effective 30 September 1966 |
Country name | conventional long form: Democratic People's Republic of Korea
conventional short form: North Korea local long form: Choson-minjujuui-inmin-konghwaguk local short form: none note: the North Koreans generally use the term "Choson" to refer to their country abbreviation: DPRK |
conventional long form:
Republic of Botswana conventional short form: Botswana former: Bechuanaland |
Currency | North Korean won (KPW) | pula (BWP) |
Death rate | 6.93 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 24.18 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $12 billion (1996 est.) | $455 million (2000) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (Swedish Embassy in P'yongyang represents the US as consular protecting power) | chief of mission:
Ambassador John E. LANGE embassy: address NA, Gaborone mailing address: P. O. Box 90, Gaborone telephone: [267] 353982 FAX: [267] 356947 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none; note - North Korea has a Permanent Mission to the UN in New York | chief of mission:
Ambassador Kgosi SEEPAPITSO IV chancery: 1531-1533 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 244-4990 FAX: [1] (202) 244-4164 |
Disputes - international | with China, certain islands in Yalu and Tumen rivers are in uncontested dispute; a section of boundary around Paektu-san (mountain) is indefinite; China objects to illegal migration of North Koreans into northern China; Military Demarcation Line within the 4-km wide Demilitarized Zone has separated North from South Korea since 1953 | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA; note - nearly $300 million in food aid alone from US, South Korea, Japan, and EU in 2001 plus much additional aid from the UN and non-governmental organizations | $73 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | North Korea, one of the world's most centrally planned and isolated economies, faces desperate economic conditions. Industrial capital stock is nearly beyond repair as a result of years of underinvestment and spare parts shortages. Industrial and power output have declined in parallel. The nation has suffered its tenth year of food shortages because of a lack of arable land; collective farming; weather-related problems, including major drought in 2000; and chronic shortages of fertilizer and fuel. Massive international food aid deliveries have allowed the regime to escape mass starvation since 1995-96, but the population remains the victim of prolonged malnutrition and deteriorating living conditions. Large-scale military spending eats up resources needed for investment and civilian consumption. Recently, the regime has placed emphasis on earning hard currency, developing information technology, addressing power shortages, and attracting foreign aid, but in no way at the expense of relinquishing central control over key national assets or undergoing widespread market-oriented reforms. In 2003, heightened political tensions with key donor countries and general donor fatigue have held down the flow of desperately needed food aid and have threatened fuel aid as well. | Botswana has maintained one of the world's highest growth rates since independence in 1966. Through fiscal discipline and sound management, Botswana has transformed itself from one of the poorest countries in the world to a middle-income country with a per capita GDP of $6,600 in 2000. Diamond mining has fueled much of Botswana's economic expansion and currently accounts for more than one-third of GDP and for three-fourths of export earnings. Tourism, subsistence farming, and cattle raising are other key sectors. The government must deal with high rates of unemployment and poverty. Unemployment officially is 19%, but unofficial estimates place it closer to 40%. HIV/AIDS infection rates are the highest in the world and threaten Botswana's impressive economic gains. |
Electricity - consumption | 27.91 billion kWh (2001) | 1.517 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | 950 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 30.01 billion kWh (2001) | 610 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 29%
hydro: 71% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m
highest point: Paektu-san 2,744 m |
lowest point:
junction of the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers 513 m highest point: Tsodilo Hills 1,489 m |
Environment - current issues | water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water; water-borne disease; deforestation; soil erosion and degradation | overgrazing; desertification; limited fresh water resources |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environmental Modification, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Law of the Sea |
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | racially homogeneous; there is a small Chinese community and a few ethnic Japanese | Tswana (or Setswana) 79%, Kalanga 11%, Basarwa 3%, other, including Kgalagadi and white 7% |
Exchange rates | official: North Korean won per US dollar - 150 (December 2002), 2.15 (December 2001), 2.15 (May 1994), 2.13 (May 1992), 2.14 (September 1991), 2.1 (January 1990); market: North Korean won per US dollar - 300-600 (December 2002), 200 (December 2001) | pulas per US dollar - 5.4585 (January 2001), 5.1018 (2000), 4.6244 (1999), 4.2259 (1998), 3.6508 (1997), 3.3242 (1996) |
Executive branch | chief of state: KIM Chong-il (since NA July 1994); note - on 3 September 2003, KIM Chong-il was reelected Chairman of the National Defense Commission, a position accorded the nation's "highest administrative authority"; KIM Yong-nam was reelected President of the Supreme People's Assembly Presidium and given the responsibility of representing the state and receiving diplomatic credentials
head of government: Premier PAK Pong-chu (since 3 September 2003); Vice Premiers KWAK Pom-ki (since 5 September 1998), CHON Sung-hun (since 3 September 2003), NO Tu-chol (since 3 September 2003) cabinet: Cabinet (Naegak), members, except for the Minister of People's Armed Forces, are appointed by the Supreme People's Assembly elections: premier elected by the Supreme People's Assembly; election last held NA September 1998 (next to be held NA) election results: HONG Song-nam elected premier; percent of Supreme People's Assembly vote - NA% |
chief of state:
President Festus MOGAE (since 1 April 1998) and Vice President Seretse Ian KHAMA (since 13 July 1998); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Festus MOGAE (since 1 April 1998) and Vice President Seretse Ian KHAMA (since 13 July 1998); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term; election last held 16 October 1999 (next to be held NA October 2004); vice president appointed by the president election results: Festus MOGAE elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - 54.3% |
Exports | NA (2001) | $2.6 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | minerals, metallurgical products, manufactures (including armaments); textiles and fishery products | diamonds 72%, vehicles, copper, nickel, meat (1998) |
Exports - partners | China 23.5%, Japan 19.9%, Costa Rica 12.4%, Brazil 6.5% (2002) | EU 77%, Southern African Customs Union (SACU) 18%, Zimbabwe 3% (1998) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 April - 31 March |
Flag description | 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 | light blue with a horizontal white-edged black stripe in the center |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $22.26 billion (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $10.4 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 30.4%
industry: 32.3% services: 37.3% (2000 est.) |
agriculture:
4% industry: 46% (including 36% mining) services: 50% (1998 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $6,600 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 1% (2002 est.) | 6% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 40 00 N, 127 00 E | 22 00 S, 24 00 E |
Geography - note | strategic location bordering China, South Korea, and Russia; mountainous interior is isolated and sparsely populated | landlocked; population concentrated in eastern part of the country |
Highways | total: 31,200 km
paved: 1,997 km unpaved: 29,203 km (1999 est.) |
total:
18,482 km paved: 4,343 km unpaved: 14,139 km (1996) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | NA (2001) | $2.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | petroleum, coking coal, machinery and equipment; textiles, grain | foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, textiles, petroleum products |
Imports - partners | China 24.9%, Brazil 12.1%, India 9.2%, Thailand 9.2%, Germany 7.8%, Japan 7.1%, Singapore 4.5%, Qatar 4% (2002) | Southern African Customs Union (SACU) 76%, Europe 10%, South Korea 5% (1998) |
Independence | 15 August 1945 (from Japan) | 30 September 1966 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 6.2% (2000 est.) |
Industries | military products; machine building, electric power, chemicals; mining (coal, iron ore, magnesite, graphite, copper, zinc, lead, and precious metals), metallurgy; textiles, food processing; tourism | diamonds, copper, nickel, coal, salt, soda ash, potash; livestock processing |
Infant mortality rate | total: 25.66 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 27.45 deaths/1,000 live births female: 23.79 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
63.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | NA% | 8.6% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | ARF (dialogue partner), ESCAP, FAO, G-77, ICAO, ICRM, IFAD, IFRCS, IHO, IMO, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO | ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | 3 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 14,600 sq km (1998 est.) | 20 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Central Court (judges are elected by the Supreme People's Assembly) | High Court; Court of Appeal; Magistrates' Courts (one in each district) |
Labor force | 9.6 million | 235,000 formal sector employees (1995) |
Labor force - by occupation | agricultural 36%, nonagricultural 64% | 100,000 public sector; 135,000 private sector, including 14,300 who are employed in various mines in South Africa; most others engaged in cattle raising and subsistence agriculture (1995 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 1,673 km
border countries: China 1,416 km, South Korea 238 km, Russia 19 km |
total:
4,013 km border countries: Namibia 1,360 km, South Africa 1,840 km, Zimbabwe 813 km |
Land use | arable land: 14.12%
permanent crops: 2.49% other: 83.39% (1998 est.) |
arable land:
1% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 46% forests and woodland: 47% other: 6% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Korean | English (official), Setswana |
Legal system | 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 | based on Roman-Dutch law and local customary law; judicial review limited to matters of interpretation; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral Supreme People's Assembly or Ch'oego Inmin Hoeui (687 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 3 August 2003 (next to be held in August 2008) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; the KWP approves a list of candidates who are elected without opposition; some seats are held by minor parties |
bicameral Parliament consists of the House of Chiefs (a largely advisory 15-member body consisting of the chiefs of the eight principal tribes, four elected subchiefs, and three members selected by the other 12) and the National Assembly (44 seats, 40 members are directly elected by popular vote and 4 appointed by the majority party; members serve five-year terms)
elections: National Assembly elections last held 16 October 1999 (next to be held NA October 2004) election results: percent of vote by party - BDP 57.2%, BNF 26%, other 16.8%; seats by party - BDP 33, BNF 6, other 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 70.79 years
male: 68.1 years female: 73.61 years (2003 est.) |
total population:
37.13 years male: 36.77 years female: 37.51 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write Korean
total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 69.8% male: 80.5% female: 59.9% (1995 est.) |
Location | Eastern Asia, northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan, between China and South Korea | Southern Africa, north of South Africa |
Map references | Asia | Africa |
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 |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total: 149 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 881,276 GRT/1,309,547 DWT
ships by type: bulk 8, cargo 120, combination bulk 2, container 1, multi-functional large-load carrier 1, passenger 2, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 8, refrigerated cargo 4, short-sea passenger 2 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Denmark 1, Greece 2, Pakistan 1, Singapore 1 (2002 est.) |
- |
Military branches | Korean People's Army (includes Army, Navy, Air Force), Civil Security Forces | Botswana Defense Force (includes Army and Air Wing), Botswana National Police |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $5,217.4 million (FY02) | $61 million (FY99) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 33.9% (FY02) | 1.2% (FY99) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 6,103,615 (2003 est.) | males age 15-49:
380,152 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 3,654,223 (2003 est.) | males age 15-49:
199,995 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age (2003 est.) | 18 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 180,875 (2003 est.) | males:
19,479 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), 9 September (1948) | Independence Day, 30 September (1966) |
Nationality | noun: Korean(s)
adjective: Korean |
noun:
Motswana (singular), Batswana (plural) adjective: Motswana (singular), Batswana (plural) |
Natural hazards | late spring droughts often followed by severe flooding; occasional typhoons during the early fall | periodic droughts; seasonal August winds blow from the west, carrying sand and dust across the country, which can obscure visibility |
Natural resources | coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite, iron ore, copper, gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar, hydropower | diamonds, copper, nickel, salt, soda ash, potash, coal, iron ore, silver |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | oil 136 km (2003) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Chondoist Chongu Party [YU Mi-yong, chairwoman]; Social Democratic Party [KIM Yong-tae, chairman]; major party - Korean Workers' Party or KWP [KIM Chong-il, general secretary] | Botswana Democratic Party or BDP [Festus MOGAE]; Botswana National Front or BNF [Kenneth KOMA]; Botswana Congress Party or BCP [Michael DINGAKE]; Botswana Alliance Movement or BAM [Ephraim Lepetu SETSHWAELO]
note: main parties are: BDP, BNF, BCP; other minor parties joined forces in 1999 to form the Botswana Alliance Movement or BAM [Ephraim SETSHWAELO, chairman] but did not capture any parliamentary seats; the BAM parties are: the United Action Party [Ephraim Lepetu SETSHWAELO], the Botswana Peoples Party, the Independence Freedom Party [Motsamai MPHO], and the Botswana Progressive Union [D. K. KWELE] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 22,466,481 (July 2003 est.) | 1,586,119
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 47% (2000 est.) |
Population growth rate | 1.07% (2003 est.) | 0.47% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Ch'ongjin, Haeju, Hungnam (Hamhung), Kimch'aek, Kosong, Najin, Namp'o, Sinuiju, Songnim, Sonbong (formerly Unggi), Ungsang, Wonsan | none |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 16, FM 14, shortwave 12 (1999) | AM 7, FM 15, shortwave 5 (1998) |
Radios | - | 237,000 (1997) |
Railways | total: 5,214 km
standard gauge: 4,549 km 1.435-m gauge (3,500 km electrified) narrow gauge: 665 km 0.762-m gauge (2002) |
total:
888 km narrow gauge: 888 km 1.067-m gauge (2000) |
Religions | traditionally Buddhist and Confucianist, some Christian and syncretic Chondogyo (Religion of the Heavenly Way)
note: autonomous religious activities now almost nonexistent; government-sponsored religious groups exist to provide illusion of religious freedom |
indigenous beliefs 50%, Christian 50% |
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: 0.5 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 17 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Russian (Indian Ocean region); other international connections through Moscow and Beijing |
general assessment:
sparse system domestic: small system of open-wire lines, microwave radio relay links, and a few radiotelephone communication stations international: two international exchanges; digital microwave radio relay links to Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 1.1 million (1997) | 86,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | NA | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 38 (1999) | 0 (1997) |
Terrain | mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys; coastal plains wide in west, discontinuous in east | predominantly flat to gently rolling tableland; Kalahari Desert in southwest |
Total fertility rate | 2.25 children born/woman (2003 est.) | 3.7 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 40% (2000 est.) |
Waterways | 2,253 km
note: mostly navigable by small craft only |
none |