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Compare Korea, North (2004) - Western Sahara (2002)

Compare Korea, North (2004) z Western Sahara (2002)

 Korea, North (2004)Western Sahara (2002)
 Korea, NorthWestern Sahara
Administrative divisions 9 provinces (do, singular and plural) and 4 municipalities (si, singular and plural)

provinces: Chagang-do (Chagang), Hamgyong-bukto (North Hamgyong), Hamgyong-namdo (South Hamgyong), Hwanghae-bukto (North Hwanghae), Hwanghae-namdo (South Hwanghae), Kangwon-do (Kangwon), P'yongan-bukto (North P'yongan), P'yongan-namdo (South P'yongan), Yanggang-do (Yanggang)

municipalites: Kaesong-si (Kaesong), Najin Sonbong-si (Najin), Namp'o-si (Namp'o), P'yongyang-si (Pyongyang)
none (under de facto control of Morocco)
Age structure 0-14 years: 24.6% (male 2,836,991; female 2,755,127)


15-64 years: 67.8% (male 7,575,590; female 7,812,878)


65 years and over: 7.6% (male 583,463; female 1,133,504) (2004 est.)
0-14 years: NA%


15-64 years: NA%


65 years and over: NA%
Agriculture - products rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pulses; cattle, pigs, pork, eggs fruits and vegetables (grown in the few oases); camels, sheep, goats (kept by nomads)
Airports 78 (2003 est.) 11 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways total: 35


over 3,047 m: 3


2,438 to 3,047 m: 23


1,524 to 2,437 m: 5


914 to 1,523 m: 1


under 914 m: 3 (2003 est.)
total: 3


2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways total: 43


2,438 to 3,047 m: 1


1,524 to 2,437 m: 20


914 to 1,523 m: 14


under 914 m: 8 (2003 est.)
total: 8


1,524 to 2,437 m: 1


914 to 1,523 m: 4


under 914 m: 3 (2002)
Area total: 120,540 sq km


land: 120,410 sq km


water: 130 sq km
total: 266,000 sq km


land: 266,000 sq km


water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative slightly smaller than Mississippi about the size of Colorado
Background An independent kingdom under Chinese suzerainty for most of the past millennium, Korea was occupied by Japan in 1905 following the Russo-Japanese War; five years later, Japan formally annexed the entire peninsula. Following World War II, Korea was split, with the northern half coming under Soviet-sponsored Communist domination. After failing in the Korean War (1950-53) to conquer the US-backed republic in the southern portion by force, North Korea under its founder President KIM Il Sung adopted a policy of ostensible diplomatic and economic "self-reliance" as a check against excessive Soviet or Communist Chinese influence and molded political, economic, and military policies around the core ideological objective of eventual unification of Korea under Pyongyang's control. KIM's son, the current ruler KIM Jong Il, was officially designated as KIM's future successor in 1980 and assumed a growing political and managerial role until his father's death in 1994, when he assumed full power without opposition. After decades of economic mismanagement and resource misallocation, the North since the mid-1990s has relied 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, following revelations it was pursuing a nuclear weapons program based on enriched uranium in violation of a 1994 agreement with the United States to freeze and ultimately dismantle its existing plutonium-based program, North Korea expelled monitors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and in January 2003 declared its withdrawal from the international Non-Proliferation Treaty. In mid-2003 Pyongyang announced it had completed the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel rods (to extract weapons-grade plutonium) and was developing a "nuclear deterrent." Since August 2003 North Korea has participated in six-party talks with the United States, China, South Korea, Japan, and Russia to resolve the stalemate over its nuclear programs. Morocco virtually annexed the northern two-thirds of Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara) in 1976, and the rest of the territory in 1979, following Mauritania's withdrawal. A guerrilla war with the Polisario Front contesting Rabat's sovereignty ended in a 1991 cease-fire; a referendum on final status has been repeatedly postponed.
Birth rate 16.77 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) NA births/1,000 population
Budget revenues: NA


expenditures: NA, including capital expenditures of NA
revenues: $NA


expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Capital Pyongyang none
Climate temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore air currents produce fog and heavy dew
Coastline 2,495 km 1,110 km
Constitution adopted 1948, completely revised 27 December 1972, revised again in April 1992 and September 1998 -
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: none


conventional short form: Western Sahara


former: Spanish Sahara
Currency North Korean won (KPW) Moroccan dirham (MAD)
Death rate 6.99 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) NA deaths/1,000 population
Debt - external $12 billion (1996 est.) $NA
Diplomatic representation from the US none (Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang represents the US as consular protecting power) none
Diplomatic representation in the US none; North Korea has a Permanent Mission to the UN in New York none
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 has been attempting to stop mass illegal migration of North Koreans escaping famine, economic privation, and oppression into northern China; Military Demarcation Line within the 4-km wide Demilitarized Zone has separated North from South Korea since 1953; periodic maritime disputes with South Korea Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, but sovereignty remains unresolved; UN-administered cease-fire has remained in effect since September 1991, but attempts to hold a referendum have failed and parties reject other proposals
Economic aid - recipient $NA; note - over $133 million in food aid through the World Food Program in 2003 plus additional aid from bilateral donors and non-governmental organizations $NA
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, 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. In 2003, heightened political tensions with key donor countries and general donor fatigue threatened the flow of desperately needed food aid and fuel aid as well. Black market prices continued to rise following the increase in official prices and wages in the summer of 2002, leaving some vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and unemployed, less able to buy goods. The regime, however, relaxed restrictions on farmers' market activities in spring 2003, leading to an expansion of market activity. Western Sahara depends on pastoral nomadism, fishing, and phosphate mining as the principal sources of income for the population. The territory lacks sufficient rainfall for sustainable agricultural production, and most of the food for the urban population must be imported. All trade and other economic activities are controlled by the Moroccan Government. Moroccan energy interests in 2001 signed contracts to explore for oil off the coast of Western Sahara, which has angered the Polisario. Incomes and standards of living in Western Sahara are substantially below the Moroccan level.
Electricity - consumption 27.91 billion kWh (2001) 83.7 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports 0 kWh (2001) 0 kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports 0 kWh (2001) 0 kWh (2000)
Electricity - production 30.01 billion kWh (2001) 90 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source - fossil fuel: 100%


hydro: 0%


nuclear: 0%


other: 0% (2000)
Elevation extremes lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m


highest point: Paektu-san 2,744 m
lowest point: Sebjet Tah -55 m


highest point: unnamed location 463 m
Environment - current issues water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water; water-borne disease; deforestation; soil erosion and degradation sparse water and lack of arable land
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
party to: none of the selected agreements


signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Ethnic groups racially homogeneous; there is a small Chinese community and a few ethnic Japanese Arab, Berber
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) Moroccan dirhams per US dollar - 11.584 (January 2002), 11.303 (2001), 10.626 (2000), 9.804 (1999), 9.604 (1998), 9.527 (1997)
Executive branch chief of state: KIM Jong Il (since July 1994); note - on 3 September 2003, rubberstamp Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) reelected KIM Jong Il Chairman of the National Defense Commission, a position accorded nation's "highest administrative authority"; SPA reelected KIM Yong Nam President of its Presidium also with responsibility of representing state and receiving diplomatic credentials; SPA appointed PAK Pong Ju Premier


head of government: Premier PAK Pong Ju (since 3 September 2003); Vice Premiers KWAK Pom Gi (since 5 September 1998), JON Sung Hun (since 3 September 2003), RO Tu Chol (since 3 September 2003)


cabinet: Cabinet (Naegak), members, except for the Minister of People's Armed Forces, are appointed by the SPA


elections: election last held in September 2003 (next to be held in September 2008)


election results: KIM Jong Il and KIM Yong Nam were only nominees for positions and ran unopposed
none
Exports NA (2001) $NA
Exports - commodities minerals, metallurgical products, manufactures (including armaments); textiles and fishery products phosphates 62%
Exports - partners South Korea 28.5%, China 28.4%, Japan 24.7% (2002) Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts
Fiscal year calendar year calendar year
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 -
GDP purchasing power parity - $29.58 billion (2003 est.) purchasing power parity - $NA
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 30.2%


industry: 33.8%


services: 36% (2002 est.)
agriculture: NA%


industry: NA%


services: 40%-45% (1996 est.) (1996 est.)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $1,300 (2003 est.) purchasing power parity - $NA
GDP - real growth rate 1% (2003 est.) NA%
Geographic coordinates 40 00 N, 127 00 E 24 30 N, 13 00 W
Geography - note strategic location bordering China, South Korea, and Russia; mountainous interior is isolated and sparsely populated the waters off the coast are particularly rich fishing areas
Heliports 19 (2003 est.) -
Highways total: 31,200 km


paved: 1,997 km


unpaved: 29,203 km (1999 est.)
total: 6,200 km


paved: 1,350 km


unpaved: 4,850 km (1991 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share lowest 10%: NA


highest 10%: NA
lowest 10%: NA%


highest 10%: NA%
Illicit drugs for years, from the 1970's into the 2000's, citizens of the Democratic People's Republic of (North) Korea (DPRK), many of them diplomatic employees of the government, were apprehended abroad while trafficking in narcotics, including two in Turkey in December 2004; in recent years, police investigations in Taiwan and Japan have linked North Korea to large illicit shipments of heroin and methamphetamine, including an attempt by the North Korean merchant ship Pong Su to deliver 150 kg of heroin to Australia in April 2003; all indications point to North Korea emerging as an important regional source of illicit drugs targeting markets in Japan, Taiwan, the Russian Far East, and China -
Imports NA (2001) $NA
Imports - commodities petroleum, coking coal, machinery and equipment; textiles, grain fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs
Imports - partners China 39.7%, Thailand 14.6%, Japan 11.2%, Germany 7.6%, South Korea 6.2% (2002) Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts
Independence 15 August 1945 (from Japan) -
Industrial production growth rate NA NA%
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 phosphate mining, handicrafts
Infant mortality rate total: 24.84 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 26.59 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 23 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
NA deaths/1,000 live births
Inflation rate (consumer prices) NA (2003 est.) NA%
International organization participation ARF, FAO, G-77, ICAO, ICRM, IFAD, IFRCS, IHO, IMO, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO none
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) - 1 (2000)
Irrigated land 14,600 sq km (1998 est.) NA sq km
Judicial branch Central Court (judges are elected by the Supreme People's Assembly) -
Labor force 9.6 million 12,000
Labor force - by occupation agricultural 36%, nonagricultural 64% animal husbandry and subsistence farming 50%
Land boundaries total: 1,673 km


border countries: China 1,416 km, South Korea 238 km, Russia 19 km
total: 2,046 km


border countries: Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km, Morocco 443 km
Land use arable land: 20.76%


permanent crops: 2.49%


other: 76.75% (2001)
arable land: 0%


permanent crops: 0%


other: 100% (1998 est.)
Languages Korean Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic
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 -
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
-
Life expectancy at birth total population: 71.08 years


male: 68.38 years


female: 73.92 years (2004 est.)
total population: NA years


male: NA years


female: NA years
Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 99%


male: 99%


female: 99%
definition: NA


total population: NA%


male: NA%


female: NA%
Location Eastern Asia, northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan, between China and South Korea Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Mauritania and Morocco
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
contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue
Merchant marine total: 203 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 921,577 GRT/1,339,929 DWT


by type: bulk 6, cargo 166, combination bulk 2, container 3, liquefied gas 1, livestock carrier 3, multi-functional large load carrier 1, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 11, refrigerated cargo 6, roll on/roll off 2, short-sea/passenger 1


foreign-owned: Albania 1, Belize 1, Bolivia 1, Cambodia 3, Cyprus 1, Egypt 3, Germany 1, Greece 4, Italy 1, Lebanon 2, Marshall Islands 1, Pakistan 1, Portugal 1, Romania 8, Saint Kitts and Nevis 1, Syria 9, Tanzania 1, Tunisia 1, Turkey 5, Ukraine 2, United States 3


registered in other countries: 4 (2004 est.)
-
Military branches Korean People's Army (includes Army, Navy, Air Force), Civil Security Forces -
Military expenditures - dollar figure $5,217.4 million (FY02) $NA
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 22.9% (2003) NA%
Military manpower - availability males age 15-49: 6,181,038 (2004 est.) -
Military manpower - fit for military service males age 15-49: 3,694,855 (2004 est.) -
Military manpower - reaching military age annually males: 189,014 (2004 est.) -
National holiday Founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), 9 September (1948) -
Nationality noun: Korean(s)


adjective: Korean
noun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s)


adjective: Sahrawian, Sahraouian
Natural hazards late spring droughts often followed by severe flooding; occasional typhoons during the early fall hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind can occur during winter and spring; widespread harmattan haze exists 60% of time, often severely restricting visibility
Natural resources coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite, iron ore, copper, gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar, hydropower phosphates, iron ore
Net migration rate 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) -
Pipelines oil 154 km (2004) -
Political parties and leaders major party - Korean Workers' Party or KWP [KIM Jong Il, general secretary]; minor parties - Chondoist Chongu Party [RYU Mi Yong, chairwoman] (under KWP control); Social Democratic Party [KIM Yong Dae, chairman] (under KWP control) -
Political pressure groups and leaders none none
Population 22,697,553 (July 2004 est.) 256,177 (July 2002 est.)
Population below poverty line NA NA%
Population growth rate 0.98% (2004 est.) NA (2002 est.)
Ports and harbors Ch'ongjin, Haeju, Hungnam (Hamhung), Kimch'aek, Kosong, Najin, Namp'o, Sinuiju, Songnim, Sonbong (formerly Unggi), Ungsang, Wonsan Ad Dakhla, Cabo Bojador, Laayoune (El Aaiun)
Radio broadcast stations AM 16, FM 14, shortwave 12 (1999) AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios - 56,000 (1997)
Railways total: 5,214 km


standard gauge: 5,214 km 1.435-m gauge (3,500 km electrified) (2003)
0 km
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
Muslim
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: 0.52 male(s)/female


total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2004 est.)
NA
Suffrage 17 years of age; universal none; a UN-sponsored voter identification campaign not yet completed
Telephone system general assessment: NA


domestic: NA


international: country code - 850; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Russian (Indian Ocean region); other international connections through Moscow and Beijing
general assessment: sparse and limited system


domestic: NA


international: tied into Morocco's system by microwave radio relay, tropospheric scatter, and satellite; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) linked to Rabat, Morocco
Telephones - main lines in use 1.1 million (2001) about 2,000 (1999 est.)
Telephones - mobile cellular NA 0 (1999)
Television broadcast stations 38 (1999) NA
Terrain mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys; coastal plains wide in west, discontinuous in east mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast
Total fertility rate 2.2 children born/woman (2004 est.) NA children born/woman
Unemployment rate NA (2003) NA%
Waterways 2,250 km


note: most navigable only by small craft (2004)
none
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