Korea, North (2006) | Puerto Rico (2002) | |
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 (commonwealth associated with the US); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 78 municipalities (municipios, singular - municipio) at the second order; Adjuntas, Aguada, Aguadilla, Aguas Buenas, Aibonito, Anasco, Arecibo, Arroyo, Barceloneta, Barranquitas, Bayamon, Cabo Rojo, Caguas, Camuy, Canovanas, Carolina, Catano, Cayey, Ceiba, Ciales, Cidra, Coamo, Comerio, Corozal, Culebra, Dorado, Fajardo, Florida, Guanica, Guayama, Guayanilla, Guaynabo, Gurabo, Hatillo, Hormigueros, Humacao, Isabela, Jayuya, Juana Diaz, Juncos, Lajas, Lares, Las Marias, Las Piedras, Loiza, Luquillo, Manati, Maricao, Maunabo, Mayaguez, Moca, Morovis, Naguabo, Naranjito, Orocovis, Patillas, Penuelas, Ponce, Quebradillas, Rincon, Rio Grande, Sabana Grande, Salinas, San German, San Juan, San Lorenzo, San Sebastian, Santa Isabel, Toa Alta, Toa Baja, Trujillo Alto, Utuado, Vega Alta, Vega Baja, Vieques, Villalba, Yabucoa, Yauco |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 23.8% (male 2,788,944/female 2,708,331)
15-64 years: 68% (male 7,762,442/female 7,955,522) 65 years and over: 8.2% (male 667,792/female 1,229,988) (2006 est.) |
0-14 years: 23.5% (male 476,726; female 453,782)
15-64 years: 65.8% (male 1,249,850; female 1,353,438) 65 years and over: 10.7% (male 180,053; female 244,139) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pulses; cattle, pigs, pork, eggs | sugarcane, coffee, pineapples, plantains, bananas; livestock products, chickens |
Airports | 77 (2006) | 30 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 36
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 22 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 3 (2006) |
total: 19
over 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 8 under 914 m: 5 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 41
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 20 914 to 1,523 m: 13 under 914 m: 7 (2006) |
total: 12
914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 10 (2002) |
Area | total: 120,540 sq km
land: 120,410 sq km water: 130 sq km |
total: 9,104 sq km
land: 8,959 sq km water: 145 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Mississippi | slightly less than three times the size of Rhode Island |
Background | An independent kingdom for much of its long history, 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 of Korea (ROK) in the southern portion by force, North Korea (DPRK), under its founder President KIM Il-so'ng, adopted a policy of ostensible diplomatic and economic "self-reliance" as a check against excessive Soviet or Communist Chinese influence. The DPRK demonized the US as the ultimate threat to its social system through state-funded propaganda, 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 his father's successor in 1980, assuming a growing political and managerial role until the elder KIM's death in 1994. After decades of economic mismanagement and resource misallocation, the DPRK since the mid-1990s has relied heavily on international aid to feed its population while continuing to expend resources to maintain an army of 1 million. North Korea's long-range missile development, as well as its nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programs and massive conventional armed forces, are of major concern to the international community. In December 2002, following revelations that the DPRK was pursuing a nuclear weapons program based on enriched uranium in violation of a 1994 agreement with the US to freeze and ultimately dismantle its existing plutonium-based program, North Korea expelled monitors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In January 2003, it 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 the Six-Party Talks with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the US designed to resolve the stalemate over its nuclear programs. The fourth round of Six-Party Talks were held in Beijing during July-September 2005. All parties agreed to a Joint Statement of Principles in which, among other things, the six parties unanimously reaffirmed the goal of verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner. In the Joint Statement, the DPRK committed to "abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and returning, at an early date, to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and to IAEA safeguards." The Joint Statement also commits the US and other parties to certain actions as the DPRK denuclearizes. The US offered a security assurance, specifying that it had no nuclear weapons on ROK territory and no intention to attack or invade the DPRK with nuclear or other weapons. The US and DPRK will take steps to normalize relations, subject to the DPRK's implementing its denuclearization pledge and resolving other longstanding concerns. While the Joint Statement provides a vision of the end-point of the Six-Party process, much work lies ahead to implement the elements of the agreement. | Populated for centuries by aboriginal peoples, the island was claimed by the Spanish Crown in 1493 following Columbus' second voyage to the Americas. In 1898, after 400 years of colonial rule that saw the indigenous population nearly exterminated and African slave labor introduced, Puerto Rico was ceded to the US as a result of the Spanish-American War. Puerto Ricans were granted US citizenship in 1917 and popularly elected governors have served since 1948. In 1952, a constitution was enacted providing for internal self-government. In plebiscites held in 1967, 1993, and 1998 voters chose to retain commonwealth status. |
Birth rate | 15.54 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) | 15.04 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA |
revenues: $6.7 billion
expenditures: $9.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY99/00) |
Capital | name: Pyongyang
geographic coordinates: 39 01 N, 125 45 E time difference: UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
San Juan |
Climate | temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer | tropical marine, mild; little seasonal temperature variation |
Coastline | 2,495 km | 501 km |
Constitution | adopted 1948; completely revised 27 December 1972, revised again in April 1992, and September 1998 | ratified 3 March 1952; approved by US Congress 3 July 1952; effective 25 July 1952 |
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: Choson abbreviation: DPRK |
conventional long form: Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
conventional short form: Puerto Rico |
Currency | - | US dollar (USD) |
Death rate | 7.13 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) | 7.82 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $12 billion (1996 est.) | $NA |
Dependency status | - | commonwealth associated with the US |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none; note - Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang represents the US as consular protecting power | none (commonwealth associated with the US) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none; North Korea has a Permanent Mission to the UN in New York | none (commonwealth associated with the US) |
Disputes - international | China seeks to stem illegal migration of tens of thousands of North Koreans escaping famine, economic privation, and political oppression; North Korea and China dispute the sovereignty of certain islands in Yalu and Tumen rivers and a section of boundary around Paektu-san (mountain) is indefinite; Military Demarcation Line within the 4-km wide Demilitarized Zone has separated North from South Korea since 1953; periodic maritime disputes with South over the Northern Limit Line; North Korea supports South Korea in rejecting Japan's claim to Liancourt Rocks (Tok-do/Take-shima) | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA; note - approximately 350,000 metric tons in food aid, worth approximately $118 million, through the World Food Program appeal in 2004, 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 shortages of spare parts. Industrial and power output have declined in parallel. Despite an increased harvest in 2005 because of more stable weather conditions, fertilizer assistance from South Korea, and an extraordinary mobilization of the population to help with agricultural production, the nation has suffered its 11th year of food shortages because of on-going systemic problems, including a lack of arable land, collective farming practices, and chronic shortages of tractors and fuel. Massive international food aid deliveries have allowed the people of North Korea to escape mass starvation since famine threatened in 1995, but the population continues to suffer from prolonged malnutrition and poor living conditions. Large-scale military spending eats up resources needed for investment and civilian consumption. In 2004, the regime formalized an arrangement whereby private "farmers markets" were allowed to begin selling a wider range of goods. It also permitted some private farming on an experimental basis in an effort to boost agricultural output. In October 2005, the regime reversed some of these policies by forbidding private sales of grains and reinstituting a centralized food rationing system. In December 2005, the regime confirmed that it intended to carry out earlier threats to terminate all international humanitarian assistance operations in the DPRK (calling instead for developmental assistance only) and to restrict the activities of international and non-governmental aid organizations such as the World Food Program. Firm political control remains the Communist government's overriding concern, which will likely inhibit the loosening of economic regulations. | Puerto Rico has one of the most dynamic economies in the Caribbean region. A diverse industrial sector has surpassed agriculture as the primary locus of economic activity and income. Encouraged by duty-free access to the US and by tax incentives, US firms have invested heavily in Puerto Rico since the 1950s. US minimum wage laws apply. Sugar production has lost out to dairy production and other livestock products as the main source of income in the agricultural sector. Tourism has traditionally been an important source of income, with estimated arrivals of nearly 5 million tourists in 1999. Growth fell off in 2001, largely due to the slowdown in the US economy. |
Electricity - consumption | 17.43 billion kWh (2003) | 19.062 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2003) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2003) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | 18.75 billion kWh (2003) | 20.497 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 99%
hydro: 1% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m
highest point: Paektu-san 2,744 m |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Cerro de Punta 1,338 m |
Environment - current issues | water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water; waterborne disease; deforestation; soil erosion and degradation | erosion; occasional drought causing water shortages |
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 |
- |
Ethnic groups | racially homogeneous; there is a small Chinese community and a few ethnic Japanese | white (mostly Spanish origin) 80.5%, black 8%, Amerindian 0.4%, Asian 0.2%, mixed and other 10.9% |
Exchange rates | official: North Korean won per US dollar - 170 (December 2004), 150 (December 2002), 2.15 (December 2001); market: North Korean won per US dollar - 300-600 (December 2002) | the US dollar is used |
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: Naegak (cabinet) members, except for Minister of People's Armed Forces, are appointed by SPA elections: 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 |
chief of state: President George W. BUSH of the US (since 20 January 2001); Vice President Richard B. CHENEY (since 20 January 2001)
head of government: Governor Sila M. CALDERON (since 2 January 2001) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor with the consent of the legislature elections: US president and vice president elected on the same ticket for four-year terms; governor elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 7 November 2000 (next to be held 2 November 2004) election results: Sila M. CALDERON (PPD) elected governor; percent of vote - 48.6% note: residents of Puerto Rico do not vote for US president and vice president |
Exports | NA bbl/day | $38.5 billion f.o.b. (2000) |
Exports - commodities | minerals, metallurgical products, manufactures (including armaments), textiles, fishery products | pharmaceuticals, electronics, apparel, canned tuna, rum, beverage concentrates, medical equipment |
Exports - partners | China 45.6%, South Korea 20.2%, Japan 12.9% (2004) | US 88% (2000) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 July - 30 June |
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 | five equal horizontal bands of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side bears a large, white, five-pointed star in the center; design initially influenced by the US flag, but similar to the Cuban flag, with the colors of the bands and triangle reversed |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $43.9 billion (2001 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 30%
industry: 34% services: 36% (2002 est.) |
agriculture: 1%
industry: 45% services: 54% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $11,200 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 1% (2005 est.) | 2.2% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 40 00 N, 127 00 E | 18 15 N, 66 30 W |
Geography - note | strategic location bordering China, South Korea, and Russia; mountainous interior is isolated and sparsely populated | important location along the Mona Passage - a key shipping lane to the Panama Canal; San Juan is one of the biggest and best natural harbors in the Caribbean; many small rivers and high central mountains ensure land is well watered; south coast relatively dry; fertile coastal plain belt in north |
Heliports | 22 (2006) | - |
Highways | - | total: 14,400 km
paved: 14,400 km unpaved: 0 km (1996) |
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 1970s into the 2000s, 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; police investigations in Taiwan and Japan in recent years 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 | - |
Imports | 22,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) | $27 billion c.i.f. (2000) |
Imports - commodities | petroleum, coking coal, machinery and equipment, textiles, grain | chemicals, machinery and equipment, clothing, food, fish, petroleum products |
Imports - partners | China 32.9%, Thailand 10.7%, Japan 4.8% (2004) | US 60% (2000) |
Independence | 15 August 1945 (from Japan) | none (commonwealth associated with the US) |
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 | pharmaceuticals, electronics, apparel, food products; tourism |
Infant mortality rate | total: 23.29 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 24.97 deaths/1,000 live births female: 21.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
9.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | NA% | 5.7% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | ARF, FAO, G-77, ICAO, ICRM, IFAD, IFRCS, IHO, IMO, IOC, IPU, ISO, ITU, NAM, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO | Caricom (observer), ECLAC (associate), FAO (associate), ICFTU, Interpol (subbureau), IOC, WCL, WFTU, WHO (associate) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 76 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 14,600 sq km (2003) | 400 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Central Court (judges are elected by the Supreme People's Assembly) | Supreme Court; Appellate Court; Court of First Instance composed of two sections: a Superior Court and a Municipal Court (justices for all these courts appointed by the governor with the consent of the Senate) |
Labor force | 9.6 million | 1.3 million (2000) (2000) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 36%
industry and services: 64% |
agriculture 3%, industry 20%, services 77% (2000 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 1,673 km
border countries: China 1,416 km, South Korea 238 km, Russia 19 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 22.4%
permanent crops: 1.66% other: 75.94% (2005) |
arable land: 3.72%
permanent crops: 5.07% other: 91.21% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Korean | Spanish, English |
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 Spanish civil code and adapted US state laws |
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; ruling party approves a list of candidates who are elected without opposition; some seats are held by minor parties |
bicameral Legislative Assembly consists of the Senate (28 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and the House of Representatives (51 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 7 November 2000 (next to be held 2 November 2004); House of Representatives - last held 7 November 2000 (next to be held 2 November 2004) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PPD 19, PNP 8, PIP 1, other 1; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PPD 30, PNP 20, PIP 1 note: Puerto Rico elects, by popular vote, a resident commissioner to serve a four-year term as a nonvoting representative in the US House of Representatives; aside from not voting on the House floor, he enjoys all the rights of a member of Congress; elections last held 7 November 2000 (next to be held 2 November 2004); results - percent of vote by party - PPD 49.3%; seats by party - PPD 1; Anibal ACEVEDO-VILA elected resident commissioner |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 71.65 years
male: 68.92 years female: 74.51 years (2006 est.) |
total population: 75.96 years
male: 71.5 years female: 80.66 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 89% male: 90% female: 88% (1980 est.) |
Location | Eastern Asia, northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan, between China and South Korea | Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of the Dominican Republic |
Map references | Asia | Central America and the Caribbean |
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 |
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | total: 232 ships (1000 GRT or over) 983,182 GRT/1,370,104 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 14, cargo 176, chemical tanker 1, container 4, livestock carrier 3, passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 17, refrigerated cargo 3, roll on/roll off 8, vehicle carrier 1 foreign-owned: 60 (British Virgin Islands 1, China 1, Denmark 1, Egypt 2, Greece 1, India 1, Lebanon 6, Lithuania 1, Marshall Islands 1, Pakistan 3, Romania 11, Russia 1, Singapore 1, Syria 14, Turkey 4, UAE 6, US 3, Yemen 2) registered in other countries: 5 (Belize 2, Mongolia 3) (2006) |
total: 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 19,046 GRT/22,582 DWT
ships by type: container 1 (2002 est.) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of the US |
Military branches | North Korean People's Army: Ground Force, Navy, Air Force; civil security forces (2005) | no regular indigenous military forces; paramilitary National Guard, Police Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $5,217.4 million (FY02) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA | - |
National holiday | Founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), 9 September (1948) | US Independence Day, 4 July (1776) |
Nationality | noun: Korean(s)
adjective: Korean |
noun: Puerto Rican(s) (US citizens)
adjective: Puerto Rican |
Natural hazards | late spring droughts often followed by severe flooding; occasional typhoons during the early fall | periodic droughts; hurricanes |
Natural resources | coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite, iron ore, copper, gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar, hydropower | some copper and nickel; potential for onshore and offshore oil |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) | -2.12 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Pipelines | oil 154 km (2006) | - |
Political parties and leaders | major party - Korean Workers' Party or KWP [KIM Jong Il]; minor parties - Chondoist Chongu Party [RYU Mi Yong] (under KWP control), Social Democratic Party [KIM Yong Dae] (under KWP control) | National Democratic Party [Celeste BENITEZ]; National Republican Party of Puerto Rico [Luis FERRE]; New Progressive Party or PNP (pro-US statehood) [Carlos PESQUERA]; Popular Democratic Party or PPD (pro-commonwealth) [Sila M. CALDERON]; Puerto Rican Independence Party or PIP (pro-independence) [Ruben BERRIOS Martinez] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | Armed Forces for National Liberation or FALN; Armed Forces of Popular Resistance; Boricua Popular Army (also known as the Macheteros); Volunteers of the Puerto Rican Revolution |
Population | 23,113,019 (July 2006 est.) | 3,957,988 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA% |
Population growth rate | 0.84% (2006 est.) | 0.51% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Guanica, Guayanilla, Guayama, Playa de Ponce, San Juan |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 17 (including 11 stations of Korean Central Broadcasting Station), FM 14, shortwave 14 (2003) | AM 72, FM 17, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | - | 2.7 million (1997) |
Railways | total: 5,214 km
standard gauge: 5,214 km 1.435-m gauge (3,500 km electrified) (2005) |
total: 96 km
narrow gauge: 96 km 1.000-m gauge, note: rural, narrow-gauge system for hauling sugarcane; no passenger service (2001) |
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 |
Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant and other 15% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.54 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 17 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal; indigenous inhabitants are US citizens but do not vote in US presidential elections |
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: modern system, integrated with that of the US by high-capacity submarine cable and Intelsat with high-speed data capability
domestic: digital telephone system; cellular telephone service international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat; submarine cable to US |
Telephones - main lines in use | 980,000 (2003) | 1.322 million (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | NA | 169,265 (1996) |
Television broadcast stations | 4 (includes Korean Central Television, Mansudae Television, Korean Educational and Cultural Network, and Kaesong Television targeting South Korea) (2003) | 18 (plus three stations of the US Armed Forces Radio and Television Service) (1997) |
Terrain | mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys; coastal plains wide in west, discontinuous in east | mostly mountains, with coastal plain belt in north; mountains precipitous to sea on west coast; sandy beaches along most coastal areas |
Total fertility rate | 2.1 children born/woman (2006 est.) | 1.9 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 9.5% (2000) (2000) |
Waterways | 2,250 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2006) | none |