Compare Korea, North (2007) - British Virgin Islands (2008)

Compare Korea, North (2007) z British Virgin Islands (2008)

	Korea, North (2007)	British Virgin Islands (2008)

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) municipalities: Kaesong-si (Kaesong), Najin Sonbong-si (Najin-Sonbong), Namp'o-si (Namp'o), P'yongyang-si (Pyongyang)	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Age structure	0-14 years: 23.3% (male 2,758,826/female 2,679,093) 15-64 years: 68.1% (male 7,852,282/female 8,024,429) 65 years and over: 8.5% (male 709,599/female 1,277,496) (2007 est.)	0-14 years: 20.2% (male 2,410/female 2,337) 15-64 years: 74.5% (male 9,004/female 8,534) 65 years and over: 5.4% (male 665/female 602) (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products	rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pulses; cattle, pigs, pork, eggs	fruits, vegetables; livestock, poultry; fish
Airports	77 (2007)	3 (2007)
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 (2007)	total: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 41 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 19 914 to 1,523 m: 13 under 914 m: 7 (2007)	total: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2007)
Area	total: 120,540 sq km land: 120,410 sq km water: 130 sq km	total: 153 sq km land: 153 sq km water: 0 sq km note: comprised of 16 inhabited and more than 20 uninhabited islands; includes the islands of Tortola, Anegada, Virgin Gorda, Jost van Dyke
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than Mississippi	about 0.9 times the size of Washington, DC
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." Beginning in August 2003, North Korea, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the US have participated in the Six-Party Talks aimed at resolving the stalemate over the DPRK's nuclear programs. North Korea pulled out of the talks in November 2005. It test-fired ballistic missiles in July 2006 and tested a nuclear weapon in October 2006. In October 2006, the DRPK announced that it would return to the Six-Party Talks. The Talks reconvened in December 2006.	First inhabited by Arawak and later by Carib Indians, the Virgin Islands were settled by the Dutch in 1648 and then annexed by the English in 1672. The islands were part of the British colony of the Leeward Islands from 1872-1960; they were granted autonomy in 1967. The economy is closely tied to the larger and more populous US Virgin Islands to the west; the US dollar is the legal currency.
Birth rate	15.06 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)	14.82 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Budget	revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA	revenues: $204.7 million expenditures: $180.4 million (2004)
Capital	name: Pyongyang geographic coordinates: 39 01 N, 125 45 E time difference: UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)	name: Road Town geographic coordinates: 18 27 N, 64 37 W time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Climate	temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer	subtropical; humid; temperatures moderated by trade winds
Coastline	2,495 km	80 km
Constitution	adopted 1948; completely revised 27 December 1972, revised again in April 1992, and September 1998	13 June 2007
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: none conventional short form: British Virgin Islands abbreviation: BVI
Death rate	7.21 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)	4.42 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Debt - external	$12 billion (1996 est.)	$36.1 million (1997)
Dependency status	-	overseas territory of the UK; internal self-governing
Diplomatic representation from the US	none; note - Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang represents the US as consular protecting power	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Diplomatic representation in the US	none; North Korea has a Permanent Mission to the UN in New York	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Disputes - international	risking arrest, imprisonment, and deportation, tens of thousands of North Koreans cross into China to escape famine, economic privation, and political oppression; North Korea and China dispute the sovereignty of certain islands in Yalu and Tumen rivers; Military Demarcation Line within the 4-km wide Demilitarized Zone has separated North from South Korea since 1953; periodic incidents in the Yellow Sea with South Korea which claims the Northern Limiting Line as a maritime boundary; 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 (2005)	$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. Due in part to severe summer flooding followed by dry weather conditions in the fall of 2006, the nation has suffered its 12th 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. By December 2005, the regime terminated most international humanitarian assistance operations in North Korea (calling instead for developmental assistance only) and restricted the activities of remaining international and non-governmental aid organizations such as the World Food Program. External food aid now comes primarily from China and South Korea in the form of grants and long-term concessional loans. Firm political control remains the Communist government's overriding concern, which will likely inhibit the loosening of economic regulations.	The economy, one of the most stable and prosperous in the Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism, generating an estimated 45% of the national income. An estimated 820,000 tourists, mainly from the US, visited the islands in 2005. In the mid-1980s, the government began offering offshore registration to companies wishing to incorporate in the islands, and incorporation fees now generate substantial revenues. Roughly 400,000 companies were on the offshore registry by yearend 2000. The adoption of a comprehensive insurance law in late 1994, which provides a blanket of confidentiality with regulated statutory gateways for investigation of criminal offenses, made the British Virgin Islands even more attractive to international business. Livestock raising is the most important agricultural activity; poor soils limit the islands' ability to meet domestic food requirements. Because of traditionally close links with the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands has used the US dollar as its currency since 1959.
Electricity - consumption	18.57 billion kWh (2005)	41.85 million kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2005)	0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2005)	0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - production	22.19 billion kWh (2005)	45 million kWh (2005)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m highest point: Paektu-san 2,744 m	lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Mount Sage 521 m
Environment - current issues	water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water; waterborne disease; deforestation; soil erosion and degradation	limited natural fresh water resources (except for a few seasonal streams and springs on Tortola, most of the islands' water supply comes from wells and rainwater catchments)
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	black 83%, other 17% (includes white, Indian, Asian and mixed)
Exchange rates	official: North Korean won per US dollar - 141 (2006), 170 (December 2004), 150 (December 2002), market: North Korean won per US dollar - 2,500-3,000 (December 2006)	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 head of government: Premier KIM Yong Il (since 11 April 2007); Vice Premiers KWAK Pom Gi (since 5 September 1998), JON Sung Hun (since 3 September 2003), RO Tu Chol (since 3 September 2003), THAE Jong Su (since 16 October 2007) 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: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor David PEAREY (since 18 April 2006) head of government: Premier Ralph T. O'NEAL (since 23 August 2007) cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the governor from members of the House of Assembly elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed premier by the governor
Exports	NA bbl/day	0 bbl/day (2004)
Exports - commodities	minerals, metallurgical products, manufactures (including armaments), textiles, agricultural and fishery products	rum, fresh fish, fruits, animals; gravel, sand
Exports - partners	China 35%, South Korea 24%, Thailand 9%, Japan 9% (2005)	Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US (2006)
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	blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Virgin Islander coat of arms centered in the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms depicts a woman flanked on either side by a vertical column of six oil lamps above a scroll bearing the Latin word VIGILATE (Be Watchful)
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 30% industry: 34% services: 36% (2002 est.)	agriculture: 1.8% industry: 6.2% services: 92% (1996 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	1.6% (2006 est.)	1% (2002 est.)
Geographic coordinates	40 00 N, 127 00 E	18 30 N, 64 30 W
Geography - note	strategic location bordering China, South Korea, and Russia; mountainous interior is isolated and sparsely populated	strong ties to nearby US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico
Heliports	23 (2007)	-
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	transshipment point for South American narcotics destined for the US and Europe; large offshore financial center makes it vulnerable to money laundering
Imports	23,520 bbl/day (2004 est.)	604.3 bbl/day (2004)
Imports - commodities	petroleum, coking coal, machinery and equipment, textiles, grain	building materials, automobiles, foodstuffs, machinery
Imports - partners	China 42%, South Korea 28%, Russia 9%, Thailand 8% (2005)	Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US (2006)
Independence	15 August 1945 (from Japan)	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Industrial production growth rate	NA%	NA%
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	tourism, light industry, construction, rum, concrete block, offshore financial center
Infant mortality rate	total: 22.56 deaths/1,000 live births male: 24.2 deaths/1,000 live births female: 20.84 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)	total: 16.13 deaths/1,000 live births male: 18.82 deaths/1,000 live births female: 13.29 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	NA%	2% (2005)
International organization participation	ARF, FAO, G-77, ICAO, ICRM, IFAD, IFRCS, IHO, IMO, IOC, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, NAM, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO	Caricom (associate), CDB, Interpol (subbureau), IOC, OECS, UNESCO (associate), UPU
Irrigated land	14,600 sq km (2003)	NA
Judicial branch	Central Court (judges are elected by the Supreme People's Assembly)	Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consisting of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal (one judge of the Supreme Court is a resident of the islands and presides over the High Court); Magistrate's Court; Juvenile Court; Court of Summary Jurisdiction
Labor force	9.6 million (2002 est.)	12,770 (2004)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 36% industry and services: 64% (2002)	agriculture: 0.6% industry: 40% services: 59.4% (2005)
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: 20% permanent crops: 6.67% other: 73.33% (2005)
Languages	Korean	English (official)
Legal system	based on Prussian civil law system with Japanese influences and Communist legal theory; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction	English law
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	unicameral House of Assembly (13 elected seats and 1 non-voting ex officio member in the attorney general; members are elected by direct popular vote, 1 member from each of nine electoral districts, 4 at-large members; to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 20 August 2007 (next to be held in 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - VIP 45.2%, NDP 39.6%, independent 15.2%; seats by party - VIP 10, NDP 2, independent 1
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 71.92 years male: 69.18 years female: 74.8 years (2007 est.)	total population: 76.86 years male: 75.71 years female: 78.07 years (2007 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: 97.8% (1991 est.) 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	Caribbean, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico
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	territorial sea: 3 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
Merchant marine	total: 171 ships (1000 GRT or over) 854,268 GRT/1,225,453 DWT by type: bulk carrier 12, cargo 131, chemical tanker 1, container 1, livestock carrier 1, passenger/cargo 4, petroleum tanker 14, refrigerated cargo 4, roll on/roll off 3 foreign-owned: 29 (Egypt 1, India 1, Israel 1, Lebanon 3, Lithuania 1, Pakistan 1, Romania 6, Russia 1, Syria 7, Turkey 1, UAE 4, Yemen 2) registered in other countries: (unknown 1) (2007)	-
Military - note	-	defense is the responsibility of the UK
Military branches	North Korean People's Army: Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force; civil security forces (2005)	-
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	NA	-
National holiday	Founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), 9 September (1948)	Territory Day, 1 July (1956)
Nationality	noun: Korean(s) adjective: Korean	noun: British Virgin Islander(s) adjective: British Virgin Islander
Natural hazards	late spring droughts often followed by severe flooding; occasional typhoons during the early fall	hurricanes and tropical storms (July to October)
Natural resources	coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite, iron ore, copper, gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar, hydropower	NEGL
Net migration rate	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)	8.83 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 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)	Concerned Citizens Movement or CCM [Ethlyn SMITH]; National Democratic Party or NDP [Orlando SMITH]; United Party or UP [Gregory MADURO]; Virgin Islands Party or VIP [Ralph T. O'NEAL]
Political pressure groups and leaders	none	NA
Population	23,301,725 (July 2007 est.)	23,552 (July 2007 est.)
Population below poverty line	NA%	NA%
Population growth rate	0.785% (2007 est.)	1.923% (2007 est.)
Radio broadcast stations	AM 17 (including 11 stations of Korean Central Broadcasting Station; North Korea has a "national intercom" cable radio station wired throughout the country that is a significant source of information for the average North Korean citizen; it is wired into most residences and workplaces and carries news and commentary), FM 14, shortwave 14 (2006)	AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 0 (2004)
Railways	total: 5,214 km standard gauge: 5,214 km 1.435-m gauge (3,500 km electrified) (2006)	-
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	Protestant 86% (Methodist 33%, Anglican 17%, Church of God 9%, Seventh-Day Adventist 6%, Baptist 4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 2%, other 15%), Roman Catholic 10%, other 2%, none 2% (1991)
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.979 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.555 male(s)/female total population: 0.945 male(s)/female (2007 est.)	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.031 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.055 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.105 male(s)/female total population: 1.053 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Suffrage	17 years of age; universal	18 years of age; universal
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: worldwide telephone service domestic: NA international: country code - 1-284; connected via submarine cable to Bermuda; the East Caribbean Fiber System (ECFS) optic submarine cable provides connectivity to 13 other islands in the eastern Caribbean (2007)
Telephones - main lines in use	980,000 (2003)	11,700 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular	-	8,000 (2002)
Television broadcast stations	4 (includes Korean Central Television, Mansudae Television, Korean Educational and Cultural Network, and Kaesong Television targeting South Korea) (2003)	1 (plus 1 cable company) (1997)
Terrain	mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys; coastal plains wide in west, discontinuous in east	coral islands relatively flat; volcanic islands steep, hilly
Total fertility rate	2.05 children born/woman (2007 est.)	1.72 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate	NA%	3.6% (1997)
Waterways	2,250 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2007)	-

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