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Compare Korea, North (2007) - Turkmenistan (2001)

Compare Korea, North (2007) z Turkmenistan (2001)

 Korea, North (2007)Turkmenistan (2001)
 Korea, NorthTurkmenistan
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)
5 welayatlar (singular - welayat): Ahal Welayaty (Ashgabat), Balkan Welayaty (Nebitdag), Dashhowuz Welayaty (formerly Tashauz), Lebap Welayaty (Charjew), Mary Welayaty

note:
administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)
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:
37.88% (male 891,758; female 852,104)

15-64 years:
58.09% (male 1,313,303; female 1,360,690)

65 years and over:
4.03% (male 70,800; female 114,589) (2001 est.)
Agriculture - products rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pulses; cattle, pigs, pork, eggs cotton, grain; livestock
Airports 77 (2007) 76 (2000 est.)
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:
13

2,438 to 3,047 m:
9

1,524 to 2,437 m:
4 (2000 est.)
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:
63

2,438 to 3,047 m:
7

1,524 to 2,437 m:
5

914 to 1,523 m:
10

under 914 m:
41 (2000 est.)
Area total: 120,540 sq km


land: 120,410 sq km


water: 130 sq km
total:
488,100 sq km

land:
488,100 sq km

water:
0 sq km
Area - comparative slightly smaller than Mississippi slightly larger than California
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. Annexed by Russia between 1865 and 1885, Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic in 1925. It achieved its independence upon the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. President NIYAZOV retains absolute control over the country and opposition is not tolerated. Extensive hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves could prove a boon to this underdeveloped country if extraction and delivery projects can be worked out.
Birth rate 15.06 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) 28.55 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Budget revenues: $NA


expenditures: $NA
revenues:
$588.6 million

expenditures:
$658.2 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.)
Capital name: Pyongyang


geographic coordinates: 39 01 N, 125 45 E


time difference: UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Ashgabat
Climate temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer subtropical desert
Coastline 2,495 km 0 km; note - Turkmenistan borders the Caspian Sea (1,768 km)
Constitution adopted 1948; completely revised 27 December 1972, revised again in April 1992, and September 1998 adopted 18 May 1992
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:
Turkmenistan

local long form:
none

local short form:
Turkmenistan

former:
Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic
Currency - Turkmen manat (TMM)
Death rate 7.21 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) 8.98 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Debt - external $12 billion (1996 est.) $2.5 billion (2000 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US none; note - Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang represents the US as consular protecting power chief of mission:
Ambassador Steven R. MANN

embassy:
9 Pushkin Street, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 774000

mailing address:
use embassy street address

telephone:
[9] (9312) 35-00-45

FAX:
[9] (9312) 51-13-05
Diplomatic representation in the US none; North Korea has a Permanent Mission to the UN in New York chief of mission:
Ambassador Mered ORAZOV

chancery:
2207 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:
[1] (202) 588-1500

FAX:
[1] (202) 588-0697
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) Caspian Sea boundaries are not yet determined among Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan
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) $27.2 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 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. Turkmenistan is largely desert country with intensive agriculture in irrigated oases and huge gas (fifth largest reserves in the world) and oil resources. One-half of its irrigated land is planted in cotton, making it the world's tenth largest producer. Until the end of 1993, Turkmenistan had experienced less economic disruption than other former Soviet states because its economy received a boost from higher prices for oil and gas and a sharp increase in hard currency earnings. In 1994, Russia's refusal to export Turkmen gas to hard currency markets and mounting debts of its major customers in the former USSR for gas deliveries contributed to a sharp fall in industrial production and caused the budget to shift from a surplus to a slight deficit. With an authoritarian ex-communist regime in power and a tribally based social structure, Turkmenistan has taken a cautious approach to economic reform, hoping to use gas and cotton sales to sustain its inefficient economy. Privatization goals remain limited. In 1998-2000, Turkmenistan suffered from the continued lack of adequate export routes for natural gas and from obligations on extensive short-term external debt. At the same time, however, total exports rose sharply because of higher international oil and gas prices. Prospects in the near future are discouraging because of widespread internal poverty and the burden of foreign debt. IMF assistance would seem to be necessary, yet the government is not as yet ready to accept IMF requirements. Turkmenistan's 1999 deal to ship 20 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas through Russia's Gazprom pipeline helped alleviate the 2000 fiscal shortfall. Inadequate fiscal restraint and the tenuous nature of Turkmenistan's 2001 gas deals, combined with a lack of economic reform, will limit progress in the near term.
Electricity - consumption 18.57 billion kWh (2005) 4.785 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports 0 kWh (2005) 4.1 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports 0 kWh (2005) 1.1 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production 22.19 billion kWh (2005) 8.371 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source - fossil fuel:
99.94%

hydro:
0.06%

nuclear:
0%

other:
0% (1999)
Elevation extremes lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m


highest point: Paektu-san 2,744 m
lowest point:
Vpadina Akchanaya -81.00 m; note - Sarygamysh Koli is a lake in northern Turkmenistan with a water level that fluctuates above and below the elevation of Vpadina Akchanaya (the lake has dropped as low as -110 m)

highest point:
Gora Ayribaba 3,139 m
Environment - current issues water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water; waterborne disease; deforestation; soil erosion and degradation contamination of soil and groundwater with agricultural chemicals, pesticides; salination, water-logging of soil due to poor irrigation methods; Caspian Sea pollution; diversion of a large share of the flow of the Amu Darya into irrigation contributes to that river's inability to replenish the Aral Sea; desertification
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:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection

signed, but not ratified:
none of the selected agreements
Ethnic groups racially homogeneous; there is a small Chinese community and a few ethnic Japanese Turkmen 77%, Uzbek 9.2%, Russian 6.7%, Kazakh 2%, other 5.1% (1995)
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) Turkmen manats per US dollar - 5,200 (January 2001), 5,200 (January 2000), 5,350 (January 1999), 4,070 (January 1997), 2,400 (January 1996)
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:
President and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Saparmurat NIYAZOV (since 27 October 1990, when the first direct presidential election occurred); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

head of government:
President and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Saparmurat NIYAZOV (since 27 October 1990, when the first direct presidential election occurred); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

cabinet:
Council of Ministers appointed by the president

note:
NIYAZOV's term in office was extended indefinitely on 28 December 1999 by the Assembly (Majlis) during a session of the People's Council (Halk Maslahaty)

elections:
president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 21 June 1992 (next scheduled to be held NA); note - President NIYAZOV was unanimously approved as president for life by the Assembly on 28 December 1999); deputy chairmen of the cabinet of ministers are appointed by the president

election results:
Saparmurat NIYAZOV elected president without opposition; percent of vote - Saparmurat NIYAZOV 99.5%
Exports NA bbl/day $2.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Exports - commodities minerals, metallurgical products, manufactures (including armaments), textiles, agricultural and fishery products gas 33%, oil 30%, cotton fiber 18%, textiles 8% (1999)
Exports - partners China 35%, South Korea 24%, Thailand 9%, Japan 9% (2005) Ukraine, Iran, Turkey, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan
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 green field with a vertical red stripe near the hoist side, containing five carpet guls (designs used in producing rugs) stacked above two crossed olive branches similar to the olive branches on the UN flag; a white crescent moon and five white stars appear in the upper corner of the field just to the fly side of the red stripe
GDP - purchasing power parity - $19.6 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 30%


industry: 34%


services: 36% (2002 est.)
agriculture:
25%

industry:
43%

services:
32% (1999 est.)
GDP - per capita - purchasing power parity - $4,300 (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate 1.6% (2006 est.) 16% (2000 est.)
Geographic coordinates 40 00 N, 127 00 E 40 00 N, 60 00 E
Geography - note strategic location bordering China, South Korea, and Russia; mountainous interior is isolated and sparsely populated landlocked
Heliports 23 (2007) -
Highways - total:
22,000 km

paved:
18,000 km (these roads are said to be hard-surfaced, and include, in addition to conventionally paved roads, some that are surfaced with gravel or other coarse aggregate, making them trafficable in all weather)

unpaved:
4,000 km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth and are difficult to negotiate in wet weather) (1996)
Household income or consumption by percentage share lowest 10%: NA%


highest 10%: NA%
lowest 10%:
2.6%

highest 10%:
31.7% (1998)
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 limited illicit cultivator of opium poppy, mostly for domestic consumption; limited government eradication program; increasingly used as transshipment point for illicit drugs from Southwest Asia to Russia and Western Europe; also a transshipment point for acetic anhydride destined for Afghanistan
Imports 23,520 bbl/day (2004 est.) $1.65 billion (c.i.f., 2000 est.)
Imports - commodities petroleum, coking coal, machinery and equipment, textiles, grain machinery and equipment 60%, foodstuffs 15% (1999)
Imports - partners China 42%, South Korea 28%, Russia 9%, Thailand 8% (2005) Ukraine, Turkey, Russia, Germany, US, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan
Independence 15 August 1945 (from Japan) 27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union)
Industrial production growth rate NA% 18% (2000 est.)
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 natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing
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.)
73.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) NA% 14% (2000 est.)
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 AsDB, CCC, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECO, ESCAP, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDB, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) - NA
Irrigated land 14,600 sq km (2003) 13,000 sq km (1993 est.)
Judicial branch Central Court (judges are elected by the Supreme People's Assembly) Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president)
Labor force 9.6 million (2002 est.) 2.34 million (1996)
Labor force - by occupation agriculture: 36%


industry and services: 64% (2002)
agriculture 44%, industry 19%, services 37% (1996)
Land boundaries total: 1,673 km


border countries: China 1,416 km, South Korea 238 km, Russia 19 km
total:
3,736 km

border countries:
Afghanistan 744 km, Iran 992 km, Kazakhstan 379 km, Uzbekistan 1,621 km
Land use arable land: 22.4%


permanent crops: 1.66%


other: 75.94% (2005)
arable land:
3%

permanent crops:
0%

permanent pastures:
63%

forests and woodland:
8%

other:
26% (1993 est.)
Languages Korean Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%
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 based on civil law system
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
under the 1992 constitution, there are two parliamentary bodies, a unicameral People's Council or Halk Maslahaty (more than 100 seats, some of which are elected by popular vote and some of which are appointed; meets infrequently) and a unicameral Assembly or Majlis (50 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)

elections:
People's Council - NA; Assembly - last held 12 December 1999 (next to be held NA 2004)

election results:
Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; note - all 50 elected officials preapproved by President NIYAZOV; most are from the DPT
Life expectancy at birth total population: 71.92 years


male: 69.18 years


female: 74.8 years (2007 est.)
total population:
61 years

male:
57.43 years

female:
64.76 years (2001 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:
98%

male:
99%

female:
97% (1989 est.)
Location Eastern Asia, northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan, between China and South Korea Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan
Map references Asia Commonwealth of Independent States
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: 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)
total:
1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,459 GRT/8,865 DWT

ships by type:
container 1 (2000 est.)
Military branches North Korean People's Army: Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force; civil security forces (2005) Ministry of Defense (Army, Air and Air Defense, Navy, Border Troops, and Internal Troops), National Guard
Military expenditures - dollar figure - $90 million (FY99)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP NA 3.4% (FY99)
Military manpower - availability - males age 15-49:
1,173,500 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service - males age 15-49:
952,218 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - military age - 18 years of age
Military manpower - reaching military age annually - males:
48,292 (2001 est.)
National holiday Founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), 9 September (1948) Independence Day, 27 October (1991)
Nationality noun: Korean(s)


adjective: Korean
noun:
Turkmen(s)

adjective:
Turkmen
Natural hazards late spring droughts often followed by severe flooding; occasional typhoons during the early fall NA
Natural resources coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite, iron ore, copper, gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar, hydropower petroleum, natural gas, coal, sulfur, salt
Net migration rate 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) -1.04 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Pipelines oil 154 km (2006) crude oil 250 km; natural gas 4,400 km
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) Democratic Party of Turkmenistan or DPT [Saparmurat NIYAZOV]

note:
formal opposition parties are outlawed; unofficial, small opposition movements exist underground or in foreign countries
Political pressure groups and leaders none NA
Population 23,301,725 (July 2007 est.) 4,603,244 (July 2001 est.)
Population below poverty line NA% 58% (1999 est.)
Population growth rate 0.785% (2007 est.) 1.85% (2001 est.)
Ports and harbors - Turkmenbashi
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 16, FM 8, shortwave 2 (1998)
Radios - 1.225 million (1997)
Railways total: 5,214 km


standard gauge: 5,214 km 1.435-m gauge (3,500 km electrified) (2006)
total:
2,187 km

broad gauge:
2,187 km 1.520-m gauge (1996 est.)
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 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2%
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:
1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years:
0.97 male(s)/female

65 years and over:
0.62 male(s)/female

total population:
0.98 male(s)/female (2001 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:
poorly developed

domestic:
NA

international:
linked by cable and microwave radio relay to other CIS republics and to other countries by leased connections to the Moscow international gateway switch; a new telephone link from Ashgabat to Iran has been established; a new exchange in Ashgabat switches international traffic through Turkey via Intelsat; satellite earth stations - 1 Orbita and 1 Intelsat
Telephones - main lines in use 980,000 (2003) 363,000 (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular - 4,300 (1998)
Television broadcast stations 4 (includes Korean Central Television, Mansudae Television, Korean Educational and Cultural Network, and Kaesong Television targeting South Korea) (2003) 3 (much programming relayed from Russia and Turkey) (1997)
Terrain mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys; coastal plains wide in west, discontinuous in east flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes rising to mountains in the south; low mountains along border with Iran; borders Caspian Sea in west
Total fertility rate 2.05 children born/woman (2007 est.) 3.58 children born/woman (2001 est.)
Unemployment rate NA% NA%
Waterways 2,250 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2007) the Amu Darya is an important inland waterway for Turkmenistan
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