Compare Korea, North (2008) - Japan (2007)

Compare Korea, North (2008) z Japan (2007)

	Korea, North (2008)	Japan (2007)

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)	47 prefectures; Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Gifu, Gunma, Hiroshima, Hokkaido, Hyogo, Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Iwate, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Kanagawa, Kochi, Kumamoto, Kyoto, Mie, Miyagi, Miyazaki, Nagano, Nagasaki, Nara, Niigata, Oita, Okayama, Okinawa, Osaka, Saga, Saitama, Shiga, Shimane, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Tokushima, Tokyo, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama, Yamagata, Yamaguchi, Yamanashi
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: 13.8% (male 9,024,344/female 8,553,700) 15-64 years: 65.2% (male 41,841,760/female 41,253,968) 65 years and over: 21% (male 11,312,492/female 15,447,230) (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products	rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pulses; cattle, pigs, pork, eggs	rice, sugar beets, vegetables, fruit; pork, poultry, dairy products, eggs; fish
Airports	77 (2007)	176 (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: 145 over 3,047 m: 7 2,438 to 3,047 m: 41 1,524 to 2,437 m: 40 914 to 1,523 m: 28 under 914 m: 29 (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: 31 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 27 (2007)
Area	total: 120,540 sq km land: 120,410 sq km water: 130 sq km	total: 377,835 sq km land: 374,744 sq km water: 3,091 sq km note: includes Bonin Islands (Ogasawara-gunto), Daito-shoto, Minami-jima, Okino-tori-shima, Ryukyu Islands (Nansei-shoto), and Volcano Islands (Kazan-retto)
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than Mississippi	slightly smaller 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 Sung, 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 approximately 1 million. North Korea's history of regional military provocations, proliferation of military-related items, and 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 conducted a nuclear test in October 2006. North Korea returned to the Six-Party Talks in December 2006 and subsequently signed two agreements on denuclearization. The 13 February 2007 Initial Actions Agreement shut down the North's nuclear facilities at Yongbyon in July 2007. In the 3 October 2007 Second Phase Actions Agreement, Pyongyang pledged to disable those facilities and provide a correct and complete declaration of its nuclear programs. Under the supervision of US nuclear experts, North Korean personnel completed a number of agreed-upon disablement actions at the three core facilities at the Yongbyon nuclear complex by the end of 2007. North Korea also began the discharge of spent fuel rods in December 2007, but it did not provide a declaration of its nuclear programs by the end of the year.	In 1603, a Tokugawa shogunate (military dictatorship) ushered in a long period of isolation from foreign influence in order to secure its power. For more than two centuries this policy enabled Japan to enjoy stability and a flowering of its indigenous culture. Following the Treaty of Kanagawa with the US in 1854, Japan opened its ports and began to intensively modernize and industrialize. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Japan became a regional power that was able to defeat the forces of both China and Russia. It occupied Korea, Formosa (Taiwan), and southern Sakhalin Island. In 1931-32 Japan occupied Manchuria, and in 1937 it launched a full-scale invasion of China. Japan attacked US forces in 1941 - triggering America's entry into World War II - and soon occupied much of East and Southeast Asia. After its defeat in World War II, Japan recovered to become an economic power and a staunch ally of the US. While the emperor retains his throne as a symbol of national unity, actual power rests in networks of powerful politicians, bureaucrats, and business executives. The economy experienced a major slowdown starting in the 1990s following three decades of unprecedented growth, but Japan still remains a major economic power, both in Asia and globally.
Birth rate	15.06 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)	8.1 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Budget	revenues: $2.88 billion $NA expenditures: $2.98 billion $NA	revenues: $1.479 trillion expenditures: $1.586 trillion (2006 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)	name: Tokyo geographic coordinates: 35 41 N, 139 45 E time difference: UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Climate	temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer	varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north
Coastline	2,495 km	29,751 km
Constitution	adopted 1948; completely revised 27 December 1972, revised again in April 1992, and September 1998	3 May 1947
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: Japan local long form: Nihon-koku/Nippon-koku local short form: Nihon/Nippon
Death rate	7.21 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)	8.98 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Debt - external	$12.5 billion (2001 est.)	$1.547 trillion (30 June 2006)
Diplomatic representation from the US	none; note - Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang represents the US as consular protecting power	chief of mission: Ambassador J. Thomas SCHIEFFER embassy: 1-10-5 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8420 mailing address: APO AP 96337-5004 telephone: [81] (03) 3224-5000 FAX: [81] (03) 3505-1862 consulate(s) general: Naha (Okinawa), Osaka-Kobe, Sapporo consulate(s): Fukuoka, Nagoya
Diplomatic representation in the US	none; North Korea has a Permanent Mission to the UN in New York	chief of mission: Ambassador Ryozo KATO chancery: 2520 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 238-6700 FAX: [1] (202) 328-2187 consulate(s) general: Anchorage, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Agana (Guam), Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Portland (Oregon), San Francisco, Seattle
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)	the sovereignty dispute over the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan, and the Habomai group, known in Japan as the "Northern Territories" and in Russia as the "Southern Kuril Islands," occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia and claimed by Japan, remains the primary sticking point to signing a peace treaty formally ending World War II hostilities; Japan and South Korea claim Liancourt Rocks (Take-shima/Tok-do) occupied by South Korea since 1954; China and Taiwan dispute both Japan's claims to the uninhabited islands of the Senkaku-shoto (Diaoyu Tai) and Japan's unilaterally declared exclusive economic zone in the East China Sea, the site of intensive hydrocarbon prospecting
Economic aid - donor	-	ODA, $8.9 billion (2004)
Economic aid - recipient	$372 million note: approximately 65,000 metric tons in food aid through the World Food Program appeals in 2007, plus additional aid from bilateral donors and non-governmental organizations (2007 est.)	-
Economy - overview	North Korea, one of the world's most centrally directed and least open economies, faces chronic economic problems. 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 from pre-1990 levels. Due in part to severe summer flooding followed by dry weather conditions in the fall of 2006, the nation suffered its 13th year of food shortages because of on-going systemic problems including a lack of arable land, collective farming practices, and persistent shortages of tractors and fuel. During the summer of 2007, severe flooding again occurred. Large-scale international food aid deliveries have allowed the people of North Korea to escape widespread starvation since famine threatened in 1995, but the population continues to suffer from prolonged malnutrition and poor living conditions. Large-scale military spending draws off resources needed for investment and civilian consumption. Since 2002, the government has 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 government tried to reverse some of these policies by forbidding private sales of grains and reinstituting a centralized food rationing system. By December 2005, the government 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. During the October 2007 summit, South Korea also agreed to develop some of North Korea's infrastructure and natural resources and light industry. Firm political control remains the Communist government's overriding concern, which will likely inhibit the loosening of economic regulations.	Government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defense allocation (1% of GDP) helped Japan advance with extraordinary rapidity to the rank of second most technologically powerful economy in the world after the US and the third-largest economy in the world after the US and China, measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis. One notable characteristic of the economy has been how manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors have worked together in closely-knit groups called keiretsu. A second basic feature has been the guarantee of lifetime employment for a substantial portion of the urban labor force. Both features have now eroded. Japan's industrial sector is heavily dependent on imported raw materials and fuels. The tiny agricultural sector is highly subsidized and protected, with crop yields among the highest in the world. Usually self sufficient in rice, Japan must import about 60% of its food on a caloric basis. Japan maintains one of the world's largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch. For three decades, overall real economic growth had been spectacular - a 10% average in the 1960s, a 5% average in the 1970s, and a 4% average in the 1980s. Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s, averaging just 1.7%, largely because of the after effects of overinvestment and an asset price bubble during the late 1980s that required a protracted period of time for firms to reduce excess debt, capital, and labor. From 2000 to 2001, government efforts to revive economic growth proved short-lived and were hampered by the slowing of the US, European, and Asian economies. In 2002-06, growth improved and the lingering fears of deflation in prices and economic activity lessened. Japan's huge government debt, which totals 176% of GDP, and the aging of the population are two major long-run problems. Some fear that a rise in taxes could endanger the current economic recovery. Debate also continues on the role of and effects of reform in restructuring the economy, particularly with respect to the 2007-17 privatization of Japan Post, which has functioned not only as the national postal delivery system but also, through its banking and insurance facilities, as Japan's largest financial institution.
Electricity - consumption	18.57 billion kWh (2005)	974.2 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2007)	0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2007)	0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - production	22.5 billion kWh (2006 est.)	1.025 trillion kWh (2005)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m highest point: Paektu-san 2,744 m	lowest point: Hachiro-gata -4 m highest point: Mount Fuji 3,776 m
Environment - current issues	water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water; waterborne disease; deforestation; soil erosion and degradation	air pollution from power plant emissions results in acid rain; acidification of lakes and reservoirs degrading water quality and threatening aquatic life; Japan is one of the largest consumers of fish and tropical timber, contributing to the depletion of these resources in Asia and elsewhere
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: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
Ethnic groups	racially homogeneous; there is a small Chinese community and a few ethnic Japanese	Japanese 98.5%, Koreans 0.5%, Chinese 0.4%, other 0.7% note: up to 230,000 Brazilians of Japanese origin migrated to Japan in the 1990s to work in industries; some have returned to Brazil (2004)
Exchange rates	official: North Korean won per US dollar - 140 (2007), 141 (2006), 170 (December 2004), market: North Korean won per US dollar - 2,500-3,000 (December 2006)	yen per US dollar - 116.18 (2006), 110.22 (2005), 108.19 (2004), 115.93 (2003), 125.39 (2002)
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: Emperor AKIHITO (since 7 January 1989) head of government: Prime Minister Yasuo FUKUDA (since 26 September 2007) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister elections: Diet designates prime minister; constitution requires that prime minister commands parliamentary majority; following legislative elections, leader of majority party or leader of majority coalition in House of Representatives usually becomes prime minister; monarch is hereditary election results: FUKUDA elected prime minister with 338 of 477 votes cast in the House of Representatives; he received 106 of 240 votes cast in the House of Councillors; vote of House of Representatives prevailed
Exports	0 bbl/day (2006)	94,830 bbl/day (2004)
Exports - commodities	minerals, metallurgical products, manufactures (including armaments), textiles, agricultural and fishery products	transport equipment, motor vehicles, semiconductors, electrical machinery, chemicals
Exports - partners	South Korea 32%, China 29%, Thailand 9% (2006)	US 22.8%, China 14.3%, South Korea 7.8%, Taiwan 6.8%, Hong Kong 5.6% (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	white with a large red disk (representing the sun without rays) in the center
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 23.3% industry: 43.1% services: 33.6% (2002 est.)	agriculture: 1.5% industry: 25.6% services: 73% (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	-1.1% (2006 est.)	2.2% (2006 est.)
Geographic coordinates	40 00 N, 127 00 E	36 00 N, 138 00 E
Geography - note	strategic location bordering China, South Korea, and Russia; mountainous interior is isolated and sparsely populated	strategic location in northeast Asia
Heliports	23 (2007)	14 (2007)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%	lowest 10%: 4.8% highest 10%: 21.7% (1993)
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	10,520 bbl/day (2006 est.)	5.425 million bbl/day (2004)
Imports - commodities	petroleum, coking coal, machinery and equipment, textiles, grain	machinery and equipment, fuels, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, raw materials
Imports - partners	China 27%, South Korea 16%, Thailand 9%, Russia 7% (2006)	China 20.5%, US 12%, Saudi Arabia 6.4%, UAE 5.5%, Australia 4.8%, South Korea 4.7%, Indonesia 4.2% (2006)
Independence	15 August 1945 (from Japan)	660 B.C. (traditional founding by Emperor JIMMU)
Industrial production growth rate	NA%	3.3% (2006 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	among world's largest and technologically advanced producers of motor vehicles, electronic equipment, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals, textiles, processed foods
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: 2.8 deaths/1,000 live births male: 3 deaths/1,000 live births female: 2.59 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	NA%	0.2% (2006 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	AfDB, APEC, APT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, CE (observer), CERN (observer), CP, EAS, EBRD, FAO, G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAIA, MIGA, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner), Paris Club, PCA, PIF (partner), SAARC (observer), SECI (observer), UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMOVIC, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Irrigated land	14,600 sq km (2003)	25,920 sq km (2003)
Judicial branch	Central Court (judges are elected by the Supreme People's Assembly)	Supreme Court (chief justice is appointed by the monarch after designation by the cabinet; all other justices are appointed by the cabinet)
Labor force	20 million note: estimates vary widely (2004 est.)	66.57 million (2006 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 37% industry and services: 63% (2004 est.)	agriculture: 4.6% industry: 27.8% services: 67.7% (2004)
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: 11.64% permanent crops: 0.9% other: 87.46% (2005)
Languages	Korean	Japanese
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	modeled after German civil law system with English-American influence; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
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 Diet or Kokkai consists of the House of Councillors or Sangi-in (242 seats - members elected for six-year terms; half reelected every three years; 146 members in multi-seat constituencies and 96 by proportional representation) and the House of Representatives or Shugi-in (480 seats - members elected for four-year terms; 300 in single-seat constituencies; 180 members by proportional representation in 11 regional blocs) elections: House of Councillors - last held 29 July 2007 (next to be held in July 2010); House of Representatives - last held 11 September 2005 (next election by September 2009) election results: House of Councillors - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - DPJ 109, LDP 83, Komeito 20, JCP 7, SDP 5, others 18 House of Representatives - percent of vote by party (in single-seat constituencies) - LDP 47.8%, DPJ 36.4%, others 15.8%; seats by party - LDP 296, DPJ 113, Komeito 31, JCP 9, SDP 7, others 24 (2007)
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 71.92 years male: 69.18 years female: 74.8 years (2007 est.)	total population: 82.02 years male: 78.67 years female: 85.56 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: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (2002)
Location	Eastern Asia, northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan, between China and South Korea	Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula
Map references	Asia	Asia
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: 12 nm; between 3 nm and 12 nm in the international straits - La Perouse or Soya, Tsugaru, Osumi, and Eastern and Western Channels of the Korea or Tsushima Strait contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic 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)	total: 676 ships (1000 GRT or over) 10,386,894 GRT/11,689,142 DWT by type: bulk carrier 131, cargo 29, carrier 3, chemical tanker 23, container 10, liquefied gas 58, passenger 14, passenger/cargo 142, petroleum tanker 157, refrigerated cargo 2, roll on/roll off 52, vehicle carrier 55 registered in other countries: 2,692 (Bahamas 62, Belize 2, Bermuda 1, Burma 3, Cambodia 3, Cayman Islands 6, China 2, Cyprus 19, France 5, Honduras 4, Hong Kong 78, Indonesia 5, Isle of Man 4, South Korea 1, Liberia 111, Malaysia 4, Malta 3, Marshall Islands 5, Mongolia 1, Norway 1, Panama 2,151, Philippines 69, Portugal 10, Singapore 108, Sweden 1, Thailand 4, UK 1, Vanuatu 28, unknown 2) (2007)
Military branches	North Korean People's Army: Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force; civil security forces (2005)	Japanese Defense Agency (JDA): Ground Self-Defense Force (Rikujou Jietai, GSDF), Maritime Self-Defense Force (Kaijou Jietai, MSDF), Air Self-Defense Force (Nihon Koku-Jieitai, ASDF) (2006)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	NA	0.8% (2006)
National holiday	Founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), 9 September (1948)	Birthday of Emperor AKIHITO, 23 December (1933)
Nationality	noun: Korean(s) adjective: Korean	noun: Japanese (singular and plural) adjective: Japanese
Natural hazards	late spring droughts often followed by severe flooding; occasional typhoons during the early fall	many dormant and some active volcanoes; about 1,500 seismic occurrences (mostly tremors) every year; tsunamis; typhoons
Natural resources	coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite, iron ore, copper, gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar, hydropower	negligible mineral resources, fish
Net migration rate	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Pipelines	oil 154 km (2007)	gas 8,015 km; oil 170 km; oil/gas/water 60 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)	Democratic Party of Japan or DPJ [Ichiro OZAWA]; Japan Communist Party or JCP [Kazuo SHII]; Komeito [Akihiro OTA]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Yasuo FUKUDA]; Social Democratic Party or SDP [Mizuho FUKUSHIMA]
Political pressure groups and leaders	none	NA
Population	23,301,725 (July 2007 est.)	127,433,494 (July 2007 est.)
Population below poverty line	NA%	NA%
Population growth rate	0.785% (2007 est.)	-0.088% (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 215 (plus 370 repeaters), FM 89 (plus 485 repeaters), shortwave 21 (2001)
Railways	total: 5,235 km standard gauge: 5,235 km 1.435-m gauge (3,500 km electrified) (2006)	total: 23,474 km standard gauge: 3,204 km 1.435-m gauge (3,204 km electrified) narrow gauge: 77 km 1.372-m gauge (77 km electrified); 20,182 km 1.067-m gauge (13,334 km electrified); 11 km 0.762-m gauge (11 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	observe both Shinto and Buddhist 84%, other 16% (including Christian 0.7%)
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: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.055 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.014 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.732 male(s)/female total population: 0.953 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Suffrage	17 years of age; universal	20 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: excellent domestic and international service domestic: high level of modern technology and excellent service of every kind international: country code - 81; numerous submarine cables provide links throughout Asia, Australia, the Middle East, Europe, and US; satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region), and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions
Telephones - main lines in use	980,000 (2003)	55.155 million (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular	-	101.7 million (2006)
Television broadcast stations	4 (includes Korean Central Television, Mansudae Television, Korean Educational and Cultural Network, and Kaesong Television targeting South Korea) (2003)	211 (plus 7,341 repeaters); in addition, US Forces are served by 3 TV stations and 2 TV cable services (1999)
Terrain	mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys; coastal plains wide in west, discontinuous in east	mostly rugged and mountainous
Total fertility rate	2.05 children born/woman (2007 est.)	1.23 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate	NA%	4.1% (2006 est.)
Waterways	2,250 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2007)	1,770 km (seagoing vessels use inland seas) (2007)

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