Compare Northern Mariana Islands (2003) - Korea, North (2005)

Compare Northern Mariana Islands (2003) z Korea, North (2005)

	Northern Mariana Islands (2003)	Korea, North (2005)

Administrative divisions	none (commonwealth in political union with the US); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are four municipalities at the second order; Northern Islands, Rota, Saipan, Tinian	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)
Age structure	0-14 years: 23.3% (male 9,483; female 9,168) 15-64 years: 74.8% (male 27,839; female 32,041) 65 years and over: 1.8% (male 748; female 727) (2003 est.)	0-14 years: 24.2% (male 2,816,844/female 2,735,478) 15-64 years: 67.9% (male 7,668,581/female 7,883,267) 65 years and over: 7.9% (male 625,819/female 1,182,188) (2005 est.)
Agriculture - products	coconuts, fruits, vegetables; cattle	rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pulses; cattle, pigs, pork, eggs
Airports	6 (2002)	78 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 (2002)	total: 35 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 23 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 3 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 under 914 m: 2 (2002)	total: 43 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 20 914 to 1,523 m: 14 under 914 m: 8 (2004 est.)
Area	total: 477 sq km land: 477 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes 14 islands including Saipan, Rota, and Tinian	total: 120,540 sq km land: 120,410 sq km water: 130 sq km
Area - comparative	2.5 times the size of Washington, DC	slightly smaller than Mississippi
Background	Under US administration as part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific, the people of the Northern Mariana Islands decided in the 1970s not to seek independence but instead to forge closer links with the US. Negotiations for territorial status began in 1972. A covenant to establish a commonwealth in political union with the US was approved in 1975. A new government and constitution went into effect in 1978.	An independent kingdom under Chinese suzerainty for most of the past millennium, Korea was occupied by Japan in 1905 following the Russo-Japanese War; five years later, Japan formally annexed the entire peninsula. Following World War II, Korea was split with the northern half coming under Soviet-sponsored Communist domination. After failing in the Korean War (1950-53) to conquer the US-backed republic in the southern portion by force, North Korea, under its founder President KIM Il Sung, adopted a policy of ostensible diplomatic and economic "self-reliance" as a check against excessive Soviet or Communist Chinese influence. It molded political, economic, and military policies around the core ideological objective of eventual unification of Korea under Pyongyang's control. KIM's son, the current ruler KIM Jong Il, was officially designated as KIM's successor in 1980 and assumed a growing political and managerial role until his father's death in 1994. He assumed full power without opposition. After decades of economic mismanagement and resource misallocation, the North since the mid-1990s has relied heavily on international aid to feed its population while continuing to expend resources to maintain an army of about 1 million. North Korea's long-range missile development and research into nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and massive conventional armed forces are of major concern to the international community. In December 2002, following revelations it was pursuing a nuclear weapons program based on enriched uranium in violation of a 1994 agreement with the United States to freeze and ultimately dismantle its existing plutonium-based program, North Korea expelled monitors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). 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." From August 2003, North Korea has participated on and off in six-party talks with the China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the United States to resolve the stalemate over its nuclear programs.
Birth rate	19.97 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)	16.09 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Budget	revenues: $193 million expenditures: $223 million, including capital expenditures of NA (FY 01/02 est.)	revenues: NA expenditures: NA, including capital expenditures of NA
Capital	Saipan	Pyongyang
Climate	tropical marine; moderated by northeast trade winds, little seasonal temperature variation; dry season December to June, rainy season July to October	temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer
Coastline	1,482 km	2,495 km
Constitution	Covenant Agreement effective 4 November 1986 and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands effective 1 January 1978	adopted 1948; completely revised 27 December 1972, revised again in April 1992, and September 1998
Country name	conventional long form: Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands conventional short form: Northern Mariana Islands former: Mariana Islands District (Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands)	conventional long form: Democratic People's Republic of Korea conventional short form: North Korea local long form: Choson-minjujuui-inmin-konghwaguk local short form: none note: the North Koreans generally use the term "Choson" to refer to their country abbreviation: DPRK
Currency	US dollar (USD)	-
Death rate	2.44 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)	7.05 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Debt - external	$NA	$12 billion (1996 est.)
Dependency status	commonwealth in political union with the US; federal funds to the Commonwealth administered by the US Department of the Interior, Office of Insular Affairs	-
Diplomatic representation from the US	-	none (Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang represents the US as consular protecting power)
Diplomatic representation in the US	-	none; North Korea has a Permanent Mission to the UN in New York
Disputes - international	none	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)
Economic aid - recipient	extensive funding from US	NA; note - over $117 million in food aid through the World Food Program in 2003 plus additional aid from bilateral donors and non-governmental organizations
Economy - overview	The economy benefits substantially from financial assistance from the US. The rate of funding has declined as locally generated government revenues have grown. The key tourist industry employs about 50% of the work force and accounts for roughly one-fourth of GDP. Japanese tourists predominate. Annual tourist entries have exceeded one-half million in recent years, but financial difficulties in Japan have caused a temporary slowdown. The agricultural sector is made up of cattle ranches and small farms producing coconuts, breadfruit, tomatoes, and melons. Garment production is by far the most important industry with employment of 17,500 mostly Chinese workers and sizable shipments to the US under duty and quota exemptions.	North Korea, one of the world's most centrally planned and isolated economies, faces desperate economic conditions. Industrial capital stock is nearly beyond repair as a result of years of underinvestment and spare parts shortages. Industrial and power output have declined in parallel. The nation has suffered its eleventh year of food shortages because of a lack of arable land, collective farming, weather-related problems, and chronic shortages of fertilizer and fuel. Massive international food aid deliveries have allowed the regime to escape mass starvation since 1995, but the population remains the victim of prolonged malnutrition and deteriorating living conditions. Large-scale military spending eats up resources needed for investment and civilian consumption. In July 2002, the government took limited steps toward a freer market economy. In 2004, heightened political tensions with key donor countries and general donor fatigue threatened the flow of desperately needed food aid and fuel aid. Black market prices have continued to rise following the increase in official prices and wages in the summer of 2002, leaving some vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and unemployed, less able to buy goods. In 2004, the regime allowed private markets to sell a wider range of goods and permitted private farming on an experimental basis in an effort to boost agricultural output. Firm political control remains the Communist government's overriding concern, which will constrain any further loosening of economic regulations.
Electricity - consumption	NA kWh	31.26 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh	0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports	0 kWh	0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - production	NA kWh	33.62 billion kWh (2002)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Agrihan 965 m	lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m highest point: Paektu-san 2,744 m
Environment - current issues	contamination of groundwater on Saipan may contribute to disease; clean-up of landfill; protection of endangered species conflicts with development	water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water; waterborne disease; deforestation; soil erosion and degradation
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	Chamorro, Carolinians and other Micronesians, Caucasian, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean	racially homogeneous; there is a small Chinese community and a few ethnic Japanese
Exchange rates	the US dollar is used	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)
Executive branch	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 Juan N. BABAUTA (since NA January 2002); Lieutenant Governor Diego T. BENEVENTE (since NA January 2002) cabinet: NA elections: US president and vice president elected on the same ticket for four-year terms; governor and lieutenant governor elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held NA November 2001 (next to be held NA November 2005) election results: Juan N. BABAUTA elected governor in a four-way race; percent of vote - Juan N. BABAUTA (Republican Party) 49%	chief of state: KIM Jong Il (since July 1994); note - on 3 September 2003, rubberstamp Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) reelected KIM Jong Il Chairman of the National Defense Commission, a position accorded nation's "highest administrative authority"; SPA reelected KIM Yong Nam President of its Presidium also with responsibility of representing state and receiving diplomatic credentials; SPA appointed PAK Pong Ju Premier head of government: Premier PAK Pong Ju (since 3 September 2003); Vice Premiers KWAK Pom Gi (since 5 September 1998), JON Sung Hun (since 3 September 2003), RO Tu Chol (since 3 September 2003) cabinet: Cabinet (Naegak), members, except for the Minister of People's Armed Forces, are appointed by the SPA elections: election last held in September 2003 (next to be held in September 2008) election results: KIM Jong Il and KIM Yong Nam were only nominees for positions and ran unopposed
Exports	$NA	NA
Exports - commodities	garments	minerals, metallurgical products, manufactures (including armaments); textiles and fishery products
Exports - partners	US (2000)	China 29.9%, South Korea 24.1%, Japan 13.2% (2004)
Fiscal year	1 October - 30 September	calendar year
Flag description	blue, with a white, five-pointed star superimposed on the gray silhouette of a latte stone (a traditional foundation stone used in building) in the center, surrounded by a wreath	three horizontal bands of blue (top), red (triple width), and blue; the red band is edged in white; on the hoist side of the red band is a white disk with a red five-pointed star
GDP	purchasing power parity - $900 million note: $900 million $900 million GDP estimate includes US subsidy (2000 est.)	-
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: NA%	agriculture: 30.2% industry: 33.8% services: 36% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita	purchasing power parity - $12,500 (2000 est.)	purchasing power parity - $1,700 (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	NA%	1% (2004 est.)
Geographic coordinates	15 12 N, 145 45 E	40 00 N, 127 00 E
Geography - note	strategic location in the North Pacific Ocean	strategic location bordering China, South Korea, and Russia; mountainous interior is isolated and sparsely populated
Heliports	1 (2002)	19 (2004 est.)
Highways	total: 362 km paved: NA km unpaved: NA km (1991)	total: 31,200 km paved: 1,997 km unpaved: 29,203 km (1999 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%	lowest 10%: NA highest 10%: NA
Illicit drugs	-	for years, from the 1970's into the 2000's, citizens of the Democratic People's Republic of (North) Korea (DPRK), many of them diplomatic employees of the government, were apprehended abroad while trafficking in narcotics, including two in Turkey in December 2004; in recent years, police investigations in Taiwan and Japan have linked North Korea to large illicit shipments of heroin and methamphetamine, including an attempt by the North Korean merchant ship Pong Su to deliver 150 kg of heroin to Australia in April 2003; all indications point to North Korea emerging as an important regional source of illicit drugs targeting markets in Japan, Taiwan, the Russian Far East, and China
Imports	$NA	11,500 bbl/day (2003 est.)
Imports - commodities	food, construction equipment and materials, petroleum products	petroleum, coking coal, machinery and equipment; textiles, grain
Imports - partners	US, Japan (2000)	China 32.9%, Thailand 10.7%, Japan 4.8% (2004)
Independence	none (commonwealth in political union with the US)	15 August 1945 (from Japan)
Industrial production growth rate	NA%	NA
Industries	tourism, construction, garments, handicrafts	military products; machine building, electric power, chemicals; mining (coal, iron ore, magnesite, graphite, copper, zinc, lead, and precious metals), metallurgy; textiles, food processing; tourism
Infant mortality rate	total: 5.52 deaths/1,000 live births male: 6.6 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.37 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)	total: 24.04 deaths/1,000 live births male: 25.77 deaths/1,000 live births female: 22.23 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	1.2% (1997 est.)	NA (2003 est.)
International organization participation	ESCAP (associate), Interpol (subbureau), SPC	ARF, FAO, G-77, ICAO, ICRM, IFAD, IFRCS, IHO, IMO, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)	1 (2001)	-
Irrigated land	NA sq km	14,600 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch	Commonwealth Supreme Court; Superior Court; Federal District Court	Central Court (judges are elected by the Supreme People's Assembly)
Labor force	6,006 total indigenous labor force; 2,699 unemployed; 28,717 foreign workers	9.6 million
Labor force - by occupation	NA	agricultural 36%, nonagricultural 64%
Land boundaries	0 km	total: 1,673 km border countries: China 1,416 km, South Korea 238 km, Russia 19 km
Land use	arable land: 15.22% permanent crops: 6.52% other: 78.26% (1998 est.)	arable land: 20.76% permanent crops: 2.49% other: 76.75% (2001)
Languages	English, Chamorro, Carolinian note: 86% of population speaks a language other than English at home	Korean
Legal system	based on US system, except for customs, wages, immigration laws, and taxation	based on German civil law system with Japanese influences and Communist legal theory; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch	bicameral Legislature consists of the Senate (9 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year staggered terms) and the House of Representatives (18 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve two-year terms) elections: Senate - last held 5 November 2001 (next to be held NA November 2003); House of Representatives - last held 1 November 2003 (next to be held NA November 2005) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Republican Party 4, Democratic Party 3, Reform Party 1, independent 1; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Covenant Party 9, Republican Party 7, Democratic Party 1, independent 1 note: the Northern Mariana Islands does not have a nonvoting delegate in the US Congress; instead, it has an elected official or "resident representative" located in Washington, DC; seats by party - Republican Party 1 (Pedro A. TENORIO)	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
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 76.16 years male: 73.06 years female: 79.44 years (2003 est.)	total population: 71.37 years male: 68.65 years female: 74.22 years (2005 est.)
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97% male: 97% female: 96% (1980 est.)	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99%
Location	Oceania, islands in the North Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines	Eastern Asia, northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan, between China and South Korea
Map references	Oceania	Asia
Maritime claims	exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM	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
Merchant marine	none (2002 est.)	total: 238 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 985,108 GRT/1,389,389 DWT by type: bulk carrier 13, cargo 191, container 2, livestock carrier 4, passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 13, refrigerated cargo 5, roll on/roll off 5 foreign-owned: 52 (China 1, Denmark 2, France 1, Greece 4, Italy 1, Lebanon 4, Lithuania 1, Netherlands 1, Pakistan 2, Romania 10, Russia 2, Singapore 2, South Korea 2, Syria 9, Turkey 6, Ukraine 1, UAE 3) (2005)
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)
Military expenditures - dollar figure	-	$5,217.4 million (FY02)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	-	NA
National holiday	Commonwealth Day, 8 January (1978)	Founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), 9 September (1948)
Nationality	noun: NA adjective: NA	noun: Korean(s) adjective: Korean
Natural hazards	active volcanoes on Pagan and Agrihan; typhoons (especially August to November)	late spring droughts often followed by severe flooding; occasional typhoons during the early fall
Natural resources	arable land, fish	coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite, iron ore, copper, gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar, hydropower
Net migration rate	16.11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Pipelines	-	oil 154 km (2004)
Political parties and leaders	Democratic Party [Dr. Carlos S. CAMACHO]; Republican Party [Benigno R. FITIAL]	major party - Korean Workers' Party or KWP [KIM Jong Il, general secretary]; minor parties - Chondoist Chongu Party [RYU Mi Yong, chairwoman] (under KWP control); Social Democratic Party [KIM Yong Dae, chairman] (under KWP control)
Political pressure groups and leaders	NA	none
Population	80,006 (July 2003 est.)	22,912,177 (July 2005 est.)
Population below poverty line	NA%	NA
Population growth rate	3.37% (2003 est.)	0.9% (2005 est.)
Ports and harbors	Saipan, Tinian	Ch'ongjin, Haeju, Hungnam (Hamhung), Kimch'aek, Kosong, Najin, Namp'o, Sinuiju, Songnim, Sonbong (formerly Unggi), Ungsang, Wonsan
Radio broadcast stations	AM 2, FM 3, shortwave 1 (1998)	AM 17 (including 11 stations of Korean Central Broadcasting Station), FM 14, shortwave 14 (2003)
Railways	0 km	total: 5,214 km standard gauge: 5,214 km 1.435-m gauge (3,500 km electrified) (2004)
Religions	Christian (Roman Catholic majority, although traditional beliefs and taboos may still be found)	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
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.87 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.03 male(s)/female total population: 0.91 male(s)/female (2003 est.)	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.53 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal; indigenous inhabitants are US citizens but do not vote in US presidential elections	17 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: NA domestic: NA international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean)	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
Telephones - main lines in use	21,000 (1996)	1.1 million (2001)
Telephones - mobile cellular	1,200 (1995)	NA
Television broadcast stations	1 (on Saipan and one station planned for Rota; in addition, two cable services on Saipan provide varied programming from satellite networks) (1997)	4 (includes Korean Central Television, Mansudae Television, Korean Educational and Cultural Network, and Kaesong Television targeting South Korea) (2003)
Terrain	southern islands are limestone with level terraces and fringing coral reefs; northern islands are volcanic	mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys; coastal plains wide in west, discontinuous in east
Total fertility rate	1.75 children born/woman (2003 est.)	2.15 children born/woman (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate	NA%	NA (2003)
Waterways	none	2,250 km note: most navigable only by small craft (2004)

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