Palau (2004) | Korea, North (2004) | |
![]() | ![]() | |
Administrative divisions | 16 states; Aimeliik, Airai, Angaur, Hatohobei, Kayangel, Koror, Melekeok, Ngaraard, Ngarchelong, Ngardmau, Ngatpang, Ngchesar, Ngeremlengui, Ngiwal, Peleliu, Sonsorol | 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: 26.6% (male 2,746; female 2,578)
15-64 years: 68.8% (male 7,456; female 6,319) 65 years and over: 4.6% (male 437; female 480) (2004 est.) |
0-14 years: 24.6% (male 2,836,991; female 2,755,127)
15-64 years: 67.8% (male 7,575,590; female 7,812,878) 65 years and over: 7.6% (male 583,463; female 1,133,504) (2004 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coconuts, copra, cassava (tapioca), sweet potatoes | rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pulses; cattle, pigs, pork, eggs |
Airports | 3 (2003 est.) | 78 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
total: 35
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 23 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 3 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 (2004 est.) |
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 (2003 est.) |
Area | total: 458 sq km
land: 458 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 120,540 sq km
land: 120,410 sq km water: 130 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly more than 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly smaller than Mississippi |
Background | After three decades as part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific under US administration, this westernmost cluster of the Caroline Islands opted for independence in 1978 rather than join the Federated States of Micronesia. A Compact of Free Association with the US was approved in 1986, but not ratified until 1993. It entered into force the following year, when the islands gained independence. | 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 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 KIM's future successor in 1980 and assumed a growing political and managerial role until his father's death in 1994, when 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 food 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), and in January 2003 declared its withdrawal from the international Non-Proliferation Treaty. In mid-2003 Pyongyang announced it had completed the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel rods (to extract weapons-grade plutonium) and was developing a "nuclear deterrent." Since August 2003 North Korea has participated in six-party talks with the United States, China, South Korea, Japan, and Russia to resolve the stalemate over its nuclear programs. |
Birth rate | 18.69 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 16.77 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $57.7 million
expenditures: $80.8 million, including capital expenditures of $17.1 million (FY98/99 est.) |
revenues: NA
expenditures: NA, including capital expenditures of NA |
Capital | Koror; note - a new capital is being built about 20 km northeast of Koror | Pyongyang |
Climate | Tropical; hot and humid; wet season May to November | temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer |
Coastline | 1,519 km | 2,495 km |
Constitution | 1 January 1981 | adopted 1948, completely revised 27 December 1972, revised again in April 1992 and September 1998 |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Palau
conventional short form: Palau local long form: Beluu er a Belau local short form: Belau former: Palau 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) | North Korean won (KPW) |
Death rate | 6.89 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 6.99 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Debt - external | $0 (FY99/00) | $12 billion (1996 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Francis J. RICCIARDONE, US ambassador to the Philippines is accredited to Palau
embassy: Koror (no street address) mailing address: P. O. Box 6028, Republic of Palau 96940 telephone: [680] 488-2920, 2990 FAX: [680] 488-2911 |
none (Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang represents the US as consular protecting power) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Hersey KYOTA
chancery: 1800 K Street NW, Suite 714, Washington, DC 20006 telephone: [1] (202) 452-6814 FAX: [1] (202) 452-6281 consulate(s): Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands) |
none; North Korea has a Permanent Mission to the UN in New York |
Disputes - international | border delineation disputes being negotiated with Philippines, Indonesia | with China, certain islands in Yalu and Tumen rivers are in uncontested dispute; a section of boundary around Paektu-san (mountain) is indefinite; China has been attempting to stop mass illegal migration of North Koreans escaping famine, economic privation, and oppression into northern China; Military Demarcation Line within the 4-km wide Demilitarized Zone has separated North from South Korea since 1953; periodic maritime disputes with South Korea |
Economic aid - recipient | $155.8 million ; note - the Compact of Free Association with the US, entered into after the end of the UN trusteeship on 1 October 1994, provides Palau with up to $700 million in US aid over 15 years in return for furnishing military facilities | $NA; note - over $133 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 consists primarily of tourism, subsistence agriculture and fishing. The government is the major employer of the work force, relying heavily on financial assistance from the US. Business and tourist arrivals numbered 50,000 in FY00/01. The population enjoys a per capita income twice that of the Philippines and much of Micronesia. Long-run prospects for the key tourist sector have been greatly bolstered by the expansion of air travel in the Pacific, the rising prosperity of leading East Asian countries, and the willingness of foreigners to finance infrastructure development. | 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 tenth 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 1995-96, 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 2003, heightened political tensions with key donor countries and general donor fatigue threatened the flow of desperately needed food aid and fuel aid as well. Black market prices 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. The regime, however, relaxed restrictions on farmers' market activities in spring 2003, leading to an expansion of market activity. |
Electricity - consumption | - | 27.91 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | - | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | - | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | - | 30.01 billion kWh (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Ngerchelchuus 242 m |
lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m
highest point: Paektu-san 2,744 m |
Environment - current issues | inadequate facilities for disposal of solid waste; threats to the marine ecosystem from sand and coral dredging, illegal fishing practices, and overfishing | water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water; water-borne disease; deforestation; soil erosion and degradation |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected 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 | Palauan (Micronesian with Malayan and Melanesian admixtures) 70%, Asian (mainly Filipinos, followed by Chinese, Taiwanese, and Vietnamese) 28%, white 2% (2000 est.) | 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 - 150 (December 2002), 2.15 (December 2001), 2.15 (May 1994), 2.13 (May 1992), 2.14 (September 1991), 2.1 (January 1990); market: North Korean won per US dollar - 300-600 (December 2002), 200 (December 2001) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Tommy Esang REMENGESAU, Jr. (since 19 January 2001) and Vice President Camsek CHIN (since 1 January 2005); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Tommy Esang REMENGESAU, Jr. (since 19 January 2001) and Vice President Camsek CHIN (since 1 January 2005); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet elections: president and vice president elected on separate tickets by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 2 November 2004 (next to be held November 2008) election results: Tommy Esang REMENGESAU, Jr. reelected president; percent of vote - Tommy Esang REMENGESAU, Jr. 64%, Polycarp BASILIUS 33%; Elias Camsek CHIN elected vice president; percent of vote - Elias Camsek CHIN 70%, Sandra PIERANTOZZI 29% |
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 | $18 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | shellfish, tuna, copra, garments | minerals, metallurgical products, manufactures (including armaments); textiles and fishery products |
Exports - partners | US, Japan, Singapore (2000) | South Korea 28.5%, China 28.4%, Japan 24.7% (2002) |
Fiscal year | 1 October - 30 September | calendar year |
Flag description | light blue with a large yellow disk (representing the moon) shifted slightly to the hoist side | 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 - $174 million
note: GDP estimate includes US subsidy (2001 est.) |
purchasing power parity - $29.58 billion (2003 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 - $9,000 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1,300 (2003 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 1% (2001 est.) | 1% (2003 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 7 30 N, 134 30 E | 40 00 N, 127 00 E |
Geography - note | westernmost archipelago in the Caroline chain, consists of six island groups totaling more than 300 islands; includes World War II battleground of Beliliou (Peleliu) and world-famous rock islands | strategic location bordering China, South Korea, and Russia; mountainous interior is isolated and sparsely populated |
Heliports | - | 19 (2003 est.) |
Highways | total: 61 km
paved: 36 km unpaved: 25 km |
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 | $99 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, fuels, metals; foodstuffs | petroleum, coking coal, machinery and equipment; textiles, grain |
Imports - partners | US, Guam, Japan, Singapore, Korea (2000) | China 39.7%, Thailand 14.6%, Japan 11.2%, Germany 7.6%, South Korea 6.2% (2002) |
Independence | 1 October 1994 (from the US-administered UN Trusteeship) | 15 August 1945 (from Japan) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA | NA |
Industries | tourism, craft items (from shell, wood, pearls), construction, garment making | 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: 15.3 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 17.07 deaths/1,000 live births female: 13.42 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
total: 24.84 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 26.59 deaths/1,000 live births female: 23 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.4% (2000 est.) | NA (2003 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, AsDB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IMF, IOC, MIGA, OPCW, PIF, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, WHO | ARF, FAO, G-77, ICAO, ICRM, IFAD, IFRCS, IHO, IMO, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 14,600 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; National Court; Court of Common Pleas | Central Court (judges are elected by the Supreme People's Assembly) |
Labor force | 9,845 (2000) | 9.6 million |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 20%, industry NA, services NA (1990) | 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: 8.7%
permanent crops: 4.35% other: 86.95% (2001) |
arable land: 20.76%
permanent crops: 2.49% other: 76.75% (2001) |
Languages | English and Palauan official in all states except Sonsoral (Sonsoralese and English are official), Tobi (Tobi and English are official), and Angaur (Angaur, Japanese, and English are official) | Korean |
Legal system | based on Trust Territory laws, acts of the legislature, municipal, common, and customary laws | 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 Parliament or Olbiil Era Kelulau (OEK) consists of the Senate (9 seats; members elected by popular vote on a population basis to serve four-year terms) and the House of Delegates (16 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 2 November 2004 (next to be held November 2008); House of Delegates - last held 2 November 2004 (next to be held November 2008) election results: Senate - percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 9 (four new members elected); House of Delegates - percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 16 (one new member elected) |
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; the KWP approves a list of candidates who are elected without opposition; some seats are held by minor parties |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 69.82 years
male: 66.67 years female: 73.15 years (2004 est.) |
total population: 71.08 years
male: 68.38 years female: 73.92 years (2004 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 92% male: 93% female: 90% (1980 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% |
Location | Oceania, group of islands in the North Pacific Ocean, southeast of 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 | territorial sea: 3 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm extended fishing zone: 200 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 | total: 203 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 921,577 GRT/1,339,929 DWT
by type: bulk 6, cargo 166, combination bulk 2, container 3, liquefied gas 1, livestock carrier 3, multi-functional large load carrier 1, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 11, refrigerated cargo 6, roll on/roll off 2, short-sea/passenger 1 foreign-owned: Albania 1, Belize 1, Bolivia 1, Cambodia 3, Cyprus 1, Egypt 3, Germany 1, Greece 4, Italy 1, Lebanon 2, Marshall Islands 1, Pakistan 1, Portugal 1, Romania 8, Saint Kitts and Nevis 1, Syria 9, Tanzania 1, Tunisia 1, Turkey 5, Ukraine 2, United States 3 registered in other countries: 4 (2004 est.) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the US; under a Compact of Free Association between Palau and the US, the US military is granted access to the islands for 50 years | - |
Military branches | no regular military forces; Police Force | Korean People's Army (includes Army, Navy, Air Force), Civil Security Forces |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | NA | $5,217.4 million (FY02) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA | 22.9% (2003) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 6,181,038 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 3,694,855 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 189,014 (2004 est.) |
National holiday | Constitution Day, 9 July (1979) | Founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), 9 September (1948) |
Nationality | noun: Palauan(s)
adjective: Palauan |
noun: Korean(s)
adjective: Korean |
Natural hazards | typhoons (June to December) | late spring droughts often followed by severe flooding; occasional typhoons during the early fall |
Natural resources | forests, minerals (especially gold), marine products, deep-seabed minerals | coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite, iron ore, copper, gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar, hydropower |
Net migration rate | 2.85 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Pipelines | - | oil 154 km (2004) |
Political parties and leaders | none | 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 | 20,016 (July 2004 est.) | 22,697,553 (July 2004 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA | NA |
Population growth rate | 1.46% (2004 est.) | 0.98% (2004 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Koror | Ch'ongjin, Haeju, Hungnam (Hamhung), Kimch'aek, Kosong, Najin, Namp'o, Sinuiju, Songnim, Sonbong (formerly Unggi), Ungsang, Wonsan |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 4, shortwave 1 (2002) | AM 16, FM 14, shortwave 12 (1999) |
Railways | - | total: 5,214 km
standard gauge: 5,214 km 1.435-m gauge (3,500 km electrified) (2003) |
Religions | Christian (Roman Catholics 49%, Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, the Assembly of God, the Liebenzell Mission, and Latter-Day Saints), Modekngei religion (one-third of the population observes this religion, which is indigenous to Palau) | 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: 1.07 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.18 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.91 male(s)/female total population: 1.14 male(s)/female (2004 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: 0.52 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 17 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: country code - 680; satellite earth station - 1 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 | 6,700 (2002) | 1.1 million (2001) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 1,000 (2002) | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (cable) (2005) | 38 (1999) |
Terrain | varying geologically from the high, mountainous main island of Babelthuap to low, coral islands usually fringed by large barrier reefs | mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys; coastal plains wide in west, discontinuous in east |
Total fertility rate | 2.46 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 2.2 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 2.3% (2000 est.) | NA (2003) |
Waterways | - | 2,250 km
note: most navigable only by small craft (2004) |