Swaziland (2001) | Korea, North (2002) | |
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Administrative divisions | 4 districts; Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini, Shiselweni | 9 provinces (do, singular and plural) and 4 special cities* (si, singular and plural); Chagang-do (Chagang Province), Hamgyong-bukto (North Hamgyong Province), Hamgyong-namdo (South Hamgyong Province), Hwanghae-bukto (North Hwanghae Province), Hwanghae-namdo (South Hwanghae Province), Kaesong-si* (Kaesong City), Kangwon-do (Kangwon Province), Najin Sonbong-si*, Namp'o-si* (Namp'o City), P'yongan-bukto (North P'yongan Province), P'yongan-namdo (South P'yongan Province), P'yongyang-si* (Pyongyang City), Yanggang-do (Yanggang Province) |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
45.53% (male 250,327; female 252,479) 15-64 years: 51.88% (male 276,186; female 296,728) 65 years and over: 2.59% (male 11,687; female 16,936) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 25.4% (male 2,888,478; female 2,747,133)
15-64 years: 67.4% (male 7,380,183; female 7,612,275) 65 years and over: 7.2% (male 527,256; female 1,068,870) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | sugarcane, cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus, pineapples, sorghum, peanuts; cattle, goats, sheep | rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pulses; cattle, pigs, pork, eggs |
Airports | 18 (2000 est.) | 87 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 39
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 26 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
17 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 10 (2000 est.) |
total: 48
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 24 914 to 1,523 m: 13 under 914 m: 8 (2002) |
Area | total:
17,363 sq km land: 17,203 sq km water: 160 sq km |
total: 120,540 sq km
land: 120,410 sq km water: 130 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than New Jersey | slightly smaller than Mississippi |
Background | Autonomy for the Swazis of southern Africa was guaranteed by the British in the late 19th century; independence was granted 1968. Student and labor unrest during the 1990s have pressured the monarchy (one of the oldest on the continent) to grudgingly allow political reform and greater democracy. | Following World War II, Korea was split with the northern half coming under Communist domination and the southern portion becoming Western oriented. KIM Chong-il has ruled North Korea since his father and the country's founder, president KIM Il-song, died in 1994. After decades of mismanagement, the North relies 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, North Korea repudiated a 1994 agreement that shut down its nuclear reactors and expelled UN monitors, further raising fears it would produce nuclear weapons. |
Birth rate | 40.12 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 17.95 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$400 million expenditures: $450 million, including capital expenditures of $115 million (FY96/97) |
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA |
Capital | Mbabane; note - Lobamba is the royal and legislative capital | Pyongyang |
Climate | varies from tropical to near temperate | temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 2,495 km |
Constitution | none; constitution of 6 September 1968 was suspended 12 April 1973; a new constitution was promulgated 13 October 1978, but was not formally presented to the people; since then a few more outlines for a constitution have been compiled under the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC), but so far none have been accepted | adopted 1948, completely revised 27 December 1972, revised again in April 1992 and September 1998 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Kingdom of Swaziland conventional short form: Swaziland |
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 | lilangeni (SZL) | North Korean won (KPW) |
Death rate | 21.84 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 6.96 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $281 million (2000 est.) | $12 billion (1996 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Gregory L. JOHNSON embassy: Central Bank Building, Warner Street, Mbabane mailing address: P. O. Box 199, Mbabane telephone: [268] 404-6441 through 404-6445 FAX: [268] 404-5959 |
none (Swedish Embassy in P'yongyang represents the US as consular protecting power) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Mary Madzandza KANYA chancery: 3400 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 362-6683 FAX: [1] (202) 244-8059 |
none; note - North Korea has a Permanent Mission to the UN in New York |
Disputes - international | Swaziland has asked South Africa to open negotiations on reincorporating some nearby South African territories that are populated by ethnic Swazis or that were long ago part of the Swazi Kingdom | 33-km section of boundary with China in the Paektu-san (mountain) area is indefinite; Demarcation Line with South Korea |
Economic aid - recipient | $55 million (1995) | $NA; note - nearly $300 million in food aid alone from US, South Korea, Japan, and EU in 2001 plus much additional aid from the UN and non-governmental organizations |
Economy - overview | In this small landlocked economy, subsistence agriculture occupies more than 60% of the population. Manufacturing features a number of agroprocessing factories. Mining has declined in importance in recent years: diamond mines have shut down because of the depletion of easily accessible reserves; high-grade iron ore deposits were depleted by 1978; and health concerns have cut world demand for asbestos. Exports of soft drink concentrate, sugar, and wood pulp are the main earners of hard currency. Surrounded by South Africa, except for a short border with Mozambique, Swaziland is heavily dependent on South Africa from which it receives four-fifths of its imports and to which it sends two-thirds of its exports. Remittances from the Southern African Customs Union and Swazi workers in South African mines substantially supplement domestically earned income. The government is trying to improve the atmosphere for foreign investment. Overgrazing, soil depletion, drought, and sometimes floods persist as problems for the future. Prospects for 2001 are strengthened by government millennium projects for a new convention center, additional hotels, an amusement park, a new airport, and stepped-up roadbuilding and factory construction plans. | 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. Despite a good harvest in 2001, the nation faces its ninth year of food shortages because of a lack of arable land; collective farming; weather-related problems, including major drought in 2000; 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 vulnerable to prolonged malnutrition and deteriorating living conditions. Large-scale military spending eats up resources needed for investment and civilian consumption. Recently, the regime has placed emphasis on earning hard currency, developing information technology, addressing power shortages, and attracting foreign aid, but in no way at the expense of relinquishing central control over key national assets or undergoing widespread market-oriented reforms. In 2002, heightened political tensions with key donor countries and general donor fatigue have held down the flow of desperately needed food aid and threaten fuel aid as well. |
Electricity - consumption | 198 million kWh (1999) | 31.062 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 852 million kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 701 million kWh
note: supplied by South Africa (1999) |
0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | 375 million kWh (1999) | 33.4 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
53.33% hydro: 46.67% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
fossil fuel: 33%
hydro: 67% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Great Usutu River 21 m highest point: Emlembe 1,862 m |
lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m
highest point: Paektu-san 2,744 m |
Environment - current issues | limited supplies of potable water; wildlife populations being depleted because of excessive hunting; overgrazing; soil degradation; soil erosion | water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water; water-borne disease; deforestation; soil erosion and degradation |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: Desertification, Law of the Sea |
party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environmental Modification, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Law of the Sea |
Ethnic groups | African 97%, European 3% | racially homogeneous; there is a small Chinese community and a few ethnic Japanese |
Exchange rates | emalangeni per US dollar - 7.7803 (January 2001), 6.9056 (2000), 6.1087 (1999), 5.4807 (1998), 4.6032 (1997), 4.2706 (1996); note - the Swazi lilangeni is at par with the South African rand; emalangeni is the plural form of lilangeni | official: North Korean won per US dollar - 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 - 200 (December 2001) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
King MSWATI III (since 25 April 1986) head of government: Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas DLAMINI (since 9 August 1996) cabinet: Cabinet recommended by the prime minister and confirmed by the monarch elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; prime minister appointed by the monarch |
chief of state: KIM Chong-il (since NA July 1994); note - in September 1998, KIM Chong-il was reelected Chairman of the National Defense Commission, a position accorded the nation's "highest administrative authority"; KIM Yong-nam was named President of the Supreme People's Assembly Presidium and given the responsibility of representing the state and receiving diplomatic credentials
head of government: Premier HONG Song-nam (since 5 September 1998); Vice Premiers CHO Ch'ang-tok (since NA), KWAK Pom-ki (since NA), Sin IL-nam (since NA April 2002) cabinet: Cabinet (Naegak), members, except for the Minister of People's Armed Forces, are appointed by the Supreme People's Assembly elections: premier elected by the Supreme People's Assembly; election last held NA September 1998 (next to be held NA) election results: HONG Song-nam elected premier; percent of Supreme People's Assembly vote - NA% |
Exports | $881 million (f.o.b., 2000) | $826 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Exports - commodities | soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and canned fruit | minerals, metallurgical products, manufactures (including armaments); textiles and fishery products |
Exports - partners | South Africa 65%, EU 12%, Mozambique 11%, US 5% (1998) | Japan 36.3%, South Korea 21.5%, China 5.2% (2000) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
Flag description | three horizontal bands of blue (top), red (triple width), and blue; the red band is edged in yellow; centered in the red band is a large black and white shield covering two spears and a staff decorated with feather tassels, all placed horizontally | 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 - $4.4 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $22 billion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
10% industry: 46% services: 44% (1998 est.) |
agriculture: 30%
industry: 32% services: 37% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $4,000 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.4% (2000 est.) | 1% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 26 30 S, 31 30 E | 40 00 N, 127 00 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; almost completely surrounded by South Africa | strategic location bordering China, South Korea, and Russia; mountainous interior is isolated and sparsely populated |
Highways | total:
3,000 km paved: 850 km unpaved: 2,150 km (1997) |
total: 31,200 km
paved: 1,997 km unpaved: 29,203 km (1996) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | $928 million (f.o.b., 2000) | $1.874 billion c.i.f. (2001 est.) |
Imports - commodities | motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals | petroleum, coking coal, machinery and equipment; textiles, grain |
Imports - partners | South Africa 84%, EU 5%, Japan 2%, Singapore 2% (1998) | China 26.7%, South Korea 16.2%, Japan 12.3% (2000) |
Independence | 6 September 1968 (from UK) | 15 August 1945 (from Japan) |
Industrial production growth rate | 3.7% (FY95/96) | NA% |
Industries | mining (coal and asbestos), wood pulp, sugar, soft drink concentrates | 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 | 109.19 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 22.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6.4% (2000 est.) | NA% |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ARF (dialogue partner), ESCAP, 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) | 3 (2000) | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 670 sq km (1993 est.) | 14,600 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | High Court; Court of Appeal; judges for both courts are appointed by the monarch | Central Court (judges are elected by the Supreme People's Assembly) |
Labor force | NA | 9.6 million |
Labor force - by occupation | private sector 70%, public sector 30% | agricultural 36%, nonagricultural 64% |
Land boundaries | total:
535 km border countries: Mozambique 105 km, South Africa 430 km |
total: 1,673 km
border countries: China 1,416 km, South Korea 238 km, Russia 19 km |
Land use | arable land:
11% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 62% forests and woodland: 7% other: 20% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 14.12%
permanent crops: 2.49% other: 83.39% (1998 est.) |
Languages | English (official, government business conducted in English), siSwati (official) | Korean |
Legal system | based on South African Roman-Dutch law in statutory courts and Swazi traditional law and custom in traditional courts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | 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 Libandla, an advisory body, consists of the Senate (30 seats - 10 appointed by the House of Assembly and 20 appointed by the monarch; members serve five-year terms) and the House of Assembly (65 seats - 10 appointed by the monarch and 55 elected by popular vote; members serve five-year terms)
elections: House of Assembly - last held 16 and 24 October 1998 (next to be held NA 2003) election results: House of Assembly - balloting is done on a nonparty basis; candidates for election are nominated by the local council of each constituency and for each constituency the three candidates with the most votes in the first round of voting are narrowed to a single winner by a second round |
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 26 July 1998 (next to be held NA 2003) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - the KWP approves a single list of candidates who are elected without opposition; minor parties hold a few seats |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
38.62 years male: 37.86 years female: 39.4 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 71.3 years
male: 68.31 years female: 74.44 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 76.7% male: 78% female: 75.6% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write Korean
total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (1990 est.) |
Location | Southern Africa, between Mozambique and South Africa | Eastern Asia, northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan, between China and South Korea |
Map references | Africa | Asia |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | 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 | - | total: 122 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 738,886 GRT/1,037,506 DWT
ships by type: bulk 4, cargo 102, combination bulk 1, multi-functional large-load carrier 1, passenger 2, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 6, refrigerated cargo 3, short-sea passenger 2 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Denmark 1, Greece 2, Pakistan 1, Singapore 1 (2002 est.) |
Military branches | Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force (Army), Royal Swaziland Police Force | Korean People's Army (includes Army, Navy, Air Force), Civil Security Forces |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $19.198 million (FY00/01) | $5,124.1 million (FY01) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 4.75% (FY00/01) | 31.3% (FY01) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
248,084 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 6,032,376 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
143,618 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 3,619,535 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 179,136 (2002 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 6 September (1968) | Founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), 9 September (1948) |
Nationality | noun:
Swazi(s) adjective: Swazi |
noun: Korean(s)
adjective: Korean |
Natural hazards | NA | late spring droughts often followed by severe flooding; occasional typhoons during the early fall |
Natural resources | asbestos, coal, clay, cassiterite, hydropower, forests, small gold and diamond deposits, quarry stone, and talc | coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite, iron ore, copper, gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar, hydropower |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Pipelines | - | crude oil 37 km; petroleum product 180 km |
Political parties and leaders | Imbokodvo National Movement or INM [leader NA]; Ngwane National Libertatory Congress or NNLC [Obed DLAMINI, president]; People's United Democratic Movement or PUDEMO [Mario MASUKU, president]; Swaziland National Front or SWANAFRO [Elmond SHONGWE, president]; Swaziland Progressive Party or SPP [J. J. NQUKU, president]; Swaziland United Front or SUF [Matsapa SHONGWE, leader]
note: political parties are banned by the constitution promulgated on 13 October 1978; illegal parties are prohibited from holding large public gatherings; the organizations listed are political associations |
Chondoist Chongu Party [YU Mi-yong, chairwoman]; Korean Social Democratic Party [KIM Yong-tae, chairman]; major party - Korean Workers' Party or KWP [KIM Chong-il, General Secretary] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 1,104,343
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001 est.) |
22,224,195 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA% |
Population growth rate | 1.83% (2001 est.) | 1.1% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | Ch'ongjin, Haeju, Hungnam (Hamhung), Kimch'aek, Kosong, Najin, Namp'o, Sinuiju, Songnim, Sonbong (formerly Unggi), Ungsang, Wonsan |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 7, FM 6 (2000) | AM 16, FM 14, shortwave 12 (1999) |
Radios | 155,000 (1997) | 3.36 million (1997) |
Railways | total:
297 km; note - includes 71 km which are not in use narrow gauge: 297 km 1.067-m gauge |
total: 5,000 km
standard gauge: 4,095 km 1.435-m gauge (3,500 km electrified; 159 km double-tracked) narrow gauge: 665 km 0.762-m gauge dual gauge: 240 km 1.435-m and 1.600-m gauges (three rails provide two gauges) (1996) |
Religions | Protestant 55%, Muslim 10%, Roman Catholic 5%, indigenous beliefs 30% | 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:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2001 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: 0.49 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age | 17 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
not a modern system domestic: system consists of carrier-equipped, open-wire lines and low-capacity, microwave radio relay international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: 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 | 33,500 (2000) | 1.1 million (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 30,000 (2000) | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 10 (2000) | 38 (1999) |
Terrain | mostly mountains and hills; some moderately sloping plains | mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys; coastal plains wide in west, discontinuous in east |
Total fertility rate | 5.82 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 2.22 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 22% (1995 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | none | 2,253 km
note: mostly navigable by small craft only |