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Compare Western Sahara (2005) - Korea, North (2004)
Compare Western Sahara (2005) z Korea, North (2004)
| Western Sahara (2005) | Korea, North (2004) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | none (under de facto control of Morocco) | 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: NA
15-64 years: NA 65 years and over: NA |
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 | fruits and vegetables (grown in the few oases); camels, sheep, goats (kept by nomads) | rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pulses; cattle, pigs, pork, eggs |
| Airports | 11 (2004 est.) | 78 (2003 est.) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (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: 8
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 3 (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: 266,000 sq km
land: 266,000 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 120,540 sq km
land: 120,410 sq km water: 130 sq km |
| Area - comparative | about the size of Colorado | slightly smaller than Mississippi |
| Background | Morocco virtually annexed the northern two-thirds of Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara) in 1976, and the rest of the territory in 1979, following Mauritania's withdrawal. A guerrilla war with the Polisario Front contesting Rabat's sovereignty ended in a 1991 UN-brokered cease-fire; a UN-organized referendum on final status has been repeatedly postponed. | 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 | NA births/1,000 population | 16.77 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Budget | revenues: NA
expenditures: NA, including capital expenditures of NA |
revenues: NA
expenditures: NA, including capital expenditures of NA |
| Capital | none | Pyongyang |
| Climate | hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore air currents produce fog and heavy dew | temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer |
| Coastline | 1,110 km | 2,495 km |
| Constitution | - | adopted 1948, completely revised 27 December 1972, revised again in April 1992 and September 1998 |
| Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Western Sahara former: Spanish Sahara |
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 | - | North Korean won (KPW) |
| Death rate | NA deaths/1,000 population | 6.99 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Debt - external | NA | $12 billion (1996 est.) |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | none | none (Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang represents the US as consular protecting power) |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | none | none; North Korea has a Permanent Mission to the UN in New York |
| Disputes - international | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, whose sovereignty remains unresolved - UN-administered cease-fire has remained in effect since September 1991, administered by the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), but attempts to hold a referendum have failed and parties thus far have rejected all brokered proposals | 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 | NA | $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 | Western Sahara depends on pastoral nomadism, fishing, and phosphate mining as the principal sources of income for the population. The territory lacks sufficient rainfall for sustainable agricultural production, and most of the food for the urban population must be imported. All trade and other economic activities are controlled by the Moroccan Government. Moroccan energy interests in 2001 signed contracts to explore for oil off the coast of Western Sahara, which has angered the Polisario. Incomes and standards of living in Western Sahara are substantially below the Moroccan level. | 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 | 83.7 million kWh (2002) | 27.91 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - production | 90 million kWh (2002) | 30.01 billion kWh (2001) |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: Sebjet Tah -55 m
highest point: unnamed location 463 m |
lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m
highest point: Paektu-san 2,744 m |
| Environment - current issues | sparse water and lack of arable land | water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water; water-borne disease; deforestation; soil erosion and degradation |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: none of the selected agreements
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 | Arab, Berber | racially homogeneous; there is a small Chinese community and a few ethnic Japanese |
| Exchange rates | Moroccan dirhams per US dollar - 8.868 (2004), 9.5744 (2003), 11.0206 (2002), 11.303 (2001), 10.6256 (2000) | 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 | none | 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 (2001) |
| Exports - commodities | phosphates 62% | minerals, metallurgical products, manufactures (including armaments); textiles and fishery products |
| Exports - partners | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts | South Korea 28.5%, China 28.4%, Japan 24.7% (2002) |
| Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
| Flag description | - | three horizontal bands of blue (top), red (triple width), and blue; the red band is edged in white; on the hoist side of the red band is a white disk with a red five-pointed star |
| GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $29.58 billion (2003 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA
industry: NA services: 40% (1996 est.) |
agriculture: 30.2%
industry: 33.8% services: 36% (2002 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - NA | purchasing power parity - $1,300 (2003 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | NA | 1% (2003 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 24 30 N, 13 00 W | 40 00 N, 127 00 E |
| Geography - note | the waters off the coast are particularly rich fishing areas | strategic location bordering China, South Korea, and Russia; mountainous interior is isolated and sparsely populated |
| Heliports | - | 19 (2003 est.) |
| Highways | total: 6,200 km
paved: 1,350 km unpaved: 4,850 km (1991 est) |
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 | NA (2001) |
| Imports - commodities | fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs | petroleum, coking coal, machinery and equipment; textiles, grain |
| Imports - partners | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts | China 39.7%, Thailand 14.6%, Japan 11.2%, Germany 7.6%, South Korea 6.2% (2002) |
| Independence | - | 15 August 1945 (from Japan) |
| Industrial production growth rate | NA | NA |
| Industries | phosphate mining, 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: NA
male: NA female: NA |
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) | NA | NA (2003 est.) |
| International organization participation | none | 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 | - | Central Court (judges are elected by the Supreme People's Assembly) |
| Labor force | 12,000 | 9.6 million |
| Labor force - by occupation | animal husbandry and subsistence farming 50% | agricultural 36%, nonagricultural 64% |
| Land boundaries | total: 2,046 km
border countries: Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km, Morocco 443 km |
total: 1,673 km
border countries: China 1,416 km, South Korea 238 km, Russia 19 km |
| Land use | arable land: 0.02%
permanent crops: 0% other: 99.98% (2001) |
arable land: 20.76%
permanent crops: 2.49% other: 76.75% (2001) |
| Languages | Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic | Korean |
| Legal system | - | 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 | - | 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: NA years
male: NA years female: NA years |
total population: 71.08 years
male: 68.38 years female: 73.92 years (2004 est.) |
| Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% |
| Location | Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Mauritania and Morocco | 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 | contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue | 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: 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 branches | - | Korean People's Army (includes Army, Navy, Air Force), Civil Security Forces |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $5,217.4 million (FY02) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 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 | - | Founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), 9 September (1948) |
| Nationality | noun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s)
adjective: Sahrawi, Sahrawian, Sahraouian |
noun: Korean(s)
adjective: Korean |
| Natural hazards | hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind can occur during winter and spring; widespread harmattan haze exists 60% of time, often severely restricting visibility | late spring droughts often followed by severe flooding; occasional typhoons during the early fall |
| Natural resources | phosphates, iron ore | coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite, iron ore, copper, gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar, hydropower |
| Net migration rate | - | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Pipelines | - | oil 154 km (2004) |
| Political parties and leaders | - | 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 | none | none |
| Population | 273,008 (July 2005 est.) | 22,697,553 (July 2004 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | NA | NA |
| Population growth rate | NA | 0.98% (2004 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Ad Dakhla, Cabo Bojador, Laayoune (El Aaiun) | Ch'ongjin, Haeju, Hungnam (Hamhung), Kimch'aek, Kosong, Najin, Namp'o, Sinuiju, Songnim, Sonbong (formerly Unggi), Ungsang, Wonsan |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) | 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 | Muslim | 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 | NA | 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 | none; a UN-sponsored voter identification campaign not yet completed | 17 years of age; universal |
| Telephone system | general assessment: sparse and limited system
domestic: NA international: country code - 212; tied into Morocco's system by microwave radio relay, tropospheric scatter, and satellite; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) linked to Rabat, Morocco |
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 | about 2,000 (1999 est.) | 1.1 million (2001) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 0 (1999) | NA |
| Television broadcast stations | NA | 38 (1999) |
| Terrain | mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast | mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys; coastal plains wide in west, discontinuous in east |
| Total fertility rate | NA children born/woman | 2.2 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | NA | NA (2003) |
| Waterways | - | 2,250 km
note: most navigable only by small craft (2004) |
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