| Geography | North Korea |
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Location:
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Eastern Asia, northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan, between China and South Korea |
Geographic coordinates:
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40 00 N, 127 00 E |
Map references:
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Asia |
Area:
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total: 120,538 sq km
land: 120,408 sq km
water: 130 sq km |
Area - comparative:
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slightly smaller than Mississippi |
Land boundaries:
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total: 1,671.5 km
border countries: China 1,416 km, South Korea 238 km, Russia 17.5 km |
Coastline:
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2,495 km |
Maritime claims:
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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 |
Climate:
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temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer |
Terrain:
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mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys; coastal plains wide in west, discontinuous in east |
Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m
highest point: Paektu-san 2,744 m |
Natural resources:
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coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite, iron ore, copper, gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar, hydropower |
Land use:
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arable land: 22.4%
permanent crops: 1.66%
other: 75.94% (2005) |
Irrigated land:
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14,600 sq km (2008) |
Total renewable water resources:
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77.1 cu km (1999) |
Total renewable water resources - per capita:
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3,153 cubic meters per capita |
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
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total: 9.02 cu km/yr (20%/25%/55%)
per capita: 401 cu m/yr (2000) |
Natural hazards:
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late spring droughts often followed by severe flooding; occasional typhoons during the early fall
volcanism: Changbaishan (elev. 2,744 m) (also known as Baitoushan, Baegdu or P'aektu-san), on the Chinese border, is considered historically active |
Environment - current issues:
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water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water; waterborne disease; deforestation; soil erosion and degradation |
Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
Geography - note:
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strategic location bordering China, South Korea, and Russia; mountainous interior is isolated and sparsely populated |
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