North Korea is a country in Eastern Asia. Its capital is Pyongyang.
Asia and its surrounding regions. The dot marks Pyongyang; the mapped territory is highlighted in gold.
Natural Earth · locator mapNorth Korea is largely mountainous, with the highest terrain toward the north and more extensive plains in the west. River valleys provide important routes through the uplands. The country has coasts on both sides of the peninsula.
Mount Paektu, on the boundary with China, contains a volcanic crater lake. Mount Kumgang is known for rugged granite peaks and valleys nearer the east coast. These mountain landscapes contrast with the lower agricultural plains of the west.
Winters are long and cold. Summers are warmer, with much of the annual rainfall concentrated in the summer season.
Winters are cold, while summer brings much of the annual rainfall. Farming is concentrated where terrain and soils permit it, especially in plains and valleys. Forest cover and steep slopes influence runoff and erosion in upland areas.
Three horizontal bands of blue (top), red (triple-width), and blue; the red band is edged in white; on the left side of the red band is a white disk with a red five-pointed star
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A wooded trail winds through the eastern mountain landscape.
Photo: Uri Tours ( uritours.com ) · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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An aerial photograph shows the summit lake on the North Korea–China border.
Photo: Xu Yinhua · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Korean is the main language. North Korea calls its alphabet Chosŏn’gŭl; the same underlying alphabet is commonly called Hangul in South Korea.
Northern and southern standard Korean differ in some vocabulary, spelling conventions and preferred expressions. Both retain the same underlying alphabet and a shared linguistic history.
Japanese colonial rule over Korea ended in 1945, after which the peninsula was divided into Soviet and US occupation zones. Separate states formed in 1948. The Korean War began in 1950 and ended in a 1953 armistice, leaving the peninsula divided without a peace treaty.
A state-directed economy includes mining, manufacturing and agriculture. Sanctions, limited international trade and restricted data access make economic comparisons difficult.
military products; machine building, electric power, chemicals; mining (coal, iron ore, limestone, magnesite, graphite, copper, zinc, lead, and precious metals), metallurgy; textiles, food processing; tourism
Population estimates may be revised. Selected years are shown.
Sources: World Bank · Population
| Year | People | Millions of people |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 15,172,775 | 15.173 |
| 1980 | 18,236,786 | 18.237 |
| 1990 | 21,112,137 | 21.112 |
| 2000 | 23,665,910 | 23.666 |
| 2010 | 24,987,258 | 24.987 |
| 2020 | 26,136,312 | 26.136 |
| 2025 | 26,571,036 | 26.571 |
One-party state led by the Workers’ Party of Korea, with power concentrated in the national leadership. The Supreme People’s Assembly is the formal national legislature.
Three questions about North Korea.
Sources: CIA World Factbook · archived profile
Prepared 24 September 2026. World Bank series: SP.POP.TOTL (persons) and NY.GDP.MKTP.KD (constant 2015 US dollars); downloaded 24 September 2026, provider update 13 July 2026. UNDP values use the 2025 report and 2023 observation year. These are dated statistical snapshots, not live population or economic counters.
Maps use Natural Earth geographic data. Background geography, flag descriptions and selected historical facts use archived public-domain CIA World Factbook profiles, supplemented by the sources linked above. The Factbook is no longer updated; dated statistics here come from the separately named providers.
