24 Notable Facts About North Korea

Looking to boost your local knowledge? Take a look at these 24 facts about North Korea!

Geographical stats…

1. North Korea is a beautiful and mountainous country in East Asia.
2. It is officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
3. This country is bordered by China to the north, Russia to the northeast and South Korea to the south. It also has a coastline along the East China Sea to the west and Sea of Japan to the east.
4. To explore this beautiful land for yourself, head for the coordinates of 40.0000° N, 127.0000° E.
5. More than 80% of the terrain here is hilly and mountainous – wonderful!
6. The total land area of North Korea is 46,541 square miles (120,540 square kilometres)…
7. …that’s around half the size of the UK.
8. North Korea’s population was 24,983,205 in 2015…
9. …that’s almost half the UK population.
10. Residents here are known as Koreans.
11. The capital is Pyongyang; it covers an area of 1,233 square miles (3,194 square kilometres) and had a population of 2,863,000 in 2015.
12. Koreans enjoy a temperate climate with long, cold winters and short, wet summers.
13. Apparently, less than 3% of North Korea’s roads are paved!

Social intricacies

14. The official language of North Korea is Korean.
15. North Korean Won is the official currency here.
16. Koreans live for an average of 70 years.
17. North Korea uses the Juche calendar which follows the Gregorian calendar, however, it starts in 1912; the birth year of Kim Il Sung, a previous leader of North Korea. That means that 2015 is actually 104!
18. Fancy a new haircut? In North Korea you must choose from 28 state-approved haircuts!
19. If you commit a crime in North Korea, not only will you be punished, but so will your parents, grandparents and children!
20. North Korea boasts one of the largest militaries in the world!

Industry insights…

21. North Korea grows corn, rice, soybeans, potatoes and pulses; they also rear cattle, pigs and poultry.
22. Its industry comprises of machine building, military products, chemicals, electric power, mining, metallurgy, tourism, food processing and textiles.
23. The main exports consist of minerals, manufactures, textiles, metallurgical products, agricultural products and fishery products.

Bonus Fact!

24. Do you know someone lucky enough to live in North Korea? You can make cheap calls to North Korea with Cherry Call – don’t forget, you’ll also need to use the international dialling code of 00850.

To keep up-to-date with what’s going on in North Korea, head over to the NK News website.