24 Notable Facts About North Korea
Looking to boost your local knowledge? Take a look at these 24 facts about North Korea!
Geographical stats…
- North Korea is a beautiful and mountainous country in East Asia.
- It is officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
- 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.
- To explore this beautiful land for yourself, head for the coordinates of 40.0000° N, 127.0000° E.
- More than 80% of the terrain here is hilly and mountainous – wonderful!
- The total land area of North Korea is 46,541 square miles (120,540 square kilometres)…
- …that’s around half the size of the UK.
- North Korea’s population was 24,983,205 in 2015…
- …that’s almost half the UK population.
- Residents here are known as Koreans.
- 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.
- Koreans enjoy a temperate climate with long, cold winters and short, wet summers.
- Apparently, less than 3% of North Korea’s roads are paved!
Social intricacies
- The official language of North Korea is Korean.
- North Korean Won is the official currency here.
- Koreans live for an average of 70 years.
- 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!
- Fancy a new haircut? In North Korea you must choose from 28 state-approved haircuts!
- If you commit a crime in North Korea, not only will you be punished, but so will your parents, grandparents and children!
- North Korea boasts one of the largest militaries in the world!
Industry insights…
- North Korea grows corn, rice, soybeans, potatoes and pulses; they also rear cattle, pigs and poultry.
- Its industry comprises of machine building, military products, chemicals, electric power, mining, metallurgy, tourism, food processing and textiles.
- The main exports consist of minerals, manufactures, textiles, metallurgical products, agricultural products and fishery products.
Bonus Fact!
- 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.