An independent kingdom for much of its long history, 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 U.S.-backed Republic of Korea (ROK) in the southern portion by force, North Korea (DPRK), under its founder President Kim Il-so'ng, adopted a policy of ostensible diplomatic and economic "self-reliance" as a check against excessive Soviet or Communist Chinese influence.

The DPRK demonized the U.S. as the ultimate threat to its social system through state-funded propaganda, 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 his father's successor in 1980, assuming a growing political and managerial role until the elder KIM's death in 1994. After decades of economic mismanagement and resource misallocation, the DPRK since the mid-1990s has relied heavily on international aid to feed its population while continuing to expend resources to maintain an army of 1 million.

North Korea's long-range missile development, as well as its nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programs and massive conventional armed forces, are of major concern to the international community. In December 2002, following revelations that the DPRK was pursuing a nuclear weapons program based on enriched uranium in violation of a 1994 agreement with the U.S. to freeze and ultimately dismantle its existing plutonium-based program, North Korea expelled monitors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In January 2003, it 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." Beginning in August 2003, North Korea, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the US have participated in the Six-Party Talks aimed at resolving the stalemate over the DPRK's nuclear programs.

North Korea pulled out of the talks in November 2005. It test-fired ballistic missiles in July 2006 and tested a nuclear weapon in October 2006. In October 2006, the DRPK announced that it would return to the Six-Party Talks. The Talks reconvened in December 2006.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 23,301,725 (July 2007 est.)

---

Age structure: 0-14 years: 23.3% (male 2,758,826/female 2,679,093) 15-64 years: 68.1% (male 7,852,282/female 8,024,429) 65 years and over: 8.5% (male 709,599/female 1,277,496) (2007 est.)

---

Median age: total: 32.4 years male: 30.9 years female: 33.8 years (2007 est.)

---

Population growth rate: 0.785% (2007 est.)

---

Birth rate: 15.06 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

---

Death rate: 7.21 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

---

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

---

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.979 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.555 male(s)/female total population: 0.945 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

---

Infant mortality rate: total: 22.56 deaths/1,000 live births male: 24.2 deaths/1,000 live births female: 20.84 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

---

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 71.92 years male: 69.18 years female: 74.8 years (2007 est.)

---

Total fertility rate: 2.05 children born/woman (2007 est.)

---

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA

---

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA

---

HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA

---

Nationality: noun: Korean(s) adjective: Korean

---

Ethnic groups: racially homogeneous; there is a small Chinese community and a few ethnic Japanese

---

Religions: 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

---

Languages: Korean

---

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99%

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 shortages of spare parts. Industrial and power output have declined in parallel. Due in part to severe summer flooding followed by dry weather conditions in the fall of 2006, the nation has suffered its 12th year of food shortages because of on-going systemic problems, including a lack of arable land, collective farming practices, and chronic shortages of tractors and fuel. Massive international food aid deliveries have allowed the people of North Korea to escape mass starvation since famine threatened in 1995, but the population continues to suffer from prolonged malnutrition and poor living conditions. Large-scale military spending eats up resources needed for investment and civilian consumption. In 2004, the regime formalized an arrangement whereby private "farmers' markets" were allowed to begin selling a wider range of goods. It also permitted some private farming on an experimental basis in an effort to boost agricultural output. In October 2005, the regime reversed some of these policies by forbidding private sales of grains and reinstituting a centralized food rationing system. By December 2005, the regime terminated most international humanitarian assistance operations in North Korea (calling instead for developmental assistance only) and restricted the activities of remaining international and non-governmental aid organizations such as the World Food Program. External food aid now comes primarily from China and South Korea in the form of grants and long-term concessional loans. Firm political control remains the Communist government's overriding concern, which will likely inhibit the loosening of economic regulations.

---

GDP (purchasing power parity): $40 billion note: North Korea does not publish any reliable National Income Accounts data; the datum shown here is derived from purchasing power parity (PPP) GDP estimates for North Korea that were made by Angus MADDISON in a study conducted for the OECD; his figure for 1999 was extrapolated to 2006 using estimated real growth rates for North Korea's GDP and an inflation factor based on the US GDP deflator; the result was rounded to the nearest $10 billion (2006 est.)

---

GDP (official exchange rate): $NA (2006 est.)

---

GDP - real growth rate: 1.6% (2006 est.)

---

GDP - per capita (PPP): $1,800 (2006 est.)

---

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 30% industry: 34% services: 36% (2002 est.)

---

Labor force: 9.6 million

---

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 36% industry and services: 64%

---

Unemployment rate: NA%

---

Population below poverty line: NA%

---

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

---

Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%

---

Budget: revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA

---

Agriculture - products: rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pulses; cattle, pigs, pork, eggs

---

Industries: 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

---

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

---

Electricity - production: 21.71 billion kWh (2004)

---

Electricity - consumption: 20.19 billion kWh (2004)

---

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2004)

---

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2004)

---

Oil - production: 138.5 bbl/day (2004 est.)

---

Oil - consumption: 25,000 bbl/day (2004)

---

Oil - exports: NA bbl/day

---

Oil - imports: 23,520 bbl/day (2004 est.)

---

Oil - proved reserves: 0 bbl

---

Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

---

Natural gas - consumption: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

---

Exports: $1.34 billion f.o.b. (2005)

---

Exports - commodities: minerals, metallurgical products, manufactures (including armaments), textiles, agricultural and fishery products

---

Exports - partners: China 35%, South Korea 24%, Thailand 9%, Japan 9% (2005)

---

Imports: $2.72 billion c.i.f. (2005)

---

Imports - commodities: petroleum, coking coal, machinery and equipment, textiles, grain

---

Imports - partners: China 42%, South Korea 28%, Russia 9%, Thailand 8% (2005)

---

Debt - external: $12 billion (1996 est.)

---

Economic aid - recipient: $NA; note - approximately 350,000 metric tons in food aid, worth approximately $118 million, through the World Food Program appeal in 2004, plus additional aid from bilateral donors and non-governmental organizations

---

Currency (code): North Korean won (KPW)

---

Exchange rates: official: North Korean won per US dollar - 141 (2006), 170 (December 2004), 150 (December 2002), market: North Korean won per US dollar - 2,500-3,000 (December 2006)

---

Fiscal year: calendar year