Korea, North (continued)
Imports: $3.1 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities—petroleum, machinery and equipment, coking coal, grain; partners—USSR, Japan, China, FRG, Hong Kong, Singapore
External debt: $2.5 billion hard currency (1989)
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
Electricity: 6,440,000 kW capacity; 40,250 million kWh produced, 1,740 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: machine building, military products, electric power, chemicals, mining, metallurgy, textiles, food processing
Agriculture: accounts for about 25% of GNP and 36% of work force; principal crops—rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pulses; livestock and livestock products—cattle, hogs, pork, eggs; not self-sufficient in grain; fish catch estimated at 1.7 million metric tons in 1987
Aid: Communist countries (1970-88), $1.3 billion
Currency: North Korean won (plural—won); 1 North Korean won (Wn) = 100 chǒn
Exchange rates: North Korean won (Wn) per US$1—2.3 (December 1989), 2.13 (December 1988), 0.94 (March 1987), NA (1986), NA (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Railroads: 4,535 km total operating in
1980; 3,870 km 1.435-meter standard
gauge, 665 km 0.762-meter narrow gauge,
159 km double track; 3,175 km electrified;
government owned
Highways: about 20,280 km (1980); 98.5% gravel, crushed stone, or earth surface; 1.5% concrete or bituminous
Inland waterways: 2,253 km; mostly navigable by small craft only
Pipelines: crude oil, 37 km
Ports: Ch’ǒngjin, Haeju, Hungnam, Namp’o, Wonsan, Songnim, Najin
Merchant marine: 65 ships (1,000 GRT and over) totaling 437,103 GRT/663,835 DWT; includes 1 passenger, 1 short-sea passenger, 1 passenger-cargo, 56 cargo, 2 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 3 bulk, 1 combination bulk
Airports: 50 total, 50 usable; about 30 with permanent-surface runways; fewer than 5 with runways over 3,659 m; 20 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 30 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: stations—18 AM, no FM, 11 TV; 200,000 TV sets; 3,500,000 radio receivers; 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station
Defense Forces
Branches: Ministry of People's Armed
Forces (consists of the army, navy, and air
force)
Military manpower: males 15-49, 6,054,774; 3,699,088 fit for military service; 223,087 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: 22% of GNP (1987)
Korea, South
_Korea,_South.jpg)
See regional map VIII
Geography
Total area: 98,480 km²; land area: 98,190
km²
Comparative area: slightly larger than Indiana
Land boundary: 238 km with North Korea
Coastline: 2,413 km
Maritime claims:
- Territorial sea: 12 nm (3 nm in the Korea Strait)
Disputes: Demarcation Line with North Korea; Liancourt Rocks claimed by Japan
Climate: temperate, with rainfall heavier in summer than winter
Terrain: mostly hills and mountains; wide coastal plains in west and south
Natural resources: coal, tungsten, graphite, molybdenum, lead, hydropower
Land use: 21% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 1% meadows and pastures; 67% forest and woodland; 10% other; includes 12% irrigated
Environment: occasional typhoons bring high winds and floods; earthquakes in southwest; air pollution in large cities
Notes: strategic location along the Korea Strait, Sea of Japan, and Yellow Sea
People
Population: 43,045,098 (July 1990),
growth rate 0.8% (1990)
Birth rate: 20 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: -1 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 23 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 66 years male, 73 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 1.6 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun—Korean(s); adjective—Korean
