Democratic People's Republic of North Korea

Democratic People's Republic of North Korea


Current President	Kim Il Sung


Capital	P'yongyang Panoramic view of P'yongyang and the Taedong River (It will take a few minutes to load this image, but it is worth the wait.)


Land	Korea sits on a penninsula that is covered by tree filled mountains. From 1910 - 1945 the Japanese cut down the forests of Korea. Forests were also damaged during the Korean war and illegal cutting after 1945. Programs to replant the forests have helped to heal the deforested land. Along the coast lines are more than 3,000 islands.

	Land Features
	Taedong River	Mt. Paektu	Korean Archipelago

Borders	China along the north	Pacific Ocean along the east	South Korea along the south	Yellow Sea along the west


Climate	The climate of North Korea is mostly temperate with large amount of summer rainfall. During the winters it is very dry and cold.





Population	21,968,228 (2001 census figure)


People	North Korean's religious groups are mostly Buddhist and Confucianist, but there are some Christian groups there. The primary language spoken in Korea is Korean.


Economy	North Korea has a stronger economy than it did while Kim Il Sung was the ruler of the Communist Party. Industry such as mineral mining brings wealth to North Korea. Most of the mineral resources like gold, iron ore, and coal are found in North Korea. Less than 20% of North Korea's land is flat enough to produce vegetables and other food. The coastal regions are best for farming. North Korea has depended on its communist friends to supply it with the food that it needs since it can not produce enough food for its citizens alone.


Government	North Korea is ruled by the Communist party, but is called a republic government. In 1948 North Korea adopted a constitution in 1948. The constitution was revised in 1972, 1992, and 1998. The legal system in Korea is similar to German civil law systems, but there are some Japanese and Communist theory in their laws. Premier HONG Song-nam is the head of the government in North Korea. There are 687 members of the Supreme People's Assembly which is Korea's legislative branch .The Supreme People's Assembly elects the judges of the judicial branch of government.


History	In 1941 after World War II Korea was split into two separate countries, North Korea and South Korea.. North Korea became a communist country and South Korea became more like a western government. The Communist Party that rules in North Korea is known as the "Workers Party". From 1949 to 1994 the Communist Party was led by Kim Il Sung who was called "The Great Leader". The people of North Korea almost worshiped Kim Il Sung and would march around with pictures of him on posters. During the 1990'd the economy of North Korea began to weaken and the hard times that the people suffered under his rule began to make them dislike Kim Il Sung. Kim Il Sung's son, Kim Jong Il, took his place as the leader of the Communist Party in 1994. After the Korean War Korea became an industrialized nation and used its natural resources to make their economy strong again. The industry of North Korea became socialized which meant that the people worked for the government and not independent businesses. North Korea kept up good relations with other Communist governments like Russia and China. The United States of America began to worry about North Korea's interest in building nuclear weapons and suspected that terrorists were training there. Sanctions were placed on North Korea to help slow down their ability to terrorize the world and threaten the use of nuclear weapons. North Korea agreed to stop working to build nuclear weapons in exchange for being allowed to import oil and some other goods.

Bibliography and Citations

Photographic Citations: Photographic citations can be found by moving your mouse over the picture.

Electronic Encyclopedia:http://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/07051NorthKorea.html
CIA Factbook: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/