North Korea with the capital city Pyongyang is located in Asia (Eastern Asia, northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan). It covers some 120,540 square kilometres (slightly smaller than Mississippi) with 22,912,177 citizens.

About the flag and history of North Korea

Three horizontal bands of blue (top), red (triple width), and blue; the red band is edged in white; on the hoist side of the red band is a white disk with a red five-pointed star; the broad red band symbolizes revolutionary traditions; the narrow white bands stands for purity, strength, and dignity; the blue bands signify sovereignty, peace, and friendship; the red star represents socialism.

An independent kingdom for much of its long history, Korea was occupied by Japan beginning 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 control. After failing in the Korean War (1950-53) to conquer the US-backed Republic of Korea (ROK) in the southern portion by force, North Korea (DPRK), under its founder President KIM Il Sung, adopted a policy of ostensible diplomatic and economic "self-reliance" as a check against outside influence. The DPRK demonized the US 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 Il Sung''s son, 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. KIM Jong Un was publicly unveiled as his father''s successor in September 2010. Following KIM Jong Il''s death in December 2011, the regime began to take actions to transfer power to KIM Jong Un and KIM has now assumed many his father''s former titles and duties. After decades of economic mismanagement and resource misallocation, the DPRK since the mid-1990s has relied heavily on international aid to feed its population. The DPRK began to ease restrictions to allow semi-private markets, starting in 2002, but then sought to roll back the scale of economic reforms in 2005 and 2009. North Korea''s history of regional military provocations; proliferation of military-related items; long-range missile development; WMD programs including tests of nuclear devices in 2006, 2009, and 2013; and massive conventional armed forces are of major concern to the international community.

National administrative regions of North Korea

• Chagang-do
• Gangwon
• Hamgyong-bukto
• Hamgyong-namdo
• Hwanghae-bukto
• Hwanghae-namdo
• Najin Sonbong-si
• North Korea (general)
• P'yongan-bukto
• P'yongan-namdo
• P'yongyang-si
• Yanggang-do

Geography Quick-Facts

List of current world heritage sites