All About North Korea

A country that is often a mystery to many people because of its isolation from the rest of the world is the Communist country of North Korea. At one time, South and North Korea was a single country and was part of Japan in 1910. Following the end of World War II, Korea was given to Russia and the United States.

Bordering North Korea to the north is China and a small part of the country borders Russia to its northeast. The country is situated between the Sea of Japan (east) and the Yellow Sea (west), part of the Pacific Ocean, and the island of Japan can be found nearly 600 miles east of North Korea.

The country was divided at the 38^th Parallel, which refers to the longitude line separating the two regions. The Soviets occupied the North and it became a Communist country, and the South became most a democratic country. There were many conflicts between the two countries and it led to the Korean War in 1950 and ending in 1953. A demilitarized zone was created at the 38^th Parallel and North Korea has mostly isolated itself from the rest of the world.

In North Korea, the army is first and above everything else in society, and the philosophy of its leader is that every citizen of the country is responsible for feeding their army. The leader is like a king or dictator and does whatever he wants as he lives in a palace. Many of the soldiers protect him wherever he goes within the country, and he rarely leaves the region.

North Korea is divided into none areas called provinces, plus there are two cities-its capital, Pyongyang and Rason, a city called a 'Special Economic Zone' where other countries could make money. The capital city is the country's largest with over 2.5 million people in 2016, with the country's total population at 25 million. The size of North Korea is about 46,000 square miles, which is the about the size of Pennsylvania in the United States.

Its terrain is mostly hills and mountains separated by narrow and deep valleys. The land of North Korea is made up of three main land regions: Eastern Coastal Lowland, Northern Mountains, and the Northwest Plain.

The Northern Mountains is the largest and includes three mountain ranges and home to the country's highest peak, Mount Paektu, which as an extinct volcano rising about 9,020 feet. It borders China. Only about one-fifth of the land, mostly in the Northwest Plain region, is suitable for farming (mostly rice), and where most of the country's population resides.

The mineral resources of the country include coal, gold, and several types of ore. In addition, their rivers are used for irrigation and hydroelectric power. Due to poor farming practices, erosion, foods, and drought, the farms of North Korea are not producing enough food for its people. North Korea relies heavily on international aid, and mostly because of its isolation the economy of the country as dramatically failed as it tries to become self-sufficient.

Finally, the people of North Korea have no freedom of speech or press like in democratic countries, and they mainly get their news from a government-controlled news agency called the Korean Central News Agency, which only broadcasts good news to the viewers making it appear that the country is doing well. The government blocks all access to the Internet and most North Koreans do not know what a computer is and have never seen or used one.