Polity · 1948 CE – present
Democratic People's Republic of Korea
조선민주주의인민공화국 · 조선민주주의인민공화국 · Choson-minjujuui-inmin-konghwaguk
Also recorded as North Korea, DPRK
- Peak recorded area
- 129,479 km²
- 1948 CE
- Rulers on record
- 8
- from 1948 CE
- Data series
- 318
- 1948 CE–2025 CE
Overview
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu (Amnok) and Tumen rivers, and South Korea to the south at the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The country's western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eastern border is defined by the Sea of Japan.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
3 dated territorial extents on record from Cliopatria. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before the last complete year, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
6 of 54 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population219 obs · 1820 CE–2025 CE | 26.6Mpersons2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy165 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 73.86years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Net Migration141 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | -2,787persons2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Population Growth141 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 0.254% annual2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Female140 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 76.02years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Male140 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 71.66years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
Economy
6 of 91 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita PPP214 obs · 1800 CE–2013 CE | 1,392int'l $ (inflation adj.)2013 CE · Gapminder |
| GDP per capita68 obs · 1820 CE–2022 CE | 1,568.852011 int'l $2022 CE · Maddison Project Database 2023 |
| Total Exports67 obs · 1948 CE–2014 CE | 3,287.41million USD (current)2014 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Total Imports67 obs · 1948 CE–2014 CE | 4,879.31million USD (current)2014 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Trade Balance67 obs · 1948 CE–2014 CE | -1,591.9million USD (current)2014 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Trade Openness67 obs · 1948 CE–2014 CE | 8,166.73million USD (current)2014 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
Military
6 of 56 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Nuclear Warhead Stockpile77 obs · 1948 CE–2024 CE | 50count2024 CE · FAS Nuclear Notebook (via OWID) |
| CINC Score69 obs · 1948 CE–2016 CE | 0.0134CINC (share of world capability)2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Energy Consumption69 obs · 1948 CE–2016 CE | 12.4Mcoal-ton equivalents2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Iron Steel Production69 obs · 1948 CE–2016 CE | 1.3Mtons2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Personnel69 obs · 1948 CE–2016 CE | 1.2Mpersons2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Arms Imports Tiv Million61 obs · 1950 CE–2010 CE | 1tiv_million2010 CE · SIPRI Arms Transfers TIV |
Territory & resources
6 of 62 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Arable Land %126 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 19.06% of land area2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Coal Production117 obs · 1900 CE–2016 CE | 233.82TWh2016 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Forest Area %68 obs · 1990 CE–2023 CE | 49.55% of land area2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Agricultural Land %63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 21.55%2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Arable Land per capita Ha63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 0.0869hectares per person2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Fao Agricultural Land63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 2.6Mha2023 CE · FAOSTAT |
Governance
6 of 26 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Electoral Democracy Index80 obs · 1945 CE–2024 CE | 0.083index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Liberal Democracy Index80 obs · 1945 CE–2024 CE | 0.014index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Participatory Democracy Index80 obs · 1945 CE–2024 CE | 0.045index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Regime Type80 obs · 1945 CE–2024 CE | 0RoW index (0-3)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Rule Of Law Index80 obs · 1945 CE–2024 CE | 0.029index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Polity265 obs · 1948 CE–2012 CE | -10index (-10 to 10)2012 CE · Clio-Infra |
Development
6 of 29 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Freedom Of Expression Index80 obs · 1945 CE–2024 CE | 0.012index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Mobile Subscriptions Per 10050 obs · 1960 CE–2022 CE | 24.13per_1002022 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Dpt Immunization %45 obs · 1980 CE–2024 CE | 99%2024 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Measles Immunization %45 obs · 1980 CE–2024 CE | 99%2024 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Who Skilled Birth Attendance39 obs · 1985 CE–2023 CE | 66.9%2023 CE · WHO Global Health Observatory |
| Who Hepatitis B Immunization25 obs · 2000 CE–2024 CE | 99%2024 CE · WHO Global Health Observatory |
Rulers
8 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- Kim Il-sungHead of State1948 CE – 1994 CE
- Kim Jong-ilHead of State1994 CE – 2011 CE
- Pak Pong-juHead of Government2003 CE – 2007 CE
- Kim Yong-ilHead of Government2007 CE – 2010 CE
- Choe Yong-rimHead of Government2010 CE – 2013 CE
- Kim Jong-unHead of State2011 CE –
- Kim Jae-ryongHead of Government2019 CE –
- Pak Thae-songHead of Government2024 CE –
Country profile
From the CIA World Factbook 2024. Long entries are trimmed at a sentence boundary.
- Location
- Eastern Asia, northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan, between China and South Korea
- Government type
- dictatorship, single-party communist state
- Executive branch
- chief of state: State Affairs Commission President KIM Jong Un (since 17 December 2011); head of government: Supreme People's Assembly President CHOE Ryong Hae (since 11 April 2019); cabinet: Cabinet or Naegak members appointed by the Supreme People's Assembly, except the Minister of People's Armed Forces;
- Ethnic groups
- racially homogeneous; there is a small Chinese community and a few ethnic Japanese
- Natural resources
- coal, iron ore, limestone, magnesite, graphite, copper, zinc, lead, precious metals, hydropower
- Economy
- one of the last centrally planned economies; hard hit by COVID-19, crop failures, international sanctions, and isolationist policies; declining growth and trade, and heavily reliant on China; poor exchange rate stability; economic data integrity issues
Language & currency
- Official & national languages
- Korean
- Currency
- North Korean won (KPW)
Memberships
- Russia–North Korea Defense Pact (1961)Military alliance · member1961 CE – 1995 CE
- China–North Korea Defense Pact (1961)Military alliance · member1961 CE –
- United NationsUNInternational organisation · member1991 CE –
- North Korea–South Korea Non-Aggression Pact (1991)Historical alliance · member1991 CE –
- Russia–North Korea Entente (2000)Historical alliance · member2000 CE –
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
CIA World Factbook 2024
Clio-Infra2017 datasets
Clio-Infra project (2017). Reconstructions of global inequality and well-being. International Institute of Social History.
Academic use, attribution
Seshat Global History Databank. Cliopatria: a historical basemap of polity borders (cliopatria.geojson).
Correlates of War NMC v6.0v6.0
Singer, J.D. (1987). National Material Capabilities Data (NMC), v6.0. Correlates of War Project.
Free academic use, citation
Barbieri, K. & Keshk, O. (2016). Correlates of War Project Trade Data Set, v4.0.
Free academic use, citation
FAOSTAT2024 release
FAO (2024). FAOSTAT Statistical Database. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
CC BY 4.0
FAS Nuclear Notebook (via OWID)2024
Kristensen, H.M. et al., Federation of American Scientists Nuclear Notebook, via Our World in Data (2024).
CC BY 4.0 (OWID); underlying FAS data
Gapminderv14 / systema globalis
Gapminder Foundation. Gapminder systema globalis dataset.
CC BY 4.0
Maddison Project Database 20232023
Bolt, J. & van Zanden, J.L. (2024). Maddison Project Database 2023. University of Groningen GGDC.
CC BY 4.0
Our World in Data (2024). Energy dataset. Based on Energy Institute & Ember.
CC BY 4.0
SIPRI (2024). Arms Transfers Database (Trend-Indicator Values).
Free for non-commercial use, attribution
UN World Population Prospects 20242024
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024.
CC BY 3.0 IGO
V-Dem v15v15
Coppedge, M. et al. (2025). V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v15. Varieties of Democracy Project.
Free academic/non-commercial use, attribution
WHO Global Health Observatory2024
World Health Organization (2024). Global Health Observatory data repository.
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
World Bank World Development Indicators2024 release
World Bank (2024). World Development Indicators. Washington, DC.
CC BY 4.0
Democratic People's Republic of Korea is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.