North Korea - Tourism and Travel

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) (in Korean 조선 민주주의 인민 공화국, Choson-minjujuui-inmin-konghwaguk), informally called North Korea to distinguish it from South Korea, is a country in east Asia.

It occupies the northern portion of the Korean Peninsula, located east of the People's Republic of China, between Japan and the Yellow Seas.

North Korea has an area of 46,540 square miles (10,538 square kilometers) and a population of about 24 million.

Most of North Korea is mountainous. There are plains in the southwest and along the coasts. Most of the people live in cities along the coastal plains.

The climate of North Korea is hot and wet in the summer and cold and dry in the winter.

North Korea is a communist country led by one political party, the Korean Workers Party. It has a centrally planned economy. The production of literature and art are controlled by the state.

Pyongyang is North Korea's capital and largest city.

About one third of the North Korean people work in agriculture, which mostly mostly takes place on the southwestern plains. Most crops are grown on large cooperative farms.

Mining is an important industry. Irons, steel, lead, magnetite and zinc are exported.

North Korea is very isolated, economically. Its economy declined significantly after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

People have lived in the Korean Peninsula for around 700,000 years.

The peninsula was ruled by the Korean Empire from 1897 until it was annexed by Japan after the Russo-Japanese War of 1905.

In 1945, just after World War II, it was divided into two zones- the northern occupied by the Soviets and the southern by the United State.

North Korea refused to participate in the elections held in 1948 at United Nations auspices, which ultimately would create two separate governments in each of the occupied areas.

Both Koreas claimed ownership of the entire Korean Peninsula, which led to the Korean War in 1950. The signing of the armistice in 1953 ended the fighting. However, the two countries remain officially at war and still have not signed a peace treaty.

In recent years, North Korea's nuclear program has sparked controversy between among nuclear states. The United States is particularly concerned about North Korea's objectives for military development.

While the North Korean government argues that its development of nuclear weapons has a deterrent purpose and would be used for defense, the U.S. administration and European Union consider the possession of military nuclear material by North Korea to be illegal.

North Korea has the ability to manufacture nuclear weapons. In 2006, it tested a nuclear device making it the ninth nuclear power.

On May 25, 2009 North Korea successfully conducted a second nuclear test consisting of an underground explosion with a power of 20 kilotons. This test was performed about 15 kilometers from the first North Korean test center in Kilju, North Hamgyong Province, in the northeast. At the same time, North Korea launched at least three surface-to-air short range missiles.