Map of North Korea

North Korea is located in eastern Asia, on the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. North Korea shares a border with three countries, including China along the Yalu River, Russia along the Tumen River, and South Korea along the DMZ. The Yellow Sea and the Korea Bay are off the west coast and the Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea) is off the east coast. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1608x2000, 1713 KB) North Korea CREATED/PUBLISHED [Washington, D.C. : Central Intelligence Agency, 1996] NOTES Relief shown by shading and spot heights. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1608x2000, 1713 KB) North Korea CREATED/PUBLISHED [Washington, D.C. : Central Intelligence Agency, 1996] NOTES Relief shown by shading and spot heights. ... Asia is the largest and most populous of the Earths continents. ... The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. ... The Yalu (Amnok) River is a river on the border between China and North Korea. ... The Tumen (Duman) River is a river in northeast Asia, on the border between China and North Korea in its upper reaches, and between North Korea and Russia in its lower stretches. ... Map of the Korean DMZ. The DMZ is given in red. ... ... The Korea Bay is located at the north of the Yellow Sea, between Liaoning Province of China and North Pyŏngan Province of North Korea. ... The Sea of Japan (East Sea) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. ...

Geographic coordinates: 40°00′N 127°00′E

Area

Land boundaries and coastline

Land boundaries: total 1,673 km.

Border countries: China 1,416 km, South Korea 238 km, Russia 19 km.

The Korean Peninsula extends for about 1,000 kilometers southward from the northeast Asian continental landmass. The 8,460 kilometer coastline of Korea is highly irregular, with North Korea's half of the peninsula having 2,495 kilometers of coastline. Some 3,579 islands lie adjacent to the Korean Peninsula, mostly along the south and west coasts. Korea is a country divided into two independent nations, South Korea and North Korea, whose people share history, language, and ethnicity. ...

Coastline: 2,495 km.

Maritime claims

The government of North Korea claims territorial waters extending twelve nautical miles (22.224 km) from shore. It also claims an exclusive economic zone 200 nautical miles (370.4 km) from shore. In addition, a maritime military boundary that lies fifty nautical miles (92.6 km) offshore in the Sea of Japan and 200 nautical miles (370.4 km) offshore in the Yellow Sea demarcates the waters and airspace into which foreign ships and planes are prohibited from entering without permission. In international maritime law, an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources. ... The Sea of Japan (East Sea) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. ... ...

Waters of the Yellow Sea are demarcated between North Korea and Soutn Korea by the disputed Northern Limit Line unilaterally drawn by the US military forces in early 1950s and not officially recognized by North Korea. Northern Limit Line or North Limit Line (NLL) is a disputed maritime demarcation line in the Yellow Sea between North Korea and South Korea. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about: United States Wikinews has news related to this article: United States United States government CIA World Factbook Entry for United States House. ...

Topography and Drainage

Korea

The terrain consists mostly of hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys. The coastal plains are wide in the west and discontinuous in the east. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1700x2300, 498 KB) Korea This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from May 1, 2003, shows southeastern China (top), North Korea (center) and South Korea (bottom). ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1700x2300, 498 KB) Korea This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from May 1, 2003, shows southeastern China (top), North Korea (center) and South Korea (bottom). ...

Elevation extremes

• Lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m
• Highest point: Paektusan 2,744 m

Early European visitors to Korea remarked that the country resembled a sea in a heavy gale because of the many successive mountain ranges that crisscross the peninsula. Some 80 percent of North Korea's land area is composed of mountains and uplands, with all of the peninsula's mountains with elevations of 2,000 meters or more located in North Korea. The great majority of the population lives in the plains and lowlands. The Sea of Japan (East Sea) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. ... Baitou (Paektu) Mountain is a mountain on the border between China and North Korea. ... A satellite composite image of Europe // Etymology Picture of Europa, carried away by bull-shaped Zeus. ... The most general definition of a mountain range is a group of mountains bordered by lowlands. ... Mount McKinley in Alaska has one of the largest visible base-to-summit elevation differences anywhere A mountain is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area. ...

The land around Paektusan near the China border is volcanic in origin and includes a basalt lava plateau with elevations of between 1,400 and 2,000 meters above sea level. The Hamgyŏng Range, located in the extreme northeastern part of the peninsula, has many high peaks including Kwanmosan at approximately 1,756 meters. Other major ranges include the Nangnim Mountains, which are located in the north-central part of North Korea and run in a north-south direction, making communication between the eastern and western parts of the country rather difficult; and the Kangnam Range, which runs along the North Korea-China border. Kŭmgangsan, or Diamond Mountain, (approximately 1,638 meters) in the T'aebaek Range, which extends into South Korea, is famous for its scenic beauty. Baitou (Paektu) Mountain is a mountain on the border between China and North Korea. ... This article is about volcanoes in geology. ... Basalt Basalt is an extrusive igneous rock, sometimes porphyritic, and is often both fine-grained and dense. ... Mountain range in north-central North Korea. ... Kŭmgangsan (Diamond Mountain) is the second-tallest mountain in North Korea, with a height of 1638 metres. ... The Taebaek Mountains are a mountain range in both North and South Korea. ...

For the most part, the plains are small. The most extensive are the P'yŏngyang and Chaeryŏng plains, each covering about 500 square kilometers. Because the mountains on the east coast drop abruptly to the sea, the plains are even smaller there than on the west coast. Pyŏngyang (평양 / 平壤) is the capital city of North Korea, located in the northwest of the country, situated on the Taedong River. ...

The mountain ranges in the northern and eastern parts of North Korea form the watershed for most of its rivers, which run in a westerly direction and empty into the Yellow Sea and Korea Bay. The longest is the Yalu River, which is navigable for 678 of its 790 kilometers. The Tumen River, one of the few major rivers to flow into the Sea of Japan, is the second longest at 521 kilometers but is navigable for only 85 kilometers because of the mountainous topography. The third longest river, the Taedong River, flows through P'yongyang and is navigable for 245 of its 397 kilometers. Lakes tend to be small because of the lack of glacial activity and the stability of the earth's crust in the region. Unlike neighboring Japan or northern China, North Korea experiences few severe earthquakes. The country is well-endowed with spas and hot springs, which number 124 according to one North Korean source. The Yalu (Amnok) River is a river on the border between China and North Korea. ... The Tumen (Duman) River is a river in northeast Asia, on the border between China and North Korea in its upper reaches, and between North Korea and Russia in its lower stretches. ... The Sea of Japan (East Sea) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. ... The Taedong River rises in the Nangnim Mountains of northern North Korea. ... Global earthquake epicenters, 1963–1998 An earthquake is a sudden and sometimes catastrophic movement of a part of the Earths surface. ...

Climate

Snowfall in Korea

The climate is temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1700x2000, 1135 KB) Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC Snow covers southeastern China, North Korea, and parts of South Korea in this true-color Aqua MODIS image acquired December 27, 2002. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1700x2000, 1135 KB) Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC Snow covers southeastern China, North Korea, and parts of South Korea in this true-color Aqua MODIS image acquired December 27, 2002. ...

Natural hazards include late spring droughts which often are followed by severe flooding. There are occasional typhoons during the early fall. A drought is an extended period where water availability falls below the statistical requirements for a region. ... Look up Flood in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A flood (in Old English flod, a word common to Teutonic languages; compare German Flut, Dutch vloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float) is an overflow of water, an expanse of water submerging land, a deluge. ... This article is about weather phenomena. ...

Located between 38 and 43 north latitude, North Korea has a continental climate with four distinct seasons. Long winters bring bitterly cold and clear weather interspersed with snow storms as a result of northern and northwestern winds that blow from Siberia. The daily average high and low temperatures for P'yongyang in January are -3° C and -13° C. Average snowfall is thirty-seven days during the winter. The weather is likely to be particularly harsh in the northern, mountainous regions. Summer tends to be short, hot, humid, and rainy because of the southern and southeastern monsoon winds that bring moist air from the Pacific Ocean. The daily average high and low temperatures for P'yongyang in August are 29° C and 20° C. On average, approximately 60 percent of all precipitation occurs from June to September. Typhoons affect the peninsula on an average of at least once every summer. Spring and autumn are transitional seasons marked by mild temperatures and variable winds and bring the most pleasant weather. A continental climate is the climate typical of the middle-latitude interiors of the large continents of the Northern Hemisphere in the zone of westerly winds; similar climates exist along the east coasts (but not the west coasts) of the same continents, and also at higher elevations in certain other... Siberia Siberia (Russian: , common English transliterations: Sibir’, Sibir; from the Tatar for “sleeping land”) is a vast region of Russia and northern Kazakhstan constituting almost all of northern Asia. ... For the band Monsoon see Sheila Chandra Monsoon in the Vindhya, a mountain chain in central India A monsoon is a periodic wind, especially in the Indian Ocean and southern Asia. ...

Environmental Protection

Environment - current issues: localized air pollution attributable to inadequate industrial controls; water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water. This power plant in New Mexico releases sulfur dioxide and particulate matter into the air. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Environment - international agreements: party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environmental Modification, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution (MARPOL 73/78); signed, but not ratified: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Law of the Sea. For the Antarctic Treaty from the Gundam anime, see Antarctic Treaty (Gundam) The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively called the Antarctic Treaty System or ATS, regulate the international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earths only uninhabited continent. ... Biodiversity or biological diversity is the diversity of and in living nature. ... UNFCCC logo. ... note - abbreviated as Environmental Modification opened for signature - December 10, 1976 entered into force - October 5, 1978 objective - to prohibit the military or other hostile use of environmental modification techniques in order to further world peace and trust among nations parties - (66) Afghanistan, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria... Ship Pollution is an abbreviated form of the Protocol of 1978 Relating to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution From Ships, 1973. ... The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, also known as the Antarctic-Environmental Protocol is part of the Antarctic Treaty System. ... Admiralty law (usually referred to as simply admiralty and also referred to as maritime law) is a distinct body of law which governs maritime questions and offenses. ...

Lack of information makes it difficult to assess the extent to which industrialization and urbanization have damaged North Korea's natural environment. Using generally obsolete technology transferred from the former Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, the country embarked on a program of ambitious industrialization after the Korean War. The Korean War, from June 25, 1950 to cease-fire on July 27, 1953 (technically speaking, the war has not yet ended), was a conflict between North Korea and South Korea. ...

Air pollution is moderated by the extensive reliance on electricity rather than on fossil fuels, both for industry and the heating of urban residences. Air pollution is further limited by the absence of private automobiles and restrictions on using gasoline-powered vehicles because of the critical shortage of petroleum. Coal rail cars in Ashtabula, Ohio Fossil fuels, also known as mineral fuels, are hydrocarbon-containing natural resources such as coal, petroleum and natural gas. ... Nodding donkey pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario Petroleum (from Greek petra – rock and oleum – oil), crude oil, sometimes colloquially called black gold, is a thick, dark brown or greenish liquid. ...

Resources and land use

Natural resources include coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite, iron ore, copper, gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar and hydropower. Coal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by underground mining or open-pit mining (strip mining). ... General Name, Symbol, Number lead, Pb, 82 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 6, p Appearance bluish white Atomic mass 207. ... General Name, Symbol, Number tungsten, W, 74 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 6, 6, d Appearance grayish white, lustrous Atomic mass 183. ... General Name, Symbol, Number zinc, Zn, 30 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 12, 4, d Appearance bluish pale gray Atomic mass 65. ... Graphite (named by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1789, from the Greek γραφειν: to draw/write, for its use in pencils) is one of the allotropes of carbon. ... Magnesite is magnesium carbonate, MgCO3. ... This heap of iron ore pellets will be used in steel production. ... General Name, Symbol, Number copper, Cu, 29 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 4, d Appearance metallic brown Atomic mass 63. ... General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ... The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, is iron disulfide, FeS2. ... In chemistry, salt is a term used for ionic compounds composed of positively charged cations and negatively charged anions, so that the product is neutral and without a net charge. ... Octahedral fluorite crystals from New Mexico, USA Fluorite (also called fluor-spar or Blue John) is a mineral composed of calcium fluoride, CaF2. ... Hydraulic turbine and electrical generator. ...

Land use

Data: (1993 est.) 1993 (MCMXCIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...

Irrigated land: 14,600 sq km (1993 est.) 1993 (MCMXCIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...

Miscellaneous

• Strategic location bordering China, South Korea, and Russia
• Mountainous interior is isolated and sparsely populated

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• Geography of South Korea

This is a list of Wikipedia articles on Korea-related people, places, things, and concepts. ... South Korea is located in Eastern Asia, on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula jutting out from the far east of the Asian land mass. ...