Comprising the northern half of the Korean peninsula, North Korea is separated from the US-dominated South by an armistice line straddling the 38th parallel. Much of the country is mountainous; the Chaeryong and Pyongyang plains in the southwest are the most fertile regions. An independent communist republic from 1948, it remains largely isolated. With its economy starved of capital, it now faces a food crisis requiring large-scale international assistance.

The Korean peninsula is unusual in having been inhabited by a single ethnic group for the last 2000 years. There is a tiny Chinese minority in North Korea.

The religions practiced under strict state control are Buddhism, Christianity, and Chondogyo, a combination of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Christianity which is peculiar to Korea.

North Koreans live highly regulated lives. Divorce is nonexistent and extramarital sex highly frowned upon. Women form more than 50% of the workforce, but are also expected to run the home; it is not uncommon for them to rise at 4 a.m., and end their working day at 7 p.m. From an early age, children are looked after by an extensive system of state-run crèches. The privileged lifestyle of the political elite – some 200,000 in number – is rumored to be a source of popular resentment.

Strengths

Other than minerals, strengths are now few.

Weaknesses

GNP has declined steadily since 1990. The acute shortage of foreign capital and technology has been catastrophic.

The three million-strong KWP is the only legal party; membership is essential for individual advancement. Kim Il Sung, the subject of a lavish personality cult, died in 1994 after almost 50 years as leader. Since then the key question has been how his son and chosen successor, Kim Jong Il, will handle the leadership. He lacks his father's authority, and has yet to seal the succession; in 1998 Kim Il Sung, by now four years dead, was declared "Eternal President."

The collapse of Soviet communism in 1991 destroyed North Korea's framework of foreign relations, leaving China as its closest ally. A breakthrough in North–South relations came in 2000, with their leaders' first direct encounter since the 1953 armistice. In 2001 Kim Jong Il paid a landmark visit to Russia. Despite North Korea's nuclear missile program, several countries have established diplomatic links, and many US trade sanctions were lifted, but in 2002 the USA designated North Korea part of an "axis of evil."

North Korea is thought to have manufactured nuclear weapons prior to the 1994 freeze on its nuclear program. It developed, and exports, missiles.

A shortage of electricity (blackouts are frequent) remains a major problem. Under the 1994 agreement with the USA, two new reactors are to be built with outside assistance. North Korea is relatively rich in metals including gold, silver, and tungsten.

Excessive use of fertilizers and unchecked pollution from heavy industry are the major problems.

The railroad network built by the occupying Japanese is heavily relied on. Highways are open only to very limited, officially approved traffic. Improving relations with South Korea in 2000 led to plans to construct cross-border links.

Health care is free. Reasonable life expectancy is now threatened by malnutrition and outright starvation.

English is compulsory as a second language at the age of 14. Kim Il Sung, Pyongyang, is the only university.

At an individual level, crime is officially said to hardly exist. The criminal code is weighted to protect the state against "subversion," rather than the rights of the individual. North Korea has a very poor human rights record and there is a gulag of more than 100,000 "subversives," where whole families are sent along with those accused, and where torture is routine.

An elite within the KWP lives well, with access to specialist shops and consumer goods such as VCRs. Ownership of telephones, private cars, and, in many areas, bicycles, is forbidden.

Economic need has forced limited tourism. South Korean firms have developed resorts such as Mt. Kumgang.

Annexed by Japan in 1910, the peninsula was divided in 1945 at the 38th parallel; North Korea was made an independent state in 1948.

• 1950–1953 Korean War.
• 1994 Withdrawal from IAEA. Kim Il Sung dies; declared "Eternal President" four years later.
• 1997 Threat of famine worsens. Kim Jong Il becomes party leader.
• 2000 Historic North–South summit.