North Korea

North Korea is a country in Asia.

It has lots of mountains. Its winters are long and cold. The capital city is called Pyongyang.

North Korea is in East Asia, on the northern part of the Korean peninsula, a piece of land that sticks out from the mainland of Asia into the sea. It covers a little more than half of the peninsula, and South Korea covers the rest.

Mountains and valleys cover most of North Korea. The capital, Pyongyang, is near the west coast and is by far the largest city. About 26.6 million people lived in North Korea in 2025, and almost all of them are Korean and speak the Korean language. Its official name is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

North Korea occupies the northern portion of the Korean peninsula, which juts from the Asian mainland between the East Sea (Sea of Japan) and the Yellow Sea; it covers about 55 percent of the peninsula's land. It is bordered by China and Russia to the north and by South Korea to the south, across a demilitarized zone (DMZ) about 4 km wide and 240 km long that marks the 1953 cease-fire line.

The population was 26,571,036 in 2025 (World Bank), concentrated along the coasts, with sparse settlement in the cold interior. Britannica describes the country as having been largely isolated since 1945, with severe restrictions on travel into and out of the country and a state-controlled press. Pyongyang, near the west coast, is the capital and a major industrial and transport center.

Pyongyang is the biggest city.

It is near the west coast. Hamhung is a city near the east coast. Very old tombs with paintings are near Pyongyang.

Pyongyang, the capital, is by far the largest city, much bigger than Nampo, the second largest. Other big cities include Hamhung, near the east coast, Chongjin and Kaesong. Many of its cities were rebuilt after 1953.

Around Pyongyang lie the Koguryo Tombs, a World Heritage Site. The Koguryo kingdom was one of the strongest kingdoms in the region from the 200s BCE to the 600s CE, and many of its stone tombs have beautiful wall paintings showing clothes, food and daily life.

Pyongyang is by far the largest city, greatly outnumbering Nampo, the second; Hamhung, Chongjin and Kaesong are the other major cities. Many cities grew during the Japanese occupation (1910–45) around resources, industry and transport; most were destroyed in the Korean War and rebuilt, and urbanization was especially rapid in 1953–60.

UNESCO's Complex of Koguryo Tombs, in Pyongyang and surrounding provinces, includes about 30 tombs of the Koguryo kingdom, one of the strongest powers in northeast China and half the Korean peninsula between the 3rd century BCE and the 7th century CE. The stone-chambered earthen mounds show ingenious ceiling engineering, and their wall paintings record costumes, food and daily life; of more than 10,000 Koguryo tombs found, only about 100 have such paintings, some 80 of them in North Korea. Mount Kumgang in the southeast is famous for its scenery.

Cranes and herons live near the rice fields.

Many birds stop there on long trips. Black bears live in quiet places. Some deer live in the far forests.

In the plains, people can still see wild pigeons, herons, cranes that nest near villages, and many migrating water birds that land in the rice fields. Because so many forests were cut down, there are far fewer deer, mountain antelope, goats, tigers and leopards, and they now live only in remote forests.

The demilitarized zone between North and South Korea has been left almost untouched since 1953, and it has turned back into nature. Hundreds of kinds of birds, including red-crowned and white-naped cranes, live there or visit, along with Asiatic black bears and lynxes.

Britannica notes that deforestation has greatly reduced deer, mountain antelope, goats, tigers and leopards, now restricted to remote forests. In the plains, wild pigeons, herons, cranes that nest near people and many migratory waterfowl still visit the rice fields. Highland forests around Mount Paektu hold Siberian fir, spruce, pine and Korean pine; most of the western lowlands, once temperate mixed forest, are now cultivated.

The DMZ, once farmland and then a battleground, has lain almost untouched since 1953 and has become a de facto nature preserve, one of the most pristine undeveloped areas in Asia. Its forests, estuaries and wetlands shelter hundreds of bird species, among them the endangered white-naped and red-crowned cranes, dozens of fish species, Asiatic black bears and lynxes.

About 26.6 million people live in North Korea.

Almost everyone speaks Korean. Korean has its own alphabet. Many families grow rice and corn.

Almost everyone in North Korea is Korean and speaks Korean. Korean is written with its own alphabet, called Chosŏn muntcha in North Korea and Hangul in South Korea, which has letters for 10 vowels and 14 consonants. Since 1945, North Korean newspapers have been printed without Chinese characters.

Most people in the countryside live in the coastal lowlands and river valleys, often in villages at the foot of south-facing hills that shelter them from cold winter winds. The main crops are rice, corn, wheat and barley, along with potatoes, soybeans, vegetables and fruit. Fishing villages line the coasts.

The population is almost entirely Korean, with a tiny Chinese minority. Korean's relationship to other languages is disputed; its script, Chosŏn muntcha (Hangul in the South), has phonetic symbols for 10 vowels and 14 consonants, and North Korea has worked to remove Chinese, Western and Japanese loanwords. Confucian thought historically shaped values, with Buddhism to a lesser extent; Britannica notes that freedom of religion is in the constitution but that religious activity has largely remained under state control.

Villages cluster at the bases of south-facing slopes for shelter from the northwesterly winter wind; the cold interior provinces of Chagang and Yanggang are sparsely settled because rice cannot grow there. Grains (rice, corn, wheat, barley) are the main food crops, with potatoes, soybeans, vegetables and fruit. Severe food shortages in the 1990s caused widespread starvation, and international agencies sent emergency aid. Arts and leisure are organized largely through state institutions such as the National Theatre for the Arts in Pyongyang.