Eternal president: Kim Il-sung (deceased) Chairman, National Defence Commission: Kim Jong-il
Population
313,847,465
24,589,122
Life Expectancy
78.490 years
69.200 years
Capital City
Washington, DC
Largest city
New York City (population: 8,008,280)
Pyongyang (population: 3,222,000)
Human Development Index
0.95
0
GDP per capita
$49,000 US
Literacy Rate
99%
99%
Corruption Perception Index
7.3
NA
Percentage of Women in Parliament
16.6%
20.1%
Wealthiest Citizens
William Gates III ($40.0bn US)
NA
Unemployment Rate
9.000%
Death Penalty
Legal
NA
Political System
Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition
Communist state one-man dictatorship
Independence date
4 July 1776 (from Great Britain)
Religions
Protestant 51.3%, Roman Catholic 23.9%, Mormon 1.7%, other Christian 1.6%, Jewish 1.7%, Buddhist 0.7%, Muslim 0.6%, other or unspecified 2.5%, unaffiliated 12.1%, none 4% (2007 est.)
traditionally Buddhist and Confucianist, some Christian and syncretic Chondogyo (Religion of the Heavenly Way) note: autonomous religious activities now almost nonexistent; government-sponsored religious groups exist to provide illusion of religious freedom
Languages
English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific island 2.7%, other 0.7% (2000 census) note: Hawaiian is an official language in the state of Hawaii
North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico
Eastern Asia, northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan, between China and South Korea
Area
9,826,675 km sq
120,538 km sq
Coastline
19,924 km
2,495 km
Climate
mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
