# North Korea — national dossier

North Korea — society, governance, health, education, technology, geography, resources and military in one sourced dossier: 29 indicators, each with its…

Canonical: https://terralore.co/country/PRK
Updated: 2026-08-14 (latest domain refresh; each figure carries its own observation year)

## Overview

- Official name: Democratic People's Republic of Korea
- Capital: Pyongyang
- Region: Eastern Asia, Asia
- Population: 25 m
- Area: 120,538 km²
- Languages: Korean
- Currency: North Korean won (KPW)

A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero. Each figure shows the year it was observed — vintages differ by indicator and nation.

## Society

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 27 m | 2025 | World Development Indicators |
| Life expectancy | 73.7 yrs | 2024 | World Development Indicators |
| Urban population | 64.2% | 2025 | World Development Indicators |
| Fertility rate | 1.8 | 2024 | World Development Indicators |
| Literacy rate | 100.0% | 2008 | World Development Indicators |

## Governance

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voice & accountability | 22.1 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |
| Political stability | 71.4 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |
| Government effectiveness | 26.6 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |
| Regulatory quality | 25.3 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |
| Rule of law | 30.7 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |
| Control of corruption | 16.3 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |

## Health

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physicians | 3.63 | 2017 | Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) |
| Under-5 mortality | 16.7 | 2024 | Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) |
| Measles immunisation | 99.0% | 2024 | Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) |
| Safe drinking water | 66.6% | 2023 | Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) |

## Education

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult literacy | 100.0% | 2008 | Education statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |
| Primary enrolment | 92.1% | 2018 | Education statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |
| Secondary enrolment | 94.3% | 2015 | Education statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |
| Tertiary enrolment | 26.7% | 2018 | Education statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |

## Technology

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internet users | 0.0% | 2004 | ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) |
| Mobile subscriptions | 24 | 2022 | ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) |

## Geography

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land area | 120,410 km² | 2023 | World Development Indicators |
| Forest area | 49.6% | 2023 | World Development Indicators |
| Agricultural land | 21.6% | 2023 | World Development Indicators |
| CO₂ per capita (t) | 2.5 | 2024 | World Development Indicators |
| Renewable energy | 14.7% | 2021 | World Development Indicators |

## Resources

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electricity access | 61.4% | 2024 | World Development Indicators |

## Military

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Defense spending | $1.6 B | 2018 | Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) |
| Armed forces | 1.5 m | 2020 | Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) |

Every metric above is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/<metric>.md).

Machine-readable claims — every figure above as an addressable claim ID (TL:PRK:<metric>:<year>) with value, source, license and a ready citation string: https://terralore.co/country/PRK.claims.json

History: "An ancient Korean heritage severed by colonization and Cold War division, forged into a self-isolating state under three generations of a single ruling family." — the sourced chronicle is at https://terralore.co/country/PRK/chronicle.md (6 eras, 29 events).

## Sources

- World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://data.worldbank.org
- Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators
- Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://www.who.int/data/gho
- Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://childmortality.org
- Education statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://uis.unesco.org
- ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics
- Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex

Citation template: Terralore, "North Korea — national dossier", terralore.co/country/PRK, retrieved <YYYY-MM-DD>.