Geography

North Korea is located in eastern Asia, on the northern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It shares land borders with South Korea to the south (along the DMZ) and with China (along the Yalu River ) and Russia (along the Tumen River) to the north. To its east is the Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea) and to its west are the Yellow Sea and Korea Bay. Japan lies east of the peninsula across the Sea of Japan.

The Korean Peninsula extends for about 1,000 kilometres southward from the northeast Asian continental landmass. The 8,460 kilometre coastline of Korea is highly irregular, with North Korea's half of the peninsula having 2,495 kilometres of coastline. Some 3,579 islands lie adjacent to the Korean Peninsula, mostly along the south and west coasts.

The highest point is the Paektu-san at 2,744 metres (9,003 ft), and major rivers include the Tumen and the Yalu.

Topography and Drainage

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.

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% of North Korea's land area is composed of mountains and uplands, with all of the peninsula's mountains with elevations of 2,000 metres or more located in North Korea. The great majority of the population lives in the plains and lowlands.

The land around Paektusan near the Chinese border is volcanic in origin and includes a basalt lava plateau with elevations of between 1,400 and 2,000 metres above sea level. The Hamgyong Range, located in the extreme northeastern part of the peninsula, has many high peaks including Kwanmosan at approximately 1,756 metres. Other major ranges include the Rangrim 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. Kumgangsan, or Diamond Mountain, (approximately 1,638 metres) in the T'aebaek Range, which extends into South Korea, is famous for its scenic beauty.

For the most part, the plains are small. The most extensive are the P'yongyang and Chaeryong plains, each covering about 500 square kilometres. Because the mountains on the east coast drop abruptly to the sea, the plains are even smaller there than on the west coast.

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 kilometres. The Tumen River, one of the few major rivers to flow into the East Sea, is the second longest at 521 kilometres but is navigable for only 85 kilometres because of the mountainous topography. The third longest river, the Taedong River, flows through P'yongyang and is navigable for 245 of its 397 kilometres. 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.

Maritime Claims

The government of North Korea claims territorial waters extending twelve nautical miles (22 km) from shore. It also claims an exclusive economic zone 200 nautical miles (370 km) from shore. In addition, a maritime military boundary that lies fifty nautical miles (92 km) offshore in the East Sea and 200 nautical miles (370 km) offshore in the Yellow Sea demarcates the waters and airspace into which foreign ships and planes are prohibited from entering without permission.

Waters of the Yellow Sea are demarcated between North Korea and South Korea by the disputed Northern Limit Line unilaterally drawn by the US military forces in early 1950s and not officially recognized by North Korea.

Geography

Topography and Drainage

Maritime Claims

Facts and Figures