North Korea overview
North Korea is a sovereign country in Eastern Asia, in the wider region of Asia. Its full official name is Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Its seat of government is Pyongyang.
The population is about 26.5 million, placing it 56th of 250 by population — between Niger above it and Syria below. Measured only against its own subregion, it is 4th of 8 in size and 4th in population.
The land area is 120,538 km², which ranks it 100th of the 250 countries and territories in this dataset — just behind Nicaragua and just ahead of Malawi. Put next to a country most people can picture, it is a fraction smaller than Greece.
North Korea and its neighbours, side by side
North Korea has 3 land neighbours, and together they hold 1,604,259,916 people — about 61 times North Korea's own population. Sharing a frontier with that much weight on the other side shapes trade, migration and language in ways the map alone does not show.
| Neighbour | Population | Area (km²) | vs North Korea by area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Russia | 143,533,851 | 17,098,242 | 142× larger |
| China | 1,408,975,000 | 9,706,961 | 81× larger |
| South Korea | 51,751,065 | 100,210 | 1.2× smaller |
By area the largest neighbour is Russia and the smallest is South Korea; by population China is the heaviest presence on the border. Taken together the neighbours hold more people than North Korea does, which is the usual situation for a country with several borders and rarely a comfortable one.
North Korea at a glance
- Capital
- Pyongyang
- Population
- 26,498,823
- Area
- 120,538 km²
- Region
- Eastern Asia, Asia
- Languages
- Korean
- Currency
- North Korean won (KPW)
- Calling code
- +850
- Internet TLD
- .kp
- People per km²
- 220
North Korea on the map
Its reference point sits at 40.0° north and 127.0° east, which puts it in the northern hemisphere, roughly 4,453 km from the equator, in what geographers would call temperate latitudes.
Countries on the same parallel, far away in longitude, include the United States, Türkiye and Spain.
3 countries share a land border with it: China, South Korea and Russia. The largest of them by area is Russia, while the most populous is China. Together those neighbours hold about 1.60 billion people.
It has both a coastline and land borders, which is the most common arrangement of all.
Where North Korea is on the map
The map below is centred on North Korea at roughly 40.00°, 127.00°. Pan and zoom to see how it sits against its surroundings — the shape of a country's borders explains a surprising amount about its history.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
How crowded North Korea is, and what is spoken there
Spread across 120,538 km², that works out at about 220 people per square kilometre, which makes it densely populated. The median across all 250 entries here is about 90 per square kilometre.
Korean is the only official language. It shares that with South Korea.
The demonym is North Korean, so residents are North Koreans.
Against Asia as a whole it is the 21st most populous of 50 entries, and it accounts for 1.6% of everyone living in Eastern Asia.
Money and language in North Korea
The North Korean won (KPW) is used only in North Korea among the 250 entries on this site. Its own currency is one of the clearest markers of an economy that sets its own monetary policy rather than importing somebody else's.
Language reaches wider still. Korean is listed for 2 entries here, North Korea among them, so a visitor who speaks it can be understood across a large part of the map. Shared language tends to outlive the empires, trade routes and migrations that spread it, which is why the linguistic map and the political one rarely line up.
Also lists Korean among its languages:
North Korea within Eastern Asia
Zoom in from the world to Eastern Asia and North Korea sits 4th of 8 by population and 4th by area. Its immediate company in that ordering is South Korea just above and Taiwan just below, which is a more honest comparison set than a global league table.
China is the largest of the group by population, and every entry in Eastern Asia has its own page here if you want to work through the whole neighbourhood rather than one country at a time.
How big is North Korea, really?
Put next to every other entry on this site, North Korea ranks 100th of 250 by area and 56th by population. That works out at 0.080% of the combined land area of all 250 entries and 0.33% of their combined population. Those denominators matter: this list includes territories and dependencies as well as UN member states, so a rank here is not the same as a rank among sovereign countries.
For a sense of scale, the entries immediately either side of North Korea in the size ordering are Nicaragua at 130,373 km² and Malawi at 118,484 km², against North Korea's 120,538 km². If you can already picture one of those, you can picture this one.
Density tells a different story from either raw figure. North Korea averages 220 people per square kilometre of total area, which makes it densely settled by global standards — 68th of the 248 entries that have both a population and a measured area. Total area includes inland water, so the true figure for habitable land is higher than this.
Money, codes and practical details
It uses the North Korean won (â‚©, KPW). That currency appears nowhere else on this list.
The top-level domain is .kp. The international dialling code is +850. In ISO terms it is kp in two letters and PRK in three.
If a quiz asks for the capital of North Korea, the answer is Pyongyang.
North Korea is one of the 193 UN member states in this dataset. The other 57 entries are territories, dependencies or observers, which is why totals on this site run to 250 rather than the familiar 195.
North Korea codes and abbreviations
Every country carries a small set of codes that quietly run the practical world — phone networks, web addresses, passports, luggage tags and dropdown menus. Here are North Korea's, and what each one is actually for.
- Calling code+850
- Dial +850 after your international access code to reach a number in North Korea.
- Internet domain.kp
- .kp is the country-code top-level domain, so a web address ending in it is registered to North Korea.
- ISO two-letter codekp
- Used on vehicle plates, in currency pairs and in almost every dropdown list of countries.
- ISO three-letter codePRK
- The form you will see on passports, at airports and in sports scoreboards.
- DemonymNorth Korean
- The correct word for a person from North Korea, and for the adjective form.
Fun facts about North Korea
- It is 56th of 250 by population, with about 26.5 million residents.
- Its full official name is Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
- Its capital city is Pyongyang.
- People from North Korea are known as North Koreans.
- It lies about 4,453 km from the equator, in temperate latitudes.
- The United States and Türkiye sit at almost the same latitude, on the far side of the globe.
- Within Eastern Asia it is the 4th largest of 8.
- Korean is official here and in 1 other entry worldwide.
North Korea — frequently asked questions
- What is the capital of North Korea?
- The capital of North Korea is Pyongyang.
- What language is spoken in North Korea?
- The official language of North Korea is Korean. It is also official in 1 other entry on this list.
- What is the population of North Korea?
- North Korea has a population of about 26.5 million, which makes it the 56th most populous of the 250 countries and territories listed on this site. Niger sits just above it and Syria just below.
- Is North Korea a country?
- Yes. North Korea is a sovereign state and one of the 193 UN members listed on this site.
- Which countries border North Korea?
- North Korea borders 3 countries: China, South Korea and Russia. Russia is the largest of them by area.
- How big is North Korea?
- North Korea covers 120,538 km², ranking 100th of 250 by land area. That makes it a fraction smaller than Greece.
- What currency does North Korea use?
- North Korea uses the North Korean won, written â‚© (currency code KPW). No other entry in this dataset uses it.
- Where is North Korea located?
- North Korea is in Eastern Asia, part of Asia. Its reference coordinates are 40.0° north and 127.0° east, roughly 4,453 km from the equator in temperate latitudes.
