Coordinates: 40°00′N 127°00′E / 40.000°N 127.000°E / 40.000; 127.000
North Korea ( listen), officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK; Chosŏn'gŭl: 조선민주주의인민공화국; hancha: 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國; MR: Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk), is a country in East Asia, in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. The name Korea is derived from the Kingdom of Goguryeo, also spelled as Koryŏ. The capital and largest city is Pyongyang. North Korea shares a land border with China to the north and northwest, along the Amnok (Yalu) and Tumen rivers, and a small section of the Tumen River also forms a border with Russia to the northeast. The Korean Demilitarized Zone marks the boundary between North Korea and South Korea.
Korea was annexed by the Empire of Japan in 1910. After the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II in 1945, Korea was divided into two zones by the United States and the Soviet Union, with the north occupied by the Soviets and the south by the Americans. Negotiations on reunification failed, and in 1948 two separate governments were formed: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north, and the Republic of Korea in the south. An invasion initiated by North Korea led to the Korean War (1950–53). Although the Korean Armistice Agreement brought about a ceasefire, no official peace treaty was ever signed. Both states were accepted into the United Nations in 1991.
North Korea's economy is a centrally planned system, i.e. the role of market allocation schemes is limited. Although there have been some small-scale reforms as of 2015, Pyongyang's basic adherence to a rigid centrally planned economy continues, as does its reliance on fundamentally non-pecuniary incentives. There have been reports of economic reform, particularly after Kim Jong-un assumed the leadership in 2012, but recent reports conflict over particular legislation and enactment.
The collapse of governments run by communist parties around the world in 1991, particularly North Korea's principal source of support, the Soviet Union, forced the North Korean economy to realign its foreign economic relations, including increased economic exchanges with democratic South Korea. China, which remains communist, is North Korea's largest trading partner.
North Korea had a similar GDP per capita to its neighbor South Korea from the aftermath of the Korean War until the mid-1970s, but with a GDP per capita of less than $2,000 in the late 1990s and early 21st century, North Korea remains one of the world's poorest and least developed countries when measured solely by GDP.
Korea, called Chosŏn (Korean: 조선; Hanja: 朝鮮) in North Korea and Hanguk (Korean: 한국; Hanja: 韓國) or Daehanminkuk (Korean: 대한민국; Hanja: 大韓民國) in South Korea, is an East Asian territory that is divided into two distinct sovereign states: North Korea, formally the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), and South Korea, formally the Republic of Korea (ROK). Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by China to the northwest and Russia to the northeast. It is separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait and the Sea of Japan .
Korea emerged as a singular political entity after centuries of conflict among the Three Kingdoms of Korea, which were unified as Silla (57 BC – AD 935) and Balhae (AD 698 – 926). The united Silla was eventually succeeded by Goryeo in 935 at the end of the Later Three Kingdoms period. Goryeo, which gave name to the modern exonym "Korea", was a highly cultured state and created the Jikji in the 14th century. The invasions by the Mongol Empire in the 13th century, however, greatly weakened the nation, which forced it into vassalage. After the Yuan dynasty's collapse, severe political strife followed. Goryeo eventually fell to an uprising led by General Yi Seong-gye, who established Joseon in 1388.
Korea may refer to:
Korea [kɔˈrɛa] is part of Sobienie Szlacheckie village, Gmina Sobienie-Jeziory. From 1975 to 1998 this place was in Siedlce Voivodeship.
Coordinates: 51°56′00″N 21°19′24″E / 51.93333°N 21.32333°E / 51.93333; 21.32333
I can smash a glass against the wall,
pick up the pieces and we’re better for it.
‘Cause you know everybody weds,
then the beast can mow the lawn,
and the queen can feed the kids.
And we’ll be better for it.
I’m not impressed, suburbia.
Could you do a little better for me?
I’m gonna smile ‘till my teeth ache,
I am determined for my family’s sake.
Happily married like the rest of them,
I’m better ‘cause I buy American.
I’m not impressed suburbia.