Asia · Eastern Asia
Capital: Pyongyang
North Korea
Explore the facts and rankings that shape North Korea in Country Blitz, from its population and economy to its military, innovation, manufacturing, and neighboring countries.
Country Blitz power profile
Overall rank #146
North Korea's Country Blitz power profile compares population, GDP, military expenditure, research-and-development spending, and manufacturing output across every playable country. A lower numerical rank represents a stronger position in that category.
Population
26.6M
#56 of 196
72nd percentile
2025 · World Bank WDI / UN population sources
View data source ↗GDP (Nominal)
Data unavailable
No rank or percentile is shown without published source data.
Military Expenditure
$1.60B
#70 of 196
65th percentile
2018 · SIPRI via World Bank WDI
View data source ↗R&D Spending
Data unavailable
No rank or percentile is shown without published source data.
Manufacturing Output
Data unavailable
No rank or percentile is shown without published source data.
Quick facts
- Capital
- Pyongyang
- Region
- Asia
- Subregion
- Eastern Asia
- Country code
- PRK
- Neighbors
- ChinaSouth KoreaRussia
Three interesting facts
North Korea shares land borders with 3 countries: China, South Korea, and Russia.
North Korea spans roughly 120,538 square kilometers, placing it around 97th by area in this factbook.
North Korea’s position in Eastern Asia places it within a distinctive network of regional trade routes and migration paths.
Geography
North Korea on the map
North Korea is located in Eastern Asia, northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan, between China and South Korea. Its terrain is mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys, wide coastal plains in west, discontinuous in east. The climate is temperate, with rainfall concentrated in summer, long, bitter winters. In area, the country is slightly larger than Virginia, slightly smaller than Mississippi.
Economy
Economic profile
North Korea's economy is characterized by one of the last centrally planned economies, hard hit by COVID-19, crop failures, international sanctions, and isolationist policies, declining growth and trade, and heavily reliant on China, poor exchange rate stability, economic data integrity issues. Major industries include military products, machine building, electric power, chemicals, mining (coal, iron ore, limestone, magnesite, graphite, copper, zinc, lead, and precious metals), metallurgy, textiles, food processing, tourism. Important agricultural products include maize, vegetables, rice, apples, cabbages, fruits, sweet potatoes, potatoes, beans, soybeans (2023). Notable exports include fake hair, iron alloys, tungsten ore, electricity, cars (2023).
Demographics
People and population
North Korea has an estimated population of 25,950,000. Language and cultural traditions vary across North Korea. The population includes racially homogeneous, there is a small Chinese community and a few ethnic Japanese. The urban population represents 63.2% of total population (2023).
Explore related countries
More from Asia
Could North Korea conquer the world?
Start a Country Blitz run as North Korea and use its real-world strengths to attack neighboring countries, win head-to-head matchups, and expand across the map.