_#_Flag: the upper half is red with a yellow frigate bird flying over
a yellow rising sun and the lower half is blue with three horizontal wavy
white stripes to represent the ocean
_*_Economy
_#_Overview: The country has few national resources. Commercially
viable phosphate deposits were exhausted at the time of independence
in 1979. Copra and fish now represent the bulk of production and exports.
The economy has fluctuated widely in recent years. Real GDP declined
about 8% in 1987, as the fish catch fell sharply to only one-fourth the
level of 1986 and copra production was hampered by repeated rains. Output
rebounded strongly in 1988, with real GDP growing by 17%. The upturn in
economic growth came from an increase in copra production and a good fish
catch. Following the strong surge in output in 1988, GNP increased 1%
in 1989 and again in 1990.
_#_GDP: $36.8 million, per capita $525; real growth rate 1.0% (1990
est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.0% (1990 est.)
_#_Unemployment rate: 2% (1985); considerable underemployment
_#_Budget: revenues $29.9 million; expenditures $16.3 million,
including capital expenditures of $14.0 million (1990 est.)
_#_Exports: $5.8 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities--fish 55%, copra 42%;
partners--EC 20%, Marshall Islands 12%, US 8%, American
Samoa 4% (1985)
_#_Imports: $26.7 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.);
commodities--foodstuffs, fuel, transportation equipment;
partners--Australia 39%, Japan 21%, NZ 6%, UK 6%, US 3% (1985)
_#_External debt: $2.0 million (December 1989 est.)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate 0.0% (1988 est.); accounts
for less than 4% of GDP
_#_Electricity: 5,000 kW capacity; 13 million kWh produced,
190 kWh per capita (1990)
_#_Industries: fishing, handicrafts
_#_Agriculture: accounts for 30% of GDP (including fishing); copra
and fish contribute about 95% to exports; subsistence farming
predominates; food crops--taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, vegetables;
not self-sufficient in food
_#_Economic aid: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral
commitments (1970-88), $258 million
_#_Currency: Australian dollar (plural--dollars);
1 Australian dollar ($A) = 100 cents
_#_Exchange rates: Australian dollars ($A) per US$1--1.2834 (January
1991), 1.2799 (1990), 1.2618 (1989), 1.2752 (1988), 1.4267 (1987), 1.4905
(1986), 1.4269 (1985)
_#_Fiscal year: NA
_*_Communications
_#_Highways: 640 km of motorable roads
_#_Inland waterways: small network of canals, totaling 5 km, in Line
Islands
_#_Ports: Banaba and Betio (Tarawa)
_#_Civil air: 2 Trislanders; no major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 22 total; 21 usable; 4 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 2,439 m; 5 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: 1,400 telephones; stations--1 AM, no FM, no TV;
1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT earth station
_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: no military force maintained; the Police Force carries
out law enforcement functions and paramilitary duties; there are small
police posts on all islands
_#_Manpower availability: NA
_#_Defense expenditures: $NA, NA% of GDP
_%_
_@_Korea, North
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 120,540 km2; land area: 120,410 km2
_#_Comparative area: slightly smaller than Mississippi
_#_Land boundaries: 1,671 km total; China 1,416 km, South Korea 238
km, USSR 17 km
_#_Coastline: 2,495 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm;
Military boundary line: 50 nm in the Sea of Japan and the
exclusive economic zone limit in the Yellow Sea (all foreign vessels and
aircraft without permission are banned)
_#_Disputes: short section of boundary with China is indefinite;
Demarcation Line with South Korea
_#_Climate: temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer
_#_Terrain: mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow
valleys; coastal plains wide in west, discontinuous in east
_#_Natural resources: coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite,
iron ore, copper, gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar, hydropower
_#_Land use: arable land 18%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures
NEGL%; forest and woodland 74%; other 7%; includes irrigated 9%
_#_Environment: mountainous interior is isolated, nearly inaccessible,
and sparsely populated; late spring droughts often followed by severe
flooding
_#_Note: strategic location bordering China, South Korea, and USSR
_*_People
_#_Population: 21,814,656 (July 1991), growth rate 1.9% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 24 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 30 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 66 years male, 72 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 2.5 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--Korean(s); adjective--Korean
_#_Ethnic divisions: racially homogeneous
_#_Religion: Buddhism and Confucianism; religious activities now
almost nonexistent
_#_Language: Korean
_#_Literacy: NA% (male NA%, female NA%)
_#_Labor force: 9,615,000; agricultural 36%, nonagricultural 64%;
shortage of skilled and unskilled labor (mid-1987 est.)
_#_Organized labor: 1,600,000 members; single-trade union system
coordinated by the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea under the
Central Committee
_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Democratic People's Republic of Korea; abbreviated
DPRK
_#_Type: Communist state; dictatorship
_#_Capital: P'yongyang
_#_Administrative divisions: 9 provinces (do, singular and plural) and
3 special cities* (jikhalsi, singular and plural); Chagang-do,
Hamgyong-namdo, Hamgyong-bukto, Hwanghae-namdo, Hwanghae-bukto,
Kaesong-si*, Kangwon-do, Namp'o-si*, P'yongan-bukto,
P'yongan-namdo, P'yongyang-si*, Yanggang-do
_#_Independence: 9 September 1948
_#_Constitution: adopted 1948, revised 27 December 1972
_#_Legal system: based on German civil law system with Japanese
influences and Communist legal theory; no judicial review of legislative
acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
_#_National holiday: Independence Day, 9 September (1948)
_#_Executive branch: president, two vice presidents, premier, eleven
vice premiers, State Administration Council (cabinet)
_#_Legislative branch: unicameral Supreme People's Assembly (Ch'oego
Inmin Hoeui)
_#_Judicial branch: Central Court
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State--President KIM Il-song (since 28 December 1972);
Designated Successor KIM Chong-il (son of President, born 16 February
1942);