I am obsessed with documentaries and I've been watching whatever I can find on North Korea. Here are some facts I found interesting:
Formal Facts on North Korea:
Independence Declared: March 1, 1919
Liberation: August 15, 1945
Formal Declaration: September 9, 1948
Capital (and largest city) Pyongyang
Supreme Leader of North Korea: Kim Jong-un
Area Total: 120,540 km2 (98th)
Water %: 4.87
Population (2011 Estimate): 24,051,218 (51st)
Density: 198.3/ km2
GDP (2011 estimate): $45 billion total, $2,400 per capita
HDI (Human Development Index): 0.618 (not rated)
Natural resources: coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite, iron ore, copper, gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar, hydropower
Land use: arable land: 22.4%
Permanent crops: 1.66%
Other: 75.94% (2005)
Net migration rate: -0.04 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)
Urbanization: urban population: 60% of total population (2010)
Rate of urbanization: 0.6% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
Religions: traditionally Buddhist and Confucianist, some Christian and syncretic Chondogyo (Religion of the Heavenly Way)
note:
autonomous religious activities now almost nonexistent;
government-sponsored religious groups exist to provide illusion of
religious freedom
Health expenditures: 2% of GDP (2009)
Government type: Communist state one-man dictatorship,
Absolute monarchy
- a form of government where the monarch rules unhindered, i.e.,
without any laws, constitution, or legally organized opposition.
Flag description: three horizontal bands of blue (top), red
(triple width), and blue; the red band is edged in white; on the hoist
side of the red band is a white disk with a red five-pointed star; the
broad red band symbolizes revolutionary traditions; the narrow white
bands stands for purity, strength, and dignity; the blue bands signify
sovereignty, peace, and friendship; the red star represents socialism
Economy - overview: North Korea, one of the world's most
centrally directed and least open economies, faces chronic economic
problems. Industrial capital stock is nearly beyond repair as a result
of years of underinvestment, shortages of spare parts, and poor
maintenance. Large-scale military spending draws off resources needed
for investment and civilian consumption. Industrial and power output
have stagnated for years at a fraction of pre-1990 levels. Frequent
weather-related crop failures aggravated chronic food shortages caused
by on-going systemic problems, including a lack of arable land,
collective farming practices, poor soil quality, insufficient
fertilization, and persistent shortages of tractors and fuel.
Large-scale international food aid deliveries have allowed the people of
North Korea to escape widespread starvation since famine threatened in
1995, but the population continues to suffer from prolonged malnutrition
and poor living conditions. Since 2002, the government has allowed
private "farmers' markets" to begin selling a wider range of goods. It
also permitted some private farming - on an experimental basis - in an
effort to boost agricultural output. In December 2009, North Korea
carried out a redenomination of its currency, capping the amount of
North Korean won that could be exchanged for the new notes, and limiting
the exchange to a one-week window. A concurrent crackdown on markets
and foreign currency use yielded severe shortages and inflation, forcing
Pyongyang to ease the restrictions by February 2010. In response to the
sinking of the South Korean destroyer Cheonan and the shelling of
Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea's government cut off most aid, trade, and
bilateral cooperation activities, with the exception of operations at
the Kaesong Industrial Complex. In preparation for 2012, the 100th
anniversary of KIM Il-sung's birthday, North Korea continued efforts to
develop special economic zones with China and expressed willingness to
permit construction of a trilateral gas pipeline that would carry
Russian natural gas to South Korea. The North Korean government often
highlights its 2012 goal of becoming a "strong and prosperous" nation
and attracting foreign investment, a key factor for improving the
overall standard of living. Nevertheless, firm political control remains
the government's overriding concern, which likely will inhibit changes
to North Korea's current economic system.
General:
"North Korea runs trading companies in Thailand, Hong Kong, Macau and
Cambodia, which export North Korean goods - mostly clothing, plastics
and minerals such as copper - to the region. At the same time, they
import various kinds of foodstuffs, light machinery, electronic goods,
and, in the past, dual-purpose chemicals, which have civilian as well as
military applications. Those companies were - and still are - run by
the powerful Daesong group of companies..." http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_North_Korea_export_and_import
The
collapse of communist governments 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. Economic exchanges with South Korea have begun: see
Kaesong Industrial Region. With
GDP
per capita of less than $2,000, North Korea remains as one of the
world's poorest and least developed countries, in sharp contrast to its
neighbor
South Korea, which has one of the largest economies in Asia.
The list of environmental current issues for this country is extremely long and sad: water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water; waterborne disease; deforestation; soil erosion and degradation (the most pressing and important
environmental problems), 38 items!!
- Acidification - the lowering of
soil and water pH due to acid precipitation and deposition usually
through precipitation; this process disrupts ecosystem nutrient flows
and may kill freshwater fish and plants dependent on more neutral or
alkaline conditions (see acid rain).
- Acid rain -
characterized as containing harmful levels of sulfur dioxide or nitrogen
oxide; acid rain is damaging and potentially deadly to the earth's
fragile ecosystems; acidity is measured using the pH scale where 7 is
neutral, values greater than 7 are considered alkaline, and values below
5.6 are considered acid precipitation; note - a pH of 2.4 (the acidity
of vinegar) has been measured in rainfall in New England.
- Aerosol - a collection of airborne particles dispersed in a gas, smoke, or fog.
- Afforestation
- converting a bare or agricultural space by planting trees and plants;
reforestation involves replanting trees on areas that have been cut or
destroyed by fire.
- Asbestos - a naturally
occurring soft fibrous mineral commonly used in fireproofing materials
and considered to be highly carcinogenic in particulate form.
- Biodiversity
- also biological diversity; the relative number of species, diverse in
form and function, at the genetic, organism, community, and ecosystem
level; loss of biodiversity reduces an ecosystem's ability to recover
from natural or man-induced disruption.
- Bio-indicators - a plant or animal species whose presence, abundance, and health reveal the general condition of its habitat.
- Biomass - the total weight or volume of living matter in a given area or volume.
- Carbon cycle
- the term used to describe the exchange of carbon (in various forms,
e.g., as carbon dioxide) between the atmosphere, ocean, terrestrial
biosphere, and geological deposits.
- Catchments -
assemblages used to capture and retain rainwater and runoff; an
important water management technique in areas with limited freshwater
resources, such as Gibraltar.
- DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethane) - a colorless, odorless insecticide that has toxic effects on most animals; the use of DDT was banned in the US in 1972.
- Defoliants
- chemicals which cause plants to lose their leaves artificially; often
used in agricultural practices for weed control, and may have
detrimental impacts on human and ecosystem health.
- Deforestation
- the destruction of vast areas of forest (e.g., unsustainable forestry
practices, agricultural and range land clearing, and the over
exploitation of wood products for use as fuel) without planting new
growth.
- Desertification - the spread of
desert-like conditions in arid or semi-arid areas, due to overgrazing,
loss of agriculturally productive soils, or climate change.
- Dredging
- the practice of deepening an existing waterway; also, a technique
used for collecting bottom-dwelling marine organisms (e.g., shellfish)
or harvesting coral, often causing significant destruction of reef and
ocean-floor ecosystems.
- Drift-net fishing - done
with a net, miles in extent, that is generally anchored to a boat and
left to float with the tide; often results in an over harvesting and
waste of large populations of non-commercial marine species (by-catch)
by its effect of "sweeping the ocean clean."
- Ecosystems - ecological units comprised of complex communities of organisms and their specific environments.
- Effluents
- waste materials, such as smoke, sewage, or industrial waste which are
released into the environment, subsequently polluting it.
- Endangered species - a species that is threatened with extinction either by direct hunting or habitat destruction.
- Freshwater - water with very low soluble mineral content; sources include lakes, streams, rivers, glaciers, and underground aquifers.
- Greenhouse gas
- a gas that "traps" infrared radiation in the lower atmosphere causing
surface warming; water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane,
hydrofluorocarbons, and ozone are the primary greenhouse gases in the
Earth's atmosphere.
- Groundwater - water sources
found below the surface of the earth often in naturally occurring
reservoirs in permeable rock strata; the source for wells and natural
springs.
- Highlands Water Project - a series of
dams constructed jointly by Lesotho and South Africa to redirect
Lesotho's abundant water supply into a rapidly growing area in South
Africa; while it is the largest infrastructure project in southern
Africa, it is also the most costly and controversial; objections to the
project include claims that it forces people from their homes, submerges
farmlands, and squanders economic resources.
- Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC)
- represents the 145,000 Inuits of Russia, Alaska, Canada, and
Greenland in international environmental issues; a General Assembly
convenes every three years to determine the focus of the ICC; the most
current concerns are long-range transport of pollutants, sustainable
development, and climate change.
- Metallurgical plants
- industries which specialize in the science, technology, and
processing of metals; these plants produce highly concentrated and toxic
wastes which can contribute to pollution of ground water and air when
not properly disposed.
- Noxious substances - injurious, very harmful to living beings.
- Overgrazing
- the grazing of animals on plant material faster than it can naturally
regrow leading to the permanent loss of plant cover, a common effect of
too many animals grazing limited range land.
- Ozone shield
- a layer of the atmosphere composed of ozone gas (O3) that resides
approximately 25 miles above the Earth's surface and absorbs solar
ultraviolet radiation that can be harmful to living organisms.
- Poaching - the illegal killing of animals or fish, a great concern with respect to endangered or threatened species.
- Pollution - the contamination of a healthy environment by man-made waste.
- Potable water - water that is drinkable, safe to be consumed.
- Salination
- the process through which fresh (drinkable) water becomes salt
(undrinkable) water; hence, desalination is the reverse process; also
involves the accumulation of salts in topsoil caused by evaporation of
excessive irrigation water, a process that can eventually render soil
incapable of supporting crops.
- Siltation -
occurs when water channels and reservoirs become clotted with silt and
mud, a side effect of deforestation and soil erosion.
- Slash-and-burn agriculture
- a rotating cultivation technique in which trees are cut down and
burned in order to clear land for temporary agriculture; the land is
used until its productivity declines at which point a new plot is
selected and the process repeats; this practice is sustainable while
population levels are low and time is permitted for regrowth of natural
vegetation; conversely, where these conditions do not exist, the
practice can have disastrous consequences for the environment .
- Soil degradation
- damage to the land's productive capacity because of poor agricultural
practices such as the excessive use of pesticides or fertilizers, soil
compaction from heavy equipment, or erosion of topsoil, eventually
resulting in reduced ability to produce agricultural products.
- Soil erosion
- the removal of soil by the action of water or wind, compounded by
poor agricultural practices, deforestation, overgrazing, and
desertification.
- Ultraviolet (UV) radiation - a
portion of the electromagnetic energy emitted by the sun and naturally
filtered in the upper atmosphere by the ozone layer; UV radiation can be
harmful to living organisms and has been linked to increasing rates of
skin cancer in humans.
- Water-born diseases -
those in which bacteria survive in, and are transmitted through, water;
always a serious threat in areas with an untreated water supply.
