_#_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)