Environment - international agreements:

party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Environmental Modification, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Geography - note:

strategic location bordering China, South Korea, and Russia; mountainous interior is isolated and sparsely populated

People
Korea, North

Population:

23,479,088 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 22.9% (male 2,733,352/female 2,654,186) 15-64 years: 68.2% (male 7,931,484/female 8,083,626) 65 years and over: 8.8% (male 751,401/female 1,325,040) (2008 est.)

Median age: