什麼是北韓

正式名稱朝鮮民主主義人民共和國（Democratic People's Republic of Korea）

東亞朝鮮半島北半部國家。面積122,762平方公里。人口約21,968,000（2001）。首都︰平壤。在人種上，幾乎全是朝鮮人。語言︰朝鮮語（亦稱韓語，官方語）。宗教：儒家學説、佛教、薩滿教（以前很普及，但現在被禁），以及天道教。第二次世界大戰期間外國傳教團皆被逐出。貨幣︰韓元（won）。北韓4/5的土地是山脈和高地，最高峯是白頭山高2,750公尺，是一座死火山。實施中央計畫經濟，以重工業（鋼鐵、機械、化學和紡織業）和農業為基礎。合作農場種植作物包括稻米、玉米、大麥和蔬菜。礦產資源也很豐富，包括煤、鐵礦和錳。政府形式是共和國，一院制。國家元首是國家主席（總統），政府首腦是總理。

早期歷史參閲朝鮮。第二次世界大戰日本戰敗後，蘇聯佔領北緯38線以北的韓國，而美國則佔據38線以南的地方。朝鮮民主主義人民共和國於1948年建立，成為共產國家。北韓想藉武力統一朝鮮半島，1950年發動對南韓入侵，引爆了韓戰。聯合國軍隊加入南韓這一邊，戰時中國士兵被徵召支援北韓，1953年才簽署停戰協定。北韓在金日成領導下，成為世界上最嚴格組織化的社會之一，實施國營經濟制度，不能生產足夠的糧食和消費物品以供應人民所需。1990年代末期，在他的兒子金正日的統治下遭遇了一次大饑荒，估計最多有一百萬人餓死。2000年（韓戰爆發後五十年），兩韓領袖舉行了一次高峯會議，北韓可望結束長期的孤立狀態。

Korea, North

Country, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula, East Asia. Area: 47,399 sq mi (122,762 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 24,317,000. Capital: Pyongyang. Ethnically, the population is almost completely Korean. Language: Korean (official). Religions: Confucianism, Buddhism, shamanism (formerly prevalent, now suppressed), Ch'ondogyo. Foreign missionaries were expelled during World War II. Currency: won. Four-fifths of North Korea's land area consists of mountain ranges and uplands; its highest peak is the volcanic Mount Paektu (9,022 ft, or 2,750 m). North Korea has a centrally planned economy based on heavy industry (iron and steel, machinery, chemicals, and textiles) and agriculture. Cooperative farms raise crops such as rice, corn, barley, and vegetables. The country is also rich in mineral resources, including coal, iron ore, and magnesite. It is a republic with one legislature; the chief of state is the Head of State and the head of state and government is the premier. For early history, see Korea. After the Japanese defeat in World War II, the Soviet Union occupied Korea north of latitude 38° N, while the U.S. occupied the area south of it. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea was established as a communist state in 1948. Seeking to unify the peninsula by force, North Korea launched an invasion of South Korea in 1950, initiating the Korean War. U.N. troops intervened on the side of South Korea, and Chinese soldiers reinforced the North Korean army in the war, which ended with an armistice in 1953. Under Kim Il-sung, North Korea became one of the most harshly regimented societies in the world, with a state-owned economy that failed to produce adequate supplies of food and consumer goods for its citizens. In the late 1990s, under Kim Il-sung's successor Kim Chong Il, the country endured a serious famine; as many as a million Koreans may have died. In 2000, 50 years after the start of the Korean War, a summit between the leaders of North and South Korea raised hopes for an end to North Korea's long isolation.