Eastern Asia · PRK

North Korea

The story · 10 chapters

How it was drawn

The northern half of the Korean peninsula, home of Goguryeo and of the old capital Pyongyang, separated from the south in 1945 and fixed by the 1953 armistice line.

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Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states North Korea fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Han China109 BC to 313
Emperor Wu of Han invades Gojoseon in 109 BC and destroys it the next year, setting up commanderies. Lelang, centred near Pyongyang, lasts for four centuries until Goguryeo takes it in 313.
Sui and Tang China598 to 668
Goguryeo defeats huge Sui invasions, above all at the Salsu river in 612, and holds off the Tang in 645. In 668 a Tang and Silla alliance finally takes Pyongyang and destroys the kingdom.
Khitan Liao993 to 1019
The Khitan Liao invade Goryeo three times. After the third invasion the Korean general Gang Gam-chan crushes the Khitan army at Gwiju in 1019, and peace follows.
Mongol Empire1231 to 1259
Mongol armies invade Goryeo repeatedly for nearly thirty years while the court shelters on Ganghwa Island. Goryeo submits in 1259 and is forced to help the Mongols invade Japan.
Jurchen tribes1410 to 1449
Jurchen tribes raid the northern frontier. King Sejong sends armies against them in the 1430s and builds the Four Commanderies and Six Garrisons along the Yalu and Tumen, fixing Korea's northern border.
Japan under Hideyoshi1592 to 1598
Japanese armies invade Korea, take Seoul and Pyongyang and reach the Tumen. Ming troops and Korean forces retake Pyongyang in 1593, and the invaders leave after Hideyoshi's death in 1598.
Manchu Later Jin and Qing1627 to 1637
The Manchus invade Joseon in 1627 and again in 1636, when the king surrenders after a siege. Joseon must break with the Ming and pay tribute to the Qing.
Empire of Japan1905 to 1945
Japan makes Korea a protectorate in 1905 and annexes it in 1910. Korean guerrillas fight the Japanese in Manchuria, among them the young Kim Il Sung. Japanese rule ends with its defeat in August 1945.
South KoreaSince 1948Still open
Both Korean states claim the whole peninsula. After the war of 1950 to 1953, clashes continue along the border and at sea, including the sinking of the Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in 2010.
United StatesSince 1950Still open
American troops fight North Korea in the Korean War and stay in South Korea afterwards. Since the 1990s the North's nuclear and missile programmes have been at the centre of a standoff that summits in 2018 and 2019 did not resolve.

Today

North Korea now

C. Over the subsequent centuries, three main kingdoms -- Kogoryo, Paekche, and Silla -- were established on the Peninsula. , Kogoryo emerged as the most powerful, with control over much of the Peninsula and part of Manchuria (modern-day northeast China). However, Silla allied with the Chinese to create the first unified Korean state in 688. Following the collapse of Silla in the 9th century, Korea was unified under the Koryo (Goryeo; 918-1392) and the Chosen (Joseon; 1392-1910) dynasties.

Capital: Pyongyang
Government: dictatorship, single-party communist state
Head of government: Pak Thae-song
Head of state: Kim Jong-un
Languages: North Korean standard language, Korean
Area: 120,540 km²

Through time

Then and now

Population26.4 million2023 · 11.1 million in 1950
Life expectancy73.6 years2023 · 14.2 years in 1950
GDP per person$1,5682022 · $2,461 in 1950
Living in cities64%2025 · 4% in 1950
Literacy100%2008
Political regimeClosed autocracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Close partners

China

Tensions

United States
Japan

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 24 October 2026.

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states North Korea fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Han China109 BC to 313

Emperor Wu of Han invades Gojoseon in 109 BC and destroys it the next year, setting up commanderies. Lelang, centred near Pyongyang, lasts for four centuries until Goguryeo takes it in 313.

Sui and Tang China598 to 668

Goguryeo defeats huge Sui invasions, above all at the Salsu river in 612, and holds off the Tang in 645. In 668 a Tang and Silla alliance finally takes Pyongyang and destroys the kingdom.

Khitan Liao993 to 1019

The Khitan Liao invade Goryeo three times. After the third invasion the Korean general Gang Gam-chan crushes the Khitan army at Gwiju in 1019, and peace follows.

Mongol Empire1231 to 1259

Mongol armies invade Goryeo repeatedly for nearly thirty years while the court shelters on Ganghwa Island. Goryeo submits in 1259 and is forced to help the Mongols invade Japan.

Jurchen tribes1410 to 1449

Jurchen tribes raid the northern frontier. King Sejong sends armies against them in the 1430s and builds the Four Commanderies and Six Garrisons along the Yalu and Tumen, fixing Korea's northern border.

Japan under Hideyoshi1592 to 1598

Japanese armies invade Korea, take Seoul and Pyongyang and reach the Tumen. Ming troops and Korean forces retake Pyongyang in 1593, and the invaders leave after Hideyoshi's death in 1598.

Manchu Later Jin and Qing1627 to 1637

The Manchus invade Joseon in 1627 and again in 1636, when the king surrenders after a siege. Joseon must break with the Ming and pay tribute to the Qing.

Empire of Japan1905 to 1945

Japan makes Korea a protectorate in 1905 and annexes it in 1910. Korean guerrillas fight the Japanese in Manchuria, among them the young Kim Il Sung. Japanese rule ends with its defeat in August 1945.

South KoreaSince 1948Still open

Both Korean states claim the whole peninsula. After the war of 1950 to 1953, clashes continue along the border and at sea, including the sinking of the Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in 2010.

United StatesSince 1950Still open

American troops fight North Korea in the Korean War and stay in South Korea afterwards. Since the 1990s the North's nuclear and missile programmes have been at the centre of a standoff that summits in 2018 and 2019 did not resolve.

North Korea now

Capital

Pyongyang

Government

dictatorship, single-party communist state

Head of government

Pak Thae-song

Head of state

Kim Jong-un

Languages

North Korean standard language, Korean

Area

120,540 km²

Then and now

Population26.4 million2023 · 11.1 million in 1950

Life expectancy73.6 years2023 · 14.2 years in 1950

GDP per person$1,5682022 · $2,461 in 1950

Living in cities64%2025 · 4% in 1950

Literacy100%2008

Political regimeClosed autocracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950

Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950

War deathsNone2025