Geography of the North Korea

The North Korea (officially the democratic Popular republic of Korea), is a country of Eastern Asia, in the north of the Péninsule of Korea.

Physical geography

Of a surface of 120 538 km ², it are bordered in north by the China (border 1 416 km), in the North-East by the Russia (borders of 19 km) and in the south by the South Korea (borders of 238 km). Its maritime borders are in the east by the Mer of Japan, called by the Koreans sea of the East and in the west by the Yellow Mer, bordering Mer of the Eastern China Sea.

The principal rivers are the Yalou (called Amnok by the Koreans) and the Tumen.

The most important city is Pyongyang, the other main cities of the country are Chongjin, Wonsan, Nampo, Kaesong and Hamhung.

The culminating point is the Mont Paektu (2 750 m), fifty mountains exceeding 2 in addition; 000 m (for the majority located in the Hamgyong). The three quarters of the country mountainous or consist of plates.

The climate is of moderate type continental, characterized by an annual amplitude of 35°C with Pyongyang (the average temperature in January is of - 8°C and concealed July is 27°C) and of the hot and wet summers. Annual precipitations reach 916 mm with Pyongyang and 1 400 mm with Wonsan, on the east coast.

Administrative organization

Administratively, the North Korea counts nine provinces and four cities under clean administrative statute.

The nine provinces are:

Kangwon, in south-east (main cities: Wonsan, chief town of province, and Kosong), where are located the Kumgang mounts or Kumgangsan (" san" mean mountain in Korean);
Jagang, in the North-West, frontier with China (chief town of province: Kanggye);
Ryanggang, in north (chief town of province: Hyesan), the Mount Paektu, culminating point of the North Korea at the sino-Korean border, belongs to Ryanggang;
two provinces of North and the South Pyongan, in the west, whose chief towns are respectively Sinuiju, at the Chinese border, and Pyongsong; the mounts Myohyang are in extreme cases of the province of the South Pyongan and Jagang;
two provinces of North and the South Hamgyong (chief town of province: respectively Chongjin and Hamhung, in the North-East of the country (another important city: the port of Sinpo in the South Hamgyong;
north and the south Hwanghae, in the extreme-south of the country (chief towns of province: Sariwon and Haeju).

The four cities having a particular status are Pyongyang and its province, Nampo, the conurbation of Rajin-Sonbong and Kaesong, the two last cities being also special economic zones.

Environment

Fauna

Fauna North-Korean belongs to a vaster unit which gathers the North-East of China and is of Siberia. It counts in particular brown and black Ours, tiger S (of which the Tigre in Korea pertaining to the subspecies of the Tigre of Siberia), Zibeline S, stag S and Sarcelle S of the Lac Baïkal. Among the avicolous species, the black green woodpecker with white belly is specific to the north of the Korea.

Flora

The democratic Popular republic of Korea shelters several natural parks, in particular in the areas of the Mounts Chilbo, Paektu, Kuwol, Myohyang and Kumgang.

In 2004, a new species of pine S white, the white Pine of Korea, was discovered in Korea, in the village of Raengjong-gol, the district of Rinsan (province of Hwanghae of North).

Environmental problems

Pollution

According to Jeong Hoi-sung, researcher in Korean Institut of the environment, the whole of the Korean peninsula could be the zone most reached by the Acid rains during the 21e century because of his geographical position, between industrialized China and Japan, and of the transborder character of this phenomenon.

Moreover, the annual average temperature in South Korea, which lay between 10 and 11 degrees Celsius of 1908 to 1940, reached 12 to 13 degrees after 1970. This increase in the temperature has also an effect on the sea level.

The experts of the Korean Institute of the environment estimate thus that the increase in the sea level around the peninsula will lie between 33,9 and 40,7 centimetres from here 2090. The coastal areas of the west and the south are regarded as more vulnerable than the east coast, but it is especially the North Korea which should be touched.

Byon Byung-seol, a researcher in Korean Institut of the environment, mentioned the following environmental problems in North Korea:

the inhabitants of industrial parks such as Hungnam, Hamhung, Chongjin, Wonsan, Nampo and Songrim would suffer from dermatites and respiratory diseases because of emanating gases of factories.
liquid waste coming from factories would be rejected into the rivers without to be purified, which éradiqué all fish in several of them.
in order to nourish its population, of the immense zones of forests was devastated (busy of 97 726 square kilometers in 1970 with 75 330 square kilometers in 1998) and of large surfaces of ground polluted and acidified by the large-scale use of manure and chemicals.

These problems would have also had certain fatal consequences for their regional neighbors, in particular South Korea. In addition, some of measurements of overexploitation of the grounds intended to nourish the population finally led to a fall of more than one third of the effective production of cereals.

Always according to the Korean Institute of the environment, the environmental problems in North Korea resemble those of South Korea in the years 1970. These problems, mainly involved in L `industry, are described as “pollution of production”, in opposition to the “pollution of consumption” which knows today South Korea and characterized by the consequences of a fast urbanization which are the gas emission cars, evacuation of waste water of the dwellings, etc… .

Vulnerability with the climatic risks: floods

In 1967,1995,2006 and the 2007 country was subjected to very strong floods which involved heavy human losses and material.

Cooperation program environmental

In March 2006, the North Korea adopted a relative law with the recognition of the effects on the environment, which lays out in particular that the North Korea will continue “to develop the exchanges and the co-operation to recognize the effects on the environment and to cease the developments and constructions prejudicial with the environment”.

This law supplements a legislative device and international engagements theoretically very complete to protect the environment: according to the Program of the United Nations for the development (UNDP), “the RPDC revised its legal framework and administrative and indicated environmental protection like a priority in all the practices of production and like a condition with sustainable development. It adopted national laws on the hydrological forests, fishing, resources and marine pollution. The country - which shelters species seriously threatened like the leopard of the Love, the Brown bear of Asia and the Tigre of Siberia - also signed the international agreements of the environment like Convention on biological diversity”.

These choices lie within the scope of launching in August 2004, jointly by the North Korea and the Programme of the United Nations for the development, of the first evaluation of the state of the environment in North Korea: the climatic catastrophes of the years 1990 and deforestation led to increase the arable lands indeed resulted in an increased pollution of water, air and grounds. (sources: wire-information France of August 28th, 2004. In co-operation with the Swedish agency of international expansion, ONG Lyons Triangle humane generation led, from January in December 2005, a program of reafforestation and environmental protection in the provinces of south Pyongyang and southern Hwangae.

In addition, the demilitarized zone, between the two Korea, accommodates from now on a fauna and a flora among richest in the world.

In 2004, the Biosphère of the Mont Kuwol was classified with the World network of the reserves of biosphere of UNESCO, following the example Biosphère of the Mont Paektu.

Reference

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