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Geographic coordinates: 40 00 N, 127 00 E
| total: | 120,540 sq km |
| land: | 120,410 sq km |
| water: | 130 sq km |
Land boundaries: total 1,673 km
Border countries: China 1,416 km, South Korea 238 km, Russia 19 km
The Korean Peninsula extends for about 1,000 kilometers southward from the northeast Asian continental landmass. The 8,460 kilometer coastline of Korea is highly irregular, with North Korea's half of the peninsula having 2,495 kilometers of coastline. Some 3,579 islands lie adjacent to the Korean Peninsula, mostly along the south and west coasts.
Coastline: 2,495 km
| territorial sea: | 12 nm |
| maritime military boundary: | 50 nm |
| exclusive economic zone: | 200 nm |
The government of North Korea claims territorial waters extending twelve nautical miles from shore. It also claims an exclusive economic zone 200 nautical miles from shore. In addition, a maritime military boundary that lies fifty nautical miles offshore in the East Sea of Korea ( Sea of Japan) and 200 nautical miles offshore in the Yellow Sea demarcates the waters and airspace into which foreign ships and planes are prohibited from entering without permission.
The terrain consists mostly of hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys. The coastal plains are wide in the west and discontinuous in the east.
Early European visitors to Korea remarked that the country resembled a sea in a heavy gale because of the many successive mountain ranges that crisscross the peninsula. Some 80 percent of North Korea's land area is composed of mountainThis article is about the landform. For other meanings, see Mountain (disambiguation). Mount Cook, a mountain in New Zealand A mountain is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area. A mountain is generally much higher and stes and uplands, with all of the peninsula's mountains with elevations of 2,000 meters or more located in North Korea. The great majority of the population lives in the plains and lowlands.
The land around Paektu-san near the China border is volcanic in origin and includes a basaltBasalt is an extrusive igneous rock, sometimes porphyritic, and is often both fine-grained and dense. Basalt in the tops of subaerial lava flows and cinders will often be highly vesiculated, imparting a lightweight "frothy" texture to the rock. The term b lava plateau with elevations of between 1,400 and 2,000 meters above sea level. The Hamgyong Range , located in the extreme northeastern part of the peninsula, has many high peaks including Kwanmo-san at approximately 1,756 meters. Other major ranges include the Nangnim Range, which is located in the north-central part of North Korea and runs in a north-south direction, making communication between the eastern and western parts of the country rather difficult; and the Kangnam Range, which runs along the North Korea-China border. Kumgang-sanKumgang-san ("Diamond Mountain") Korean Name McCune-ReischauerKumgang-san Revised RomanizationGeumgang-san Hangul Hanja Statistics Height1638 metres Location Kumgang-san Tourist Region, North Korea Kumgang-san ("Diamond Mountain") is the second-tallest mo, or Diamond Mountain, (approximately 1,638 meters) in the T'aebaekThe Taebaek Mountains are a mountain range in both North and South Korea. They form the main ridge of the Korean peninsula. The Taebaek mountains are located to the east of the peninsula and run along the East Sea. Hwangnyong Mountain in North Korea with Range, which extends into South Korea, is famous for its scenic beauty.
For the most part, the plains are small. The most extensive are the P'yongyang and Chaeryong plains, each covering about 500 square kilometers. Because the mountains on the east coast drop abruptly to the sea, the plains are even smaller there than on the west coast.
The mountain ranges in the northern and eastern parts of North Korea form the watershed for most of its rivers, which run in a westerly direction and empty into the Yellow Sea (Korea Bay). The longest is the Yalu River, which is navigable for 678 of its 790 kilometers. The Tumen River, one of the few major rivers to flow into the East Sea of Korea (Sea of Japan), is the second longest at 521 kilometers but is navigable for only 85 kilometers because of the mountainous topography. The third longest river, the Taedong River, flows through P'yongyang and is navigable for 245 of its 397 kilometers. Lakes tend to be small because of the lack of glacial activity and the stability of the earth's crust in the region. Unlike neighboring Japan or northern China, North Korea experiences few severe earthquakes. The country is well-endowed with spas and hot springs, which number 124 according to one North Korean source.