北韩(Korea, North)
正式名称朝鲜民主主义人民共和国（Democratic People's Republic of Korea）
东亚朝鲜半岛北半部国家。面积122,762平方公里。人口约21,968,000（2001）。首都︰平壤。在人种上，几乎全是朝鲜人。语言︰朝鲜语（亦称韩语，官方语）。宗教：儒家学说、佛教、萨满教（以前很普及，但现在被禁），以及天道教。第二次世界大战期间外国传教团皆被逐出。货币︰韩元（won）。北韩4/5的土地是山脉和高地，最高峰是白头山高2,750公尺，是一座死火山。实施中央计画经济，以重工业（钢铁、机械、化学和纺织业）和农业为基础。合作农场种植作物包括稻米、玉米、大麦和蔬菜。矿产资源也很丰富，包括煤、铁矿和锰。政府形式是共和国，一院制。国家元首是国家主席（总统），政府首脑是总理。
早期历史参阅朝鲜。第二次世界大战日本战败後，苏联占领北纬38线以北的韩国，而美国则占据38线以南的地方。朝鲜民主主义人民共和国於1948年建立，成为共产国家。北韩想藉武力统一朝鲜半岛，1950年发动对南韩入侵，引爆了韩战。联合国军队加入南韩这一边，战时中国士兵被徵召支援北韩，1953年才签署停战协定。北韩在金日成领导下，成为世界上最严格组织化的社会之一，实施国营经济制度，不能生产足够的粮食和消费物品以供应人民所需。1990年代末期，在他的儿子金正日的统治下遭遇了一次大饥荒，估计最多有一百万人饿死。2000年（韩战爆发後五十年），两韩领袖举行了一次高峰会议，北韩可望结束长期的孤立状态。
English version：
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.