Animal Info - North Korea

Threatened Species, Environmental and Social Data (Mammals, Biodiversity/Ecosystems, Population, Area/Land Use, Protected Lands, Economy), References and Links

Threatened Species

Threatened Species: The following list includes all mammals which occur in North Korea and are rated as Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN) or Vulnerable (VU) in the 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals.

Endangered:
- Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus).
- Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus).
- Northern Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis).
- Sei Whale (Balaenoptera borealis).
- Tiger (Panthera tigris).
- Ussuri Tube-nosed Bat (Murina ussuriensis).
Vulnerable:
- Asiatic Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus).
- Dhole (Cuon alpinus).
- Dugong (Dugong dugon).
- Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra).
- Harbor Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena).
- Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae).
- Long-tailed Goral (Naemorhedus caudatus).
- Siberian Musk Deer (Moschus moschiferus).
- Sperm Whale (Physeter catodon).

Environmental and Social Data

Mammals

Number of endemic species: 0 (Groombridge & Jenkins 1994)
Number of threatened species: 1996: 7 (IUCN 1996); 2000: 15 (IUCN 2000)

Biodiversity/Ecosystems

North Korea contains portions of the Yellow Sea & East China Sea Global 200 Ecoregion (Olson & Dinerstein 1998, Olson & Dinerstein 1999)

Population

Population in 1995: 23,487,000 (Natl. Geog. Soc. 1995)
Population density in 1995: 194.9 people/sq km (504.7 people/sq mi) (Natl. Geog. Soc. 1995)
Population in 1998: 21,234,387 (World Almanac 1999)

Area/Land Use

Area: 120,538 sq km (46,540 sq mi) (Natl. Geog. Soc. 1995)
Percentages of primary world ecosystem types:

Other Coastal Aquatic: 12 %
Grass and Shrub: 18 %
Crop and Settlements: 14 %
Interrupted Woods: 16 %
Major Forests: 39 %

(Groombridge 1992)

Percent of land area classified as the following degree of human disturbance: Low: 0 %, Medium: 35 %, High: 65 % (WRI 1994)

Protected Lands

Area: 580 sq km (224 sq mi) (Groombridge 1992)
Percent of land protected: 0.36 % totally protected, 0.11 % partially protected, 0.47 % totally or partially protected (Groombridge 1992)

Economy

Per capita GDP ($ U.S.) (1996): $900 (World Almanac 1999)

References and Links

References: Groombridge 1992, Groombridge & Jenkins 1994, IUCN 1994, IUCN 1996, IUCN 2000, IUCN 2004, Natl. Geog. Soc. 1995, Olson & Dinerstein 1998, Olson & Dinerstein 1999, World Almanac 1999, World Bank 1992, WRI 1994

General Links (After you get to one of these sites, click on the link for North Korea): CIA World Factbook, Foreign Embassies of Washington, D.C., Library of Congress - Country Studies, University of Texas - Country Maps, Washington Post - Countries, World Resources Institute - Country Profiles

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Last modified: November 9, 2005;