Natural Resources: North Korea’s major natural resources include coal, copper, fluorspar, gold, graphite, iron ore, lead, magnesite, pyrites, salt, tungsten, and zinc. Water is an important source of hydroelectric power generation.
Land Use: Based on 2001 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates, 20.7 percent, or 25,000 square kilometers, of the land is arable. Of this arable land, 12 percent is in permanent crops, and, according to a 1998 estimate, there were about 14,600 square kilometers of irrigated land.
Environmental Factors: Current environmental concerns include water pollution, inadequate supplies of potable water, water-borne diseases, deforestation, and soil erosion and degradation.
Time Zone: North Korea has one time zone: P’y4ngyang Standard Time (Greenwich Mean Time—GMT—plus nine hours).