Country · KP

North Korea in other languages: 조선, 북한, Pyongyang and the provinces

North Korea calls itself 조선 (Chosŏn), in full 조선민주주의인민공화국, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; ISO 3166-1 codes it KP, PRK and 408. The page gives the name in 179 languages and Pyongyang in 71, then the nine provinces, the cities with provincial rank and the special zones in Hangul and Hanja.

Official languagesKorean (조선어, chosŏnŏ)

Checked 5 November 2026

ISO 3166-1alpha-2 · alpha-3 · numeric

ratio 1:2

alpha-2: KP
alpha-3: PRK
numeric: 408

조선 Korean · HangulRomanised Chosŏn

조선민주주의인민공화국Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk

朝鮮 Korean · HanjaRomanised Chosŏn

朝鮮民主主義人民共和國

English: North KoreaDemocratic People’s Republic of Korea
Capital: 평양平壤P’yŏngyang · Pyongyang

ISO 3166-1, checked 28 October 2026

01 · Exonyms

North Korea (조선) in other languages: list of exonyms

North Korea in 179 languages and variants, grouped where the spelling is shared, with ISO 639-3 codes and romanisation
Languages	ISO 639-3	Name	Romanised
English	eng	North Korea	same as written
Afrikaans, Limburgish, Dutch	afr / lim / nld	Noord-Korea	same as written
Catalan, Interlingua, Italian	cat / ina / ita	Corea del Nord	same as written
Asturian, Spanish	ast / spa	Corea del Norte	same as written
Danish, Swedish, German, Luxembourgish	dan / swe / deu / ltz	Nordkorea	same as written
French, Jersey Norman French	fra / jnf	Corée du Nord	same as written
Kinyarwanda, Kirundi	kin / run	Koreya y’uburaruko	same as written
Aragonese	arg	Corea d’o Norte	same as written
Azerbaijani	aze	Şimali Koreya / Шимали Кореја	Şimali Koreya
Bambara	bam	Kɔre Saheliyanfan	same as written
Bosnian	bos	Sjeverna Koreja / Сјеверна Кореја / سيەوەرنا قۉرەيا	Sjeverna Koreja
Breton	bre	Korea an Norzh, Norzhkorea	same as written
Czech	ces	Severní Korea	same as written
Cornish	cor	Korea Gledh	same as written
Corsican	cos	Corea tramuntana	same as written
Crimean Tatar	crh	Şimaliy Koreya / Шималий Корея	Şimaliy Koreya
Kashubian	csb	Nordowô Kòreja	same as written
Welsh	cym	Gogledd Corea	same as written
Lower Sorbian	dsb	Pódpołnocna Koreja	same as written
Esperanto	epo	Nord-Koreo, Nord-Koreio	same as written
Estonian	est	Põhja-Korea	same as written
Basque	eus	Ipar Korea	same as written
Faroese	fao	Norður-Korea	same as written
Finnish	fin	Pohjois-Korea	same as written
Kven	fkv	Pohjais-Korea	same as written
Franco-Provençal	frp	Corê du Nord	same as written
West Frisian	fry	Noard-Korea	same as written
Friulian	fur	Coree dal Nord	same as written
Gagauz	gag	Poyraz Koreya / Пойраз Корея	Poyraz Koreya
Scottish Gaelic	gla	Coirea a Tuath, Coiria a Tuath, Corea a Tuath	same as written
Irish	gle	An Chóiré Thuaidh, An Choria Thuaidh	same as written
Galician	glg	Corea do Norte	same as written
Manx	glv	Yn Chorea Twoaie	same as written
Guarani	grn	Yvatekorea	same as written
Haitian Creole	hat	Kore dinò	same as written
Hausa	hau	Koreya ta Arewa	same as written
Croatian	hrv	Sjeverna Koreja	same as written
Upper Sorbian	hsb	Sewjerna Koreja	same as written
Hungarian	hun	Észak-Korea	same as written
Igbo	ibo	Kọria Ugwu	same as written
Indonesian	ind	Korea Utara	same as written
Icelandic	isl	Norður-Kórea	same as written
Javanese	jav	Koréa Lor	same as written
Karakalpak	kaa	Arqa Koreya / Арқа Корея	Arqa Koreya
Kurmanji Kurdish	kur	Koreya Bakur	same as written
Latin	lat	Corea Septentrionalis	same as written
Latvian	lav	Ziemeļkoreja	same as written
Lingala	lin	Kore ya Nola	same as written
Lithuanian	lit	Šiaurės Korėja	same as written
Ladin	lld	Corea dl Nord	same as written
Latgalian	ltg	Pūstumu Koreja	same as written
Malagasy	mlg	Kôrea Avaratra	same as written
Maltese	mlt	Korea ta’ Fuq	same as written
Moldovan	mol	Coreea de Nord / Корея де Норд	Coreea de Nord
Malay	msa	Korea Utara / كوريا اوتارا	Korea Utara
Nahuatl	nah	Koria Ayamiktlan	same as written
Low German	nds	Noordkorea	same as written
Norwegian	nor	Nord-Korea	same as written
Novial	nov	Nord Korea	same as written
Norman French	nrm	Coraée-du-Nord	same as written
Occitan	oci	Corèa del Nòrd	same as written
Polish	pol	Korea Północna	same as written
Portuguese	por	Coreia do Norte / Coréia do Norte	same as written
Quechua	que	Chinchay Kuriya	same as written
Kalderash Romani	rmy	Nordutni Koreya / नोर्दुत्नी कोरेया	Nordutni Koreya
Romansh	roh	Corea dal Nord	same as written
Romanian	ron	Coreea de Nord	same as written
Aromanian	rup	Corea di Aratsile	same as written
Sicilian	scn	Corea dû Nord	same as written
Slovak	slk	Severná Kórea	same as written
Slovio	slo	Severju Korea / Северйу Кореа	Severju Korea
Slovenian	slv	Severna Koreja	same as written
Northern Sami	sme	Davvi-Korea	same as written
Samogitian	smg	Šiaurės Kuoriejė	same as written
Samoan	smo	Korea i Matu	same as written
Somali	som	Woqooyi Kuuriya	same as written
Albanian	sqi	Korea Veriore	same as written
Sardinian	srd	Corea de Susu	same as written
Saterland Frisian	stq	Noud-Korea	same as written
Swahili	swa	Korea ya Kaskazini	same as written
Silesian	szl	Korea Půunocno	same as written
Tetum	tet	Koreia Norte	same as written
Tagalog	tgl	Hilagang Korea	same as written
Tok Pisin	tpi	Not Korea	same as written
Turkmen	tuk	Demirgazyk Koreýa / Демиргазык Корея	Demirgazyk Koreýa
Turkish	tur	Kuzey Kore	same as written
Uzbek	uzb	Shimoliy Koreya / Шимолий Корея / شىمالىي كارېيە	Shimoliy Koreya
Vietnamese	vie	Bắc Hàn, Triều Tiên	same as written
Volapük	vol	Nolüda-Koreyän, Tjosönän, Tsyosönän	same as written
Võro	vor	Põh́a-Korea	same as written
Walloon	wln	Bijhe Corêye	same as written
Wolof	wol	Kore gu Bëj-gànnaar, Koore bu Noor	same as written
Zazaki	zza	Korya Zımey	same as written
Abaza, Bulgarian, Rusyn	abq / bul / rue	Северна Корея	Severna Koreja
Abkhaz	abk	Ҩадатәи Кореа	Ůadatwi Korea
Altai	alt	Тӱндӱк Корея	Tündük Koreja
Avar	ava	Шималияб Корея	Šimalijab Koreja
Bashkir	bak	Төньяҡ Корея / Tönyaķ Koreya	Tönyaķ Koreya
Belarusian	bel	Паўночная Карэя / Paŭnočnaja Kareja	Paŭnočnaja Kareja
Chechen	che	Къилбседа Корей / Q̇ilbseda Korey	Q̇ilbseda Korey
Chuvash	chv	Ҫурҫӗр Корейӑ	Śurśĕr Korejă
Kazakh	kaz	Солтүстік Корея / سولتۇستىك كورەيا / Soltüstik Koreya, Чаушьян / چاۋشيان / Çawşyan	Soltüstik Koreya, Çawşyan
Kabardian	kbd	Ишъхъэрэ Корей	Iṣ̌ħără Korej
Kyrgyz	kir	Түндүк Корея / تۉندۉك كورەيا / Tündük Koreya	Tündük Koreya
Khakas	kjh	Севернай Корея	Severnaj Koreja
Kurdish (Caucasus)	kmr	Корейа Бакӧр’ / Korêya Bakuṟ, Корейа Шьмале / Korêya Şimalê	Korêya Bakuṟ, Korêya Şimalê
Komi	kom	Войвыв Корея	Vojvyv Koreja
Karachay-Balkar	krc	Шимал Корея	Šimal Koreja
Kumyk	kum	Темиркъазыкъ Корея	Temirqazyq Koreja
Lezgi	lez	Кеферпатан Корея	Keferpatan Koreja
Meadow Mari	mhr	Йӱдвел Корей	Jüdvel Korej
Macedonian	mkd	Северна Кореја	Severna Koreja
Mongolian	mon	Умард Солонгос, Хойд Солонгос	Umard Solongos, Ȟojd Solongos
Ossetian	oss	Цӕгат Корей	Cägat Korej
Russian	rus	Северная Корея	Severnaja Koreja
Yakut	sah	Хоту Кэриэйэ	Ȟotu Käriäjä
Serbian	srp	Северна Кореја / Severna Koreja	Severna Koreja
Tatar	tat	Төньяк Корея / Tönyaq Koreyä / تۆنياق كورېيە	Tönyaq Koreyä
Tajik	tgk	Қурияи Шимолӣ / قوریهٔ شمالی / Qurijaji Şimolī, Кореяи Шимолӣ / کاریهٔ شمالی / Korejaji Şimolī	Qurijaji Şimolī, Korejaji Şimolī
Tuvan	tyv	Соңгу-Көрей	Soŋgu-Körej
Udmurt	udm	Уйпал Корея	Ujpal Koreja
Ukrainian	ukr	Північна Корея	Pivnična Koreja
Kalmyk	xal	Ар үзгин Корея	Ar üzgin Koreja
Arabic	ara	كوريا الشمالية	Kūrīyā š-Šimālīyâ
South Azerbaijani	azb	شیمالی کورئیا / Şimali Koreya	Şimali Koreya
Sorani Kurdish	ckb	کۆریای باکوور / Koryay Bakûr	Koryay Bakûr
Persian	fas	کرهٔ شمالی / Koreye Šemâli	Koreye Šemâli
Western Punjabi	pnb	اتلا کوریا	Atlā Kōriyā
Dari	prs	کوریای شمالی	Kōriyā-ye Šemālī
Pashto	pus	شمالي کوريا	Šimālī Kōriyā
Sindhi	snd	اتر ڪوريا	Utaru Kōriyā
Uyghur	uig	شىمالىي چاۋشيەن / Shimaliy Chawshyen / Шималий Чавшйән, شىمالىي چاۋشەن / Shimaliy Chawshen / Шималий Чавшән	Shimaliy Chawshyen, Shimaliy Chawshen
Urdu	urd	شمالی کوریا	Šimālī Kōriyā
Dhivehi	div	އުތުރު ކޮރެއާ	Uturu Koreā
Hebrew	heb	צפון קוראה, צפון קוריאה, קוראה הצפונית, קוריאה הצפונית	Tsəfōn Qōreʾah, Tsəfōn Qōrēʾah, Qōreʾah ha-Tsəfōnīt, Qōrēʾah ha-Tsəfōnīt
Ladino	lad	קוריאה דיל נורטי / Korea del Norte	Korea del Norte
Yiddish	yid	צפֿון קאָרעע	Tsofn Koree
Berber, Kabyle	ber / kab	ⴽⵓⵔⵢⴰ ⵏ ⵓⴳⴰⴼⴰ / Kurya n Ugafa	Kurya n Ugafa
Amharic	amh	ሰሜን ኮርያ	Sämen Korya
Greek (Demotic)	ell	Βόρεια Κορέα	Vóreia Koréa
Greek (Katharevousa)	ell	Βόρειος Κορέα	Vóreios Koréa
Armenian	hye	Հյուսիսային Կորեա	Hyousisayin Korea
Georgian	kat	ჩრდილოეთი კორეა	Č̣rdiloeṭi Korea
Laz	lzz	ჟილენთუნა კორეა / Jilentuna K’orea	Jilentuna K’orea
Mingrelian	xmf	ოორუე კორეა	Oorue Korea
Hindi	hin	उत्तर कोरिया	Uttar Koriyā
Bengali	ben	উত্তর কোরিয়া	Uttôr Koriyā
Gujarati	guj	ઉત્તર કોરિયા	Uttar Koriyā
Odia	ori	ଉତ୍ତର କୋରିଆ	Uttôr Koriā
Punjabi	pan	ਉੱਤਰੀ ਕੋਰੀਆ	Uttarī Korīā
Sinhala	sin	උතුරු කොරියාව	Uturu Koriyāva
Kannada	kan	ಉತ್ತರ ಕೊರಿಯಾ	Uttara Koriyā
Malayalam	mal	ഉത്തര കൊറിയ	Uttara Koṟiya
Tamil	tam	வட கொரியா, வடகொரியா	Vaṭa Koriyā, Vaṭakoriyā
Telugu	tel	ఉత్తర కొరియా	Uttara Koriyā
Chinese	zho	北韓/北韩, 朝鮮/朝鲜	Běihán, Cháoxiǎn
Cantonese	yue	北韓/北韩, 朝鮮/朝鲜	Bākhòhn, Chosen
Japanese	jpn	朝鮮	Chōsen
Korean	kor	북조선 / 北朝鮮, 북한 / 北韓	Pukchosŏn, Pukhan
Tibetan	bod	བྱང་ཁྲའོ་ཤན།, བྱང་ཀོ་རི་ཡ།	bYaṅ. Kʰra'o.šan, bYaṅ. Ko.ri.ya
Dzongkha	dzo	བྱང་ཀོ་རི་ཡ།	bYaṅ. Ko.ri.ya
Burmese	mya	မြောက်ကိုရီးယား	Myouʿ Koẏìyà
Thai	tha	เกาหลีเหนือ	Kaw[h]lī [h]Nʉ̄a
Lao	lao	ເກົາຫຼີເໜືອ	Kaw[h]ḷī [h]Nʉ̄a
Khmer	khm	កូរ៉េខាងជើង	Kūre Kʰāṅčøṅ
Cherokee	chr	ᏅᏒᏢ ᎢᏗᏢ ᎪᎴᏯ / Nvsvtlv Iditlv Goleya, ᏅᏒᏢ ᎢᏗᏢ ᎪᎴᎠ / Nvsvtlv Iditlv Golea	Nvsvtlv Iditlv Goleya, Nvsvtlv Iditlv Golea

02 · NamesU+C870 HANGUL SYLLABLE JO

Chosŏn, Pukhan, Nordkorea: who names the north

Two Korean words compete for the north. The state uses 조선 (Chosŏn), written 朝鮮 in Hanja, for itself and for the language, 조선어. The list also gives 북조선 (Pukchosŏn), north Chosŏn, and 북한 (Pukhan), written 北韓, which replaces Chosŏn with Han. Japanese keeps 朝鮮 (Chōsen); Chinese lists both 北韓 (Běihán) and 朝鮮 (Cháoxiǎn).

Most other languages add a word for north to Korea. German, Danish and Swedish write Nordkorea, Dutch Noord-Korea, Spanish Corea del Norte, French Corée du Nord, Turkish Kuzey Kore and Russian Северная Корея (Severnaja Koreja). Latin has Corea Septentrionalis, Swahili Korea ya Kaskazini. Kazakh lists Солтүстік Корея and Чаушьян (Çawşyan), Mongolian Умард Солонгос and Хойд Солонгос.

The capital is 평양, Hanja 平壤, P’yŏngyang in McCune-Reischauer. German writes Pjöngjang, Finnish, Icelandic and Slovenian Pjongjang, Czech and Slovak Pchjongjang, Hungarian Phenjan and Russian Пхеньян.

03 · Pyongyang

Pyongyang (평양) in other languages

Pyongyang in 71 languages and variants, grouped where the spelling is shared, with ISO 639-3 codes and romanisation
Languages	ISO 639-3	Name	Romanised
English, French, Irish	eng / fra / gle	Pyongyang	same as written
German, Luxembourgish, Low German	deu / ltz / nds	Pjöngjang	same as written
Finnish, Icelandic, Slovenian	fin / isl / slv	Pjongjang	same as written
Czech, Slovak	ces / slk	Pchjongjang	same as written
Azerbaijani	aze	Pxenyan / Пхенјан	Pxenyan
Bosnian	bos	Pjongjang / Пјонгјанг / پيۉنغيانغ	Pjongjang
Esperanto	epo	Pjongjango	same as written
Estonian	est	Phjongjang	same as written
Hungarian	hun	Phenjan	same as written
Kurmanji Kurdish	kur	Piyongyang	same as written
Latvian	lav	Phenjana	same as written
Lithuanian	lit	Pchenjanas	same as written
Moldovan	mol	Phenian / Пхеньян	Phenian
Malay	msa	Pyongyang / ڤيوڠياڠ	Pyongyang
Polish	pol	Phenian	same as written
Samogitian	smg	Pjongjangs	same as written
Silesian	szl	Pheńan	same as written
Tetum	tet	Pionián	same as written
Tagalog	tgl	Phenyan	same as written
Turkmen	tuk	Phenýan / Пхеньян	Phenýan
Turkish	tur	Pyonyang	same as written
Uzbek	uzb	Pxenyan / Пхеньян / پخېنيەن	Pxenyan
Vietnamese	vie	Bình Nhưỡng	same as written
Volapük	vol	Pyöngyang	same as written
Mongolian, Russian, Ukrainian	mon / rus / ukr	Пхеньян	Pȟen'jan
Bashkir	bak	Пхеньян / Pxenyan	Pxenyan
Belarusian	bel	Пхеньян / Pchienian, Пхэньян / Pchenian	Pchienian, Pchenian
Bulgarian	bul	Пхенян	Pȟenjan
Kazakh	kaz	Пхеньян / پحەنيان / Pxenyan	Pxenyan
Kyrgyz	kir	Пхеньян / پحەنيان / Phenyan	Phenyan
Serbian	srp	Пјонгјанг / Pjongjang	Pjongjang
Tatar	tat	Пхеньян / Pxenyan / پخېنيان	Pxenyan
Tajik	tgk	Пхенян / پخینین / Pxenjan	Pxenjan
Arabic	ara	بيونغ يانغ, بيونغ ينغ, بيونغيانغ, بيونج يانج, بيونجيانج, بيونيانغ	Biyūnġ Yānġ, Biyūnġ Yanġ, Biyūnġyānġ, Biyūngyāng, Biyūngyāng, Biyūnyānġ
South Azerbaijani	azb	پخئنیان / Pxenyan	Pxenyan
Persian	fas	پیونگ‌یانگ / Piyongyâng, پهنیان / Pehenyân	Piyongyâng, Pehenyân
Western Punjabi	pnb	پیونگ‌یانگ	Piyōngyāng
Pashto	pus	فنکيانګ	Finkyāng
Uyghur	uig	پيوڭياڭ / Pyongyang / Пйоңяң	Pyongyang
Urdu	urd	پیانگ‌یانگ	Piyāngyāng
Hebrew	heb	פיונגינג, פיונגיאנג	Pyōngyang, Pyōngyāng
Yiddish	yid	פּיאָנגיאַנג	Pyongyang
Amharic	amh	ፕዮንግያንግ	Pyongyang
Greek (Demotic)	ell	Πιονγκγιάνγκ, Πιονγιάνγκ	Piongkgiángk, Piongiángk
Greek (Katharevousa)	ell	Πυὸνγκ-Γιάνγκ, Πιὸνγ-Γιάνγ	Pyòngk-Giángk, Piòng-Giáng
Armenian	hye	Փհենյան, Պխենյան	P̕henyan, Pxenyan
Georgian	kat	ფხენიანი	Ṗȟeniani
Hindi	hin	फियोंगयांग, पयांग यांग, पायोंग्यांग, प्योंगयांग	Pʰiyoṃgyāṃg, Pyāṃg Yāṃg, Pāyoṃgyāṃg, Pyoṃgyāṃg
Marathi	mar	प्याँगयांग	Pyā̃gyāṃg
Nepali	nep	प्योङ्याङ	Pyoṅyāṅ
Bengali	ben	পাইয়েং ইয়াং, পিয়ংইয়াং	Pāiyeṃ Iyāṃ, Piyôṃiyāṃ
Punjabi	pan	ਪੇਓਨਗਯੰਗ	Peongyãg
Kannada	kan	ಪ್ಯೋಂಗ್‍ಯಾಂಗ್, ಪ್ಯೊನ್ಗ್‌ಯಾಂಗ	Pyōṃgyāṃg, Pyongyāṃg
Malayalam	mal	പ്യോംങ്യാംഗ്	Pyōṃṅyāṃg
Tamil	tam	பியாங்யாங், பியொங்யாங், ப்யோங்யாங், பெஞான்	Piyāṅyāṅ, Piyoṅyāṅ, Pyōṅyāṅ, Peñāṉ
Telugu	tel	పాంగ్యాంగ్	Pāṃgyāṃg
Chinese	zho	平壌	Píngrǎng
Japanese	jpn	平壌 / ピョンヤン	Pyonyan
Korean	kor	평양 / 平壌	Phyŏngyang
Burmese	mya	ပျန်ယန်	Pyãyã
Thai	tha	เปียงยาง	Piyaṅyāṅ
Khmer	khm	ព្យុងយ៉ាង, ផ្យុងយ៉ាង	Pyuṅyāṅ, Pʰyuṅyāṅ

04 · Provinces

Provinces and cities of North Korea in Hangul and Hanja

North Korea has nine provinces (도, 道), the capital Pyongyang and three more cities of provincial rank in ISO 3166-2; three special zones have no ISO code. Each name stands in Hangul with its romanisation and in Hanja, the seat after it.

North Korea, ISO 3166-2:KP: 9 provinces, 4 cities; 3 special zones
ISO 3166-2	Hangul	Hanja	English	Administrative centre	Change
Provinces9
KP-04	자강도Chagang-do	慈江道	Chagang	강계Kanggye · 江界
KP-09	함경북도Hamgyŏng-pukto	咸鏡北道	North Hamgyong	청진Ch'ŏngjin · 淸津
KP-08	함경남도Hamgyŏng-namdo	咸鏡南道	South Hamgyong	함흥Hamhŭng · 咸興
KP-06	황해북도Hwanghae-pukto	黃海北道	North Hwanghae	사리원Sariwŏn · 沙里院
KP-05	황해남도Hwanghae-namdo	黃海南道	South Hwanghae	해주Haeju · 海州
KP-07	강원도Kangwŏn-do	江原道	Kangwon	원산Wŏnsan · 元山
KP-03	평안북도P'yŏngan-pukto	平安北道	North Pyongan	신의주Sinŭiju · 新義州
KP-02	평안남도P'yŏngan-namdo	平安南道	South Pyongan	평성P'yŏngsŏng · 平城
KP-10	량강도Ryanggang-do	兩江道	Ryanggang	혜산Hyesan · 惠山
Cities4
KP-01	평양직할시P'yŏngyang chikhalsi	平壤直轄市	Pyongyang	평양P'yŏngyang · 平壌
KP-13	라선직할시Rasŏn chikhalsi	羅先直轄市	Rason	라선Rasŏn · 羅先	2017 Special city in ISO 3166-2; spelling changed in 2017, local variant Najin Sŏnbong. Listed under North Hamgyong as 라선시 in 2016
KP-14	남포Namp’o	南浦	Nampo	남포Namp’o · 南浦	2017 Added as a metropolitan city; listed under South Pyongan as a special-class city (특급시) in 2016
KP-15	개성Kaesŏng	開城	Kaesong	개성Kaesŏng · 開城	2022 Added as a metropolitan city; listed as a city of North Hwanghae in 2016
Special zones3
–	금강산관광지구Kŭmgangsan Kwan'gwang Chigu	金剛山觀光地區	Mount Kumgang Tourist Region	금강산Kŭmgangsan · 金剛山	No ISO 3166-2 code
–	개성공업지구Kaesŏng Kong-ŏp Chigu	開城工業地區	Kaesong Industrial Region	개성Kaesŏng · 開城	No ISO 3166-2 code
–	신의주특별행정구Sinŭiju T'ŭkpyŏl Haengjŏnggu	新義州特別行政區	Sinuiju Special Administrative Region	신의주Sinŭiju · 新義州	No ISO 3166-2 code

Codes: ISO 3166-2:KP on the ISO Online Browsing Platform, read from the English Wikipedia table that reproduces it on 28 October 2026, with the changes of 2010, 2017 and 2022. Korean names, Hanja and seats: the 2017 edition of this list; Rasŏn as a directly governed city from its 2007 edition.

All counties and cities of North Korea

05 · ProvincesU+9053 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-9053

North and south, namdo and pukto

Five old provinces were split in two, and the halves carry 남도 (namdo, south province) or 북도 (pukto, north province): 평안남도 and 평안북도, 함경남도 and 함경북도, 황해남도 and 황해북도. Three provinces are not paired: 강원도 (Kangwŏn-do), governed from Wŏnsan, 자강도 (Chagang-do) from Kanggye and 량강도 (Ryanggang-do) from Hyesan. South P’yŏngan is not run from Pyongyang, which forms a unit of its own, but from P’yŏngsŏng.

ISO 3166-2 replaced the letter codes with numbers in 2010. In 2017 it added Nampo as a metropolitan city, KP-14, and changed the spelling of Ryanggang and Rason; in 2022 Kaesong followed as KP-15. The three special zones of this list, the Mount Kumgang tourist region, the Kaesong industrial region and the Sinŭiju special administrative region, have no ISO code.

06 · Anthem

애국가 (Aegukka), the national anthem

Aegukka (애국가, Patriotic Song) is the national anthem of North Korea. The words are by Pak Se-yong, the music by Kim Won-gyun.

07 · Questions

Questions about the names of North Korea

What does North Korea call itself?

조선 (Chosŏn), 朝鮮 in Hanja; the full name is 조선민주주의인민공화국, Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk.

How do you write Pyongyang in Korean?

평양 in Hangul and 平壤 in Hanja, romanised P’yŏngyang.

How many provinces does North Korea have?

Nine (KP-02 to KP-10), plus Pyongyang (KP-01) and the cities Rason, Nampo and Kaesong (KP-13 to KP-15) in ISO 3166-2.