11 Crazy Facts About North Korea

It is the year 104 in North Korea NOT 2015.

1. North Korea has a 100% literacy rate

Via wordpress.com

Literacy rate is defined as the amount of people in a country "age 15 and over that can read and write."

The US has a 99% literacy rate.

2. North Korea has 28 sanctioned haircuts

Bastiat Institute

Women are allowed to choose one of 18 styles. Married women are instructed to keep their hair short, while single ladies are allowed let loose with longer, curlier locks.

Men are "prohibited from growing their hair longer than 5 cm (2 inches), while older men can get away with up to 7 cm (3 inches)."

3. North Koreans are on average shorter than South Koreans

Via han-schneider.org

According to the BBC, "In the 1990s North Korea suffered a terrible famine. Today, according to the World Food Programme, "one in every three children remains chronically malnourished or 'stunted', meaning they are too short for their age".

"If you look at older Koreans," says Professor Daniel Schwekendiek from Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, "we now see a situation where the average South Korean woman is approaching the height of the average North Korean man."

4. Only 2.83% of the roads in North Korea are paved.

Via cache.boston.com

There are 25,554 km (15,878.5 mi) of roads in North Korea, but only 724 km (449.9 mi) are paved.

5. North Korea is the most corrupt country in the world

Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) / Via transparency.org

North Korea is tied with Somalia for being the most corrupt country in the world.

6. While the current year is 2015, in North Korea the current year is 104.

Via static2.stuff.co.nz

North Korea uses the Juche Calendar, which was adopted in 1997. It is based on the birth of Kim il-sung which occurred on April 15, 1912. The grandfather of current “Supreme Leader” Kim Jong-un. 1912 was designated Juche 1 (meaning there is no Juche 0). Kim il-sung was the leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (better known as North Korea) from 1948 until his death in 1994. His birthday of April 15th is a national holiday, and the North Korean constitution labels him the “Eternal President.”

7. North Koreans virtually have no free time

Via a.abcnews.com

In North Korea, there is a 6 day work week and one day of enforced "volunteer" work. North Koreans have to work for very long hours. So, they have virtually NO free time.

8. North Korea's space program only has a 20% success rate

Via graphics8.nytimes.com

North Korea's space agency is called, the National Aeronautics Development Agency, or NADA. In Spanish, nada means nothing but that's not what North Korea wants to accomplish.

9. North Korea has elections every 5 years but only lists one person on the ballot

Getty Images / Via i.dailymail.co.uk

That one person is obviously the leader of North Korea.

10. North Korea allegedly has Holocaust-style concentration camps

Via theblaze.com

North Korea denies having such camps but satellite images (like the ones above) prove otherwise. It is believed that there is 120,000 to 150,000 people who are enslaved in the camps. They are forced to do hard labor, tortured and sometimes killed.

Via theblaze.com

Here is the story of a man who escape from one of those camps in 2005

His name is Shin Dong-hyuk. He was born in 1982 in a concentration camp called Camp 14. He was raised in Camp 14 without any knowledge of the outside world. He shares his story of being tortured and escaping hell. He currently lives in South Korea.

11. In every North Korean home and business, there is a radio that is controlled by the government.

Via flickr.com

The radio can only be turned down NOT off but North Korea frequently experiences blackouts and power outages. So, the radios would be silent.

The radio above is a picture of a radio in a North Korean home.

Here is a picture of North Korea at night

Via zerohedge.com

That tiny little dot is Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. The area to the northwest is China and the area to the southeast is Japan.