Editing Demographics of North Korea (section)

==Settlement patterns and urbanization==
{{main|List of cities in North Korea}}
[[File:Population density North Korea.png|thumb|Population density of North Korea (2022)]]
North Korea's population is concentrated in the plains and lowlands.<ref name=":4" /> The least populated regions are the mountainous [[Chagang]] and [[Ryanggang Province|Yanggang]] provinces adjacent to the Chinese border.<ref name=":4" /> The largest concentrations of population are in [[North Pyongan]] and [[South Pyongan]] provinces, in the municipal district of Pyongyang, and in [[South Hamgyong]] Province, which includes the [[Hamhung]]-Hungnam urban area.<ref name=":4" /> Eberstadt and Banister calculate the average population density at 167 persons per square kilometer, ranging from 1,178 persons per square kilometer in Pyongyang Municipality to 44 persons per square kilometer in Yanggang Province.<ref name=":4" /> By contrast, South Korea had an average population density of 425 persons per square kilometer in 1989.<ref name=":4" />

Like South Korea, North Korea has experienced significant urban migration since the end of the Korean War.<ref name=":4" /> Official statistics reveal that 59.6 percent of the total population was classified as urban in 1987.<ref name=":4" /> This figures compares with only 17.7 percent in 1953.<ref name=":4" /> It is not entirely clear, however, what standards are used to define urban populations.<ref name=":4" /> Eberstadt and Banister suggest that although South Korean statisticians do not classify settlements of under 50,000 as urban, their North Korean counterparts include settlements as small as 20,000 in this category.<ref name=":4" /> And, in North Korea, people who engage in agricultural pursuits inside municipalities sometimes are not counted as urban.<ref name=":4" />

Urbanization in North Korea seems to have proceeded most rapidly between 1953 and 1960, when the urban population grew between 12 and 20 percent annually.<ref name=":4" /> Subsequently, the increase slowed to about 6 percent annually in the 1960s and between 1 and 3 percent from 1970 to 1987.<ref name=":4" />

In 1987, North Korea's largest cities were [[Pyongyang]], with approximately 2.3 million inhabitants; [[Hamhung]], 701,000; [[Chongjin]], 520,000; [[Nampo]], 370,000; [[Sunchon]], 356,000; and [[Sinuiju]], 289,000.<ref name=":4" /> In 1987, the total national population living in Pyongyang was 11.5 percent.<ref name=":4" /> The government restricts and monitors migration to cities and ensures a relatively balanced distribution of population in provincial centers in relation to Pyongyang.<ref name=":4" />