North Korea GIS data sources
- Region
- Eastern Asia
- ISO 3166
- KP · PRK
- Sources
- 6
- Themes
- 6
- Last verified
Where to download GIS data for North Korea: 6 sources across 6 themes, led by UN OCHA and WorldPop, University of Southampton. 4 offer vector downloads such as Shapefile, GeoPackage or GeoJSON. 5 are under an open licence. Every link was last checked on 18 Oct 2026.
National and OpenStreetMap sources for North Korea
Boundaries & admin 2
Administrative boundary data for every country-
Democratic People's Republic of Korea - Subnational Administrative Boundaries (opens in a new tab)
Download Cost: FreeUN OCHA (HDX)
OCHA administrative boundaries for North Korea compiled by WFP; one of very few downloadable boundary sets, as no official GIS data are published.
- Boundaries & admin
Verified
-
geoBoundaries administrative boundaries (opens in a new tab)
API Cost: FreeWilliam & Mary geoLab
JSON API listing every available admin level with direct download links.
- Boundaries & admin
Verified
Buildings 1
Building footprint data for every country-
Buildings of North Korea (opens in a new tab)
Download Cost: FreeHumanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HDX)
OpenStreetMap building footprints exported by HOT and refreshed regularly.
- Buildings
Verified
Population 2
Gridded population data for every country-
Democratic People's Republic of Korea - Subnational Population Statistics (opens in a new tab)
Download Cost: FreeUN OCHA (HDX)
Common Operational Dataset of population estimates by administrative unit, joinable to the COD-AB via P-codes; source: World Food Programme.
- Population
- Census & statistics
Verified
-
WorldPop population data – North Korea (opens in a new tab)
Download Cost: FreeWorldPop, University of Southampton
100 m and 1 km gridded population counts, age/sex structure and related layers.
- Population
Verified
Transport 1
Road, rail and transport data for every country-
OpenStreetMap extract – North Korea (opens in a new tab)
Download Cost: FreeGeofabrik / OpenStreetMap contributors
Daily OSM extract.
- Transport
- Boundaries & admin
- Hydrology
Verified
Global datasets that cover North Korea
Worldwide and continental layers that include North Korea, useful where national data is missing, restricted or inconsistent across borders.
- Boundaries & admin
-
- GADM (opens in a new tab) GADM project · Non-commercial only · Free · Verified
- geoBoundaries (opens in a new tab) William & Mary geoLab · Open licence · Free · Verified
- Natural Earth (opens in a new tab) Natural Earth · Open licence · Free · Verified
- Elevation / DEM
-
- ALOS World 3D 30 m (AW3D30) (opens in a new tab) JAXA · Open licence · Free with registration · Verified
- Copernicus DEM (GLO-30 / GLO-90) (opens in a new tab) ESA / Airbus (Copernicus) · Open licence · Free · Verified
- ETOPO 2022 Global Relief Model (opens in a new tab) NOAA NCEI · Open licence · Free · Verified
- Imagery
-
- AlphaEarth Foundations Satellite Embeddings (annual, COG mirror) (opens in a new tab) Google and Google DeepMind (mirror by Taylor Geospatial on Source Cooperative) · Open licence · Free · Verified
- ASF Data Search (Vertex) (opens in a new tab) Alaska Satellite Facility · Provider terms / varies · Free with registration · Verified
- Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem (opens in a new tab) European Space Agency / European Commission · Open licence · Free with registration · Verified
- Land cover
-
- Copernicus Global Dynamic Land Cover (CGLS-LC100) (opens in a new tab) Copernicus Land Monitoring Service · Open licence · Free with registration · Verified
- Dynamic World (opens in a new tab) Google / World Resources Institute · Open licence · Free · Verified
- ESA CCI Land Cover (opens in a new tab) European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative · Open licence · Free · Verified
- Buildings
-
- Microsoft Global ML Building Footprints (opens in a new tab) Microsoft · Open licence · Free · Verified
- Population
-
- Global Human Settlement Layer (opens in a new tab) European Commission JRC · Open licence · Free · Verified
- Gridded Population of the World (GPWv4) (opens in a new tab) CIESIN, Columbia University / NASA SEDAC · Open licence · Free with registration · Verified
- Kontur Population (opens in a new tab) Kontur · Open licence · Free · Verified
- Census & statistics
-
- UNdata (opens in a new tab) UN Statistics Division · Open licence · Free · Verified
- World Bank Open Data (opens in a new tab) World Bank · Open licence · Free · Verified
- Transport
-
- BBBike custom OSM extracts (opens in a new tab) BBBike.org · Open licence · Free · Verified
- Geofabrik downloads (opens in a new tab) Geofabrik · Open licence · Free · Verified
- GRIP global roads database (opens in a new tab) PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (GLOBIO) · Open licence · Free · Verified
- Hydrology
-
- Global Flood Awareness System (GloFAS) (opens in a new tab) Copernicus Emergency Management Service / ECMWF · Open licence · Free · Verified
- Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC) (opens in a new tab) Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG), Germany / WMO · Provider terms / varies · Free · Verified
- HydroBASINS (opens in a new tab) WWF / McGill University (HydroSHEDS) · Open licence · Free · Verified
Tutorials that use this kind of data
- Getting started with GeoPandas: projections, spatial joins and choropleth maps Beginner
- Extract building footprints and heights from LiDAR in Python (USGS 3DEP, downtown Madison) Intermediate
- Street network analysis with OSMnx: routes, isochrones and walking accessibility Intermediate
- Watershed delineation in Python with pysheds: the River Derwent above Ladybower Intermediate
Neighbouring countries
- China GIS data 12 sources · shares a border
- Russia GIS data 5 sources · shares a border
- South Korea GIS data 14 sources
- Japan GIS data 25 sources