North Korea is a country most people could place blindfolded but couldn't sketch to save their lives. Its outline is quietly elegant: two rivers trace the entire northern border, and at the far northeast corner it reaches out and almost touches Russia — a detail that wins points all by itself.
The shape at a glance
North Korea is a squat, roughly diamond-shaped block, a bit wider than tall, capping the top half of the Korean Peninsula. The northern border follows the Yalu and Tumen rivers in a long wave from the Yellow Sea up to a high point and back down to the Sea of Japan, with a tiny Russian touch at the far tip. The west coast is scalloped and island-dotted, the east coast smoother and straighter, and the bottom is cut off by the slanting DMZ line.
Step by step
- Start with a wide diamond or tilted square, slightly wider than it is tall.
- Draw the top edge as a long shallow wave rising to a peak in the middle — the Yalu and Tumen river border with China.
- Extend the top-right corner into a small point reaching up-right: the far northeast tip that brushes Russia.
- Scallop the left edge with inlets and islands along the Yellow Sea coast, including the inward dent near Pyongyang.
- Draw the right edge as a straighter, smoother line descending along the Sea of Japan.
- Cut the bottom with one straight diagonal line rising left to right — the DMZ — so the country sits on a slanted base.
Mistakes that cost you points
- Drawing the northern border straight when the two rivers give it a pronounced rise in the middle.
- Missing the tiny Russian border at the far northeast tip.
- Swapping the coasts — the ragged side faces west toward China, the smoother side faces Japan.
- Making it as tall as South Korea; the North is the squatter, wider half of the peninsula.
Place it on the map
North Korea fills the space between China to the north — separated by the Yalu and Tumen rivers — and South Korea below the DMZ, with a fingertip of Russia at the top-right corner. It sits directly across the Yellow Sea from China's Shandong peninsula.
Pro tip: The peak of the northern border sits roughly dead center — if your Yalu-Tumen rise is off to one side, the whole diamond skews. Plant that apex first and build both coasts down from it.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do you draw North Korea from memory?
- Start with the overall box — is North Korea wider than tall or the reverse — then place its signature feature first and build the rest of the outline around it. Finish with the coastline details, then compare against the real border in a free practice round to get a 0-100 score.
- How hard is it to draw North Korea?
- North Korea rates as medium difficulty. A squat diamond defined by two river borders and one straight one — simpler than it looks, but easy to skew.