Pyongyang is the capital and largest city of North Korea. It is the seat of many national security institutions and home to major government institutions and other public offices.

Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about 109 kilometres (68 mi) upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 population census, it has a population of 3,255,288.

The city was split from the South Pyongan province in 1946. It is administered as a directly governed city on the same level as provincial governments, as opposed to special cities of South Korea such as Seoul.

Guinness World Records recognizes Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang as the tallest unoccupied building on Earth, constructed in anticipation of the 1988 Summer Olympics that instead took place in South Korea’s capital city Seoul. If completed, the Ryugyong Hotel would have been the world’s tallest hotel at 1,082 feet (330 meters). As it stands, Pyongyang’s unfinished hotel is the 18th tallest building and holds the Guinness World Record for highest unoccupied building.