The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Korean: 조선민주주의인민공화국, Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk), also known as North Korea and abbreviated as the D.P.R.K., is a nation located in eastern Asia. North Korea is currently the only communist dictatorship since the fall of communism in the late 1980s. Along with neighboring South Korea, the two states occupy the Korean Peninsula, as well as share the same ethnic heritage.