On this date, July 27th, 1953, 60 years ago, an armistice was signed ending the war between North and South Korea.
That armistice established a 4 kilometer wide, 250 kilometer long demilitarized zone in-between the two Koreas, which restricts travel between the North and the South and divides the entire peninsula.
The terrain is mostly mountainous on the eastern side of the peninsula, but on the western side the DMZ runs through lowlands and is fairly close to both of the capital cities; Seoul stands out well in this satellite image composite created using data from Landsat 4 and Landsat 5.
On the western side, the DMZ stands out even to satellite imagery as the areas around it are developed but it is not. Agriculture and structures sit both to the north and south of the DMZ, but the zone itself stands as a great scar across the land.
On the other hand, since people don’t commonly enter the DMZ, it has become a hotspot on the peninsula for biodiversity. A variety of birds and mammals, including 1/3 of the world’s population of red-crowned cranes, inhabits the DMZ. Unique large animals, including the Siberian tiger, have been reported as well. On occasion, wild boars have been seen in the area with only 3 legs after stepping on land mines.
Image credit: NASA/Earth Observatory/Landsat program http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=3660
On DMZ biodiversity http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/10/25/eco.dmz.korea/
