It’s not as if it’s all that surprising, but North Korea, when viewed at night from the International Space Station, looks devoid of life. I mean, wow.

Here’s what NASA had to say about a recent image snapped as the ISS was flying of East Asia:

“North Korea is almost completely dark compared to neighboring South Korea and China. The darkened land appears as if it were a patch of water joining the Yellow Sea to the Sea of Japan. Its capital city, Pyongyang, appears like a small island, despite a population of 3.26 million (as of 2008). The light emission from Pyongyang is equivalent to the smaller towns in South Korea..”

Indeed, it’s truly difficult to discern North Korea from the blackness of the seas surrounding it. According to NASA, North Korea’s coastline is so hard to see because of a severe lack of power consumption per capita (less than 10% of South Korea’s). You can make out Pyongyang, the country’s largest city–but it’s nowhere near as discernible as neighboring Seoul.

Check out the flyover:

Image via NASA Earth Observatory