South Korea
|
| Basic Facts |
| Country name |
conventional long form: Republic of Korea
conventional short form: South Korea local long form: Taehan-min'guk local short form: Han'guk abbreviation: ROK |
| Gevernment type | republic |
| Capital |
name: Seoul
geographic coordinates: 37 34 N, 127 00 E time difference: UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
| Flag description | white with a red (top) and blue yin-yang symbol in the center; there is a different black trigram from the ancient I Ching (Book of Changes) in each corner of the white field |
| Currency | South Korean won (KRW) |
| Internet country code | .kr |
| Ports and terminals | Inch'on, Masan, P'ohang, Pusan, Ulsan |
| Agriculture products | rice, root crops, barley, vegetables, fruit; cattle, pigs, chickens, milk, eggs; fish |
| Industries | electronics, telecommunications, automobile production, chemicals, shipbuilding, steel |
| Geography |
| Location | Eastern Asia, southern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea |
| Coordinates | 37 00 N, 127 30 E |
| Continent | Asia |
| Area |
total: 98,480 sq km
land: 98,190 sq km water: 290 sq km |
| Boundaries |
total: 238 km
border countries: North Korea 238 km |
| Coastline | 2,413 km |
| Climate | temperate, with rainfall heavier in summer than winter |
| Terrain | mostly hills and mountains; wide coastal plains in west and south |
| Natural resources | coal, tungsten, graphite, molybdenum, lead, hydropower potential |
| Natural hazards | occasional typhoons bring high winds and floods; low-level seismic activity common in southwest |
| People |
| Population | 48,846,823 (July 2006 est.) |
| Ethnic groups | homogeneous (except for about 20,000 Chinese) |
| Religions | no affiliation 46%, Christian 26%, Buddhist 26%, Confucianist 1%, other 1% |
| Languages | Korean, English widely taught in junior high and high school |
