Korea, South
HOME  ·  IP TO COUNTRY LOOKUP  ·  TOP LEVEL DOMAINS  ·  GREETING CARDS  ·  ADD TO FAVOURITES  ·    · PLAY POKER
SELECT COUNTRY
Africa
Asia Antarctica
Central America
Europe
Middle East
North America
Oceania
South America
PHP Framework
Web application
MVC framework
for PHP4 and PHP5.
Event driven,
component based,
AJAX compatible.


Overview People Geography Economy Government Communications Transport Military Map


CountryKorea, South
Flag
Capitalname: Seoul
geographic coordinates: 37 34 N, 127 00 E
time difference: UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Population49,044,790 (July 2007 est.)
GMT+9
LocationEastern Asia, southern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea

see map
Areatotal: 98,480 sq km
land: 98,190 sq km
water: 290 sq km
Ethnic groupshomogeneous (except for about 20,000 Chinese)
ReligionsChristian 26.3% (Protestant 19.7%, Roman Catholic 6.6%), Buddhist 23.2%, other or unknown 1.3%, none 49.3% (1995 census)
LanguagesKorean, English widely taught in junior high and high school
Government typerepublic
National holidayLiberation Day, 15 August (1945)
Constitution17 July 1948; note - amended or rewritten nine times; current constitution approved on 29 October 1987
Legal systemcombines elements of continental European civil law systems, Anglo-American law, and Chinese classical thought
BackgroundAn independent Korean state or collection of states has existed almost continuously for several millennia. Between its initial unification in the 7th century - from three predecessor Korean states - until the 20th century, Korea existed as a single independent country. In 1905, following the Russo-Japanese War, Korea became a protectorate of imperial Japan, and in 1910 it was annexed as a colony. Korea regained its independence following Japan's surrender to the United States in 1945. After World War II, a Republic of Korea (ROK) was set up in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula while a Communist-style government was installed in the north (the DPRK). During the Korean War (1950-53), US troops and UN forces fought alongside soldiers from the ROK to defend South Korea from DPRK attacks supported by China and the Soviet Union. An armistice was signed in 1953, splitting the peninsula along a demilitarized zone at about the 38th parallel. Thereafter, South Korea achieved rapid economic growth with per capita income rising to roughly 14 times the level of North Korea. In 1993, KIM Young-sam became South Korea's first civilian president following 32 years of military rule. South Korea today is a fully functioning modern democracy. In June 2000, a historic first North-South summit took place between the South's President KIM Dae-jung and the North's leader KIM Jong Il.
Internet
country code
.kr
LAST UPDATED ON 17 JUNE 2007