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Where is South Korea?
About South Korea
The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media

South Korea is an average size country in the south east of Asia.

South Korea has borders on the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea.

The land is mostly hills and mountains with a coastal plain in the south and west.

The geographical coordinates for the centre of South Korea, also known as lines of latitude and longtitude, are:-
Latitude - 37 00N
Longitude - 127 30E

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Check the weather in Seoul now.

This is the time in Seoul now

The South Korean flag is white with a yin-yang symbol in the centre. The top of this symbol is red, the bottom blue. There is a different black trigram in each corner of the flag.

The capital of South Korea is Seoul.

South Korea is a presidential republic with a president as head of state and as head of the government.

In elections everyone over the age of 19 can vote.

The currency in South Korea is the won.

Korean is the official language.

Hear the National Anthem


These are the anthem words

The words ×

These are the words to the South Korean National Anthem called Patriotic Song. It was adopted as the National Anthem on 15 August 1948. This is a translation of the words.

If anthem fails to play click here

Until that day when the waters of the Eastern Sea run dry and Mt. Baekdu is worn away,
God protect and preserve our nation.

CHORUS:
Three thousand Li of splendid rivers and mountains, filled with Roses of Sharon;
Great Korean people, stay true to the Great Korean way!

As the pine atop Mt. Namsan stands firm, as if wrapped in armour,
Unchanged through wind and frost, so shall our resilient spirit.

Chorus

The Autumn sky is void and vast, high and cloudless;
The bright moon is our heart, undivided and true.

Chorus

With this spirit and this mind, give all loyalty,
In suffering or in joy, to the love of country.

Chorus

We have already written our own history of England but are asking schools in South Korea to provide us with a detailed history of their own country. Check how here.


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The total land area of South Korea is 96,920 sq kms which is the 31st largest in Asia.

South Korea has lakes, rivers and canals which total 2,800 sq kms.

South Korea has a boundary with 1 country

• North Korea 237 kms

South Korea has a coastline of 2,413 kms which is the 15th longest Asia.

The highest point in South Korea is Halla-san at 1,950.

The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.

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The total population of South Korea is 50.92 million people, making it the 14th largest country in Asia by population.

Of this number 25.43 million are females and 25.491 million are males.

A person from South Korea is called a South Korean.

To be a citizen of South Korea, one of your parents must be a citizen of South Korea. It is not sufficient to be born in South Korea. You have to live in South Korea for 5 years before you can begin to apply for citizenship.

The largest five cities in South Korea, by population are:-

• Seoul 10,349,312 people
• Busan 3,678,555
• Incheon 2,628,000
• Daegu 2,566,540
• Daejeon 1,475,221

For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre. Each little Owlbut is 1 person and the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.



82.5% of the people live in cities or towns.

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The birth rate in South Korea is 8.4 births per 1,000 of population

The death rate in South Korea is 5.8 deaths per 1,000 people.

Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.

There are 2.8 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 3.2 deaths of boys.

The median age for females is 43.4 and for males is 40.2. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number of people above the median age as below it.

The average age of a woman when she has her first child is 31.0.

The elderly dependency ratio 17.7. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).

The potential support ratio is 5.6. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.

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South Korea spends 7.4% of its total income on health care.

There are 2.14 doctors per 1,000 people.

There are 10.3 hospital beds per 1,000 people.

4.7% of the population are estimated as obese.

99.7% of the urban population and 87.9% of the rural population have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or protected rainwater collection facility.

100% of South Koreans have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer. a pit latrine (that is a permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.

South Korea releases 651.0 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the 6th highest in Asia.

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South Korea spends 4.6% of its total income on education.

Children usually start school at age 6 in South Korea. Primary education is for six years until age 12 and secondary education must continue till 15 but can go on to 18/19. This may be followed by further education at a university or college.

Generally the school year consists of 3 terms and starts at the end of August and finishes in the middle of July. There is usually a 4 week break at Christmas and a one week break at the end of February.

We have no figures for the number of people who are able to read and write by the age of 15.

10.4% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 9.7% are unemployed while with males 11.3% can't find work.

The total number of people available for work in South Korea is 27.47 million.

They work in the following sectors.

• Agriculture includes farming, fishing and forestry work
• Industry includes mining, manufacturing, construction and energy workers
• Services is everything else

3.8% of the workforce are unemployed.

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There are 71 paved airports in South Korea, which is the 13th highest number in Asia.


There are 3,979 kilometres of railways in South Korea, the 16th longest in Asia.


There are 92,795 kilometres of roads in South Korea, which means South Korea is in 12th place for the most kilometres of roads in Asia.

There are 9 major national newspapers in South Korea.

There are 62.30 million mobile phone users.

55% of the people have a fixed landline.



44.15 million people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).

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