|
REPUBLIC
OF
KOREA
– GEOGRAPHY
Korea was an
independent kingdom for much of the past millennium. Following
its victory in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Japan
occupied Korea; five years later it formally annexed the entire
peninsula. After World War II, a republic was set up in the
southern half of the Korean
Peninsula while a Communist-style government was installed in
the north. During the Korean War (1950-53), US and other UN
forces intervened to defend South Korea from North Korean
attacks supported by the Chinese. 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 Tae-chung and the
North's leader KIM Jong II.
Location:
Eastern Asia, southern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering
the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea.
Geographic coordinates:
37 00 N, 127 30 E
Area:
total: 98,480 sq km
Land:
98,190 sq km
Water:
290 sq km
Area -
comparative: slightly larger than Indiana
Land
boundaries:
total: 238 km
Border
countries:
North Korea 238 km
Coastline:
2,413 km
Maritime
claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm; between 3 nm and 12 nm in the Korea
Strait
Contiguous zone:
24 nm
Exclusive
economic zone:
200 nm
Continental shelf:
not specified
Climate:
temperate, with rainfall heavier in summer than winter
Terrain:
mostly hills and mountains; wide coastal plains in west and
south
Elevation
extremes:
lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m
Highest
point:
Halla-san 1,950 m
Natural
resources:
coal, tungsten, graphite, molybdenum, lead, hydropower
potential
Land use:
arable land: 17.18%
Permanent
crops:
1.95%
Other:
80.87% (2001)
Irrigated
land:
11,590 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural
hazards:
occasional typhoons bring high winds and floods; low-level
seismic activity common in southwest
Environment - current issues:
air pollution in large cities; acid rain; water pollution from
the discharge of sewage and industrial effluents; drift net
fishing
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine
Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification,
Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous
Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection,
Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94,
Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected
agreements. |
