South Korea Travel guide

Facts & Figures

Total Area:98,480 sq km                           Land Borders: North Korea
Population: 48,846,823                               
Life Expectancy: 77 years                       HIV % Total Poulation:0.1%
Ethnic Groups: homogeneous (except for about 20,000 Chinese)
Languages:Korean, English widely taught in junior high and high school
President:ROH Moo-hyun               GDP - Per Capita: $20,400

History

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 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).