South Korea, country in East Asia. It occupies the southern portion of the Korean peninsula. The country is bordered by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) to the north, the East Sea (Sea of Japan) to the east, the East China Sea to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the west; to the southeast it is separated from the Japanese island of Tsushima by the Korea Strait. South Korea makes up about 45 percent of the peninsula’s land area. The capital is Seoul (Sŏul).

South Korea faces North Korea across a demilitarized zone (DMZ) 2.5 miles (4 km) wide that was established by the terms of the 1953 armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War (1950–53). The DMZ, which runs for about 150 miles (240 km), constitutes the 1953 military cease-fire line and roughly follows latitude 38° N (the 38th parallel) from the mouth of the Han River on the west coast of the Korean peninsula to a little south of the North Korean town of Kosŏng on the east coast.

South Korea
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Seoul, South Korea
Namdaemun (“Great South Gate”), Seoul; it was restored after its 2008 destruction and reopened in 2013.

7:023 Geography: Think of Something Big, globe showing Africa, Europe, and Eurasia
BRITANNICA QUIZ
Which Country Is Larger By Area? Quiz
This quiz will show you two countries. Pick the one that’s bigger, as measured by total area. The statistics come from this list, so study it for an unfair advantage!
Land
Relief
Geologically, South Korea consists in large part of Precambrian rocks (i.e., more than about 540 million years old) such as granite and gneiss. The country is largely mountainous, with small valleys and narrow coastal plains. The T’aebaek Mountains run in roughly a north-south direction along the eastern coastline and northward into North Korea, forming the country’s drainage divide. From them several mountain ranges branch off with a northeast-southwest orientation. The most important of these are the Sobaek Mountains, which undulate in a long S-shape across the peninsula. None of South Korea’s mountains are very high: the T’aebaek Mountains reach an elevation of 5,604 feet (1,708 metres) at Mount Sŏrak in the northeast, and the Sobaek Mountains reach 6,283 feet (1,915 metres) at Mount Chiri. The highest peak in South Korea, the extinct volcano Mount Halla on Cheju Island, is 6,398 feet (1,950 metres) above sea level.

Physical features of South Korea

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

T’aebaek Mountains, South Korea
Mount Sŏrak, T’aebaek Mountains, northeastern South Korea.
Juliana Ng
South Korea has two volcanic islands—Cheju (Jeju), off the peninsula’s southern tip, and Ullŭng, about 85 miles (140 km) east of the mainland in the East Sea—and a small-scale lava plateau in Kangwŏn province. In addition, South Korea claims and occupies a group of rocky islets—known variously as Liancourt Rocks, Tok (Dok) Islands (Korean), and Take Islands (Japanese)—some 55 miles (85 km) southeast of Ullŭng Island; these islets also have been claimed by Japan.

waterfall on Cheju Island, South Korea
Cheonjiyeon Falls, Cheju Island, South Korea.
© Tuomaslehtinen/Dreamstime.com
Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content.
Subscribe Now
There are fairly extensive lowlands along the lower parts of the country’s main rivers. The eastern coastline is relatively straight, whereas the western and southern have extremely complicated ria (i.e., creek-indented) coastlines with many islands. The shallow Yellow Sea and the complex Korean coastline produce one of the most pronounced tidal variations in the world—about 30 feet (9 metres) maximum at Inch’ŏn (Incheon), the entry port for Seoul.

Drainage
South Korea’s three principal rivers, the Han, Kŭm, and Naktong, all have their sources in the T’aebaek Mountains, and they flow between the ranges before entering their lowland plains. Nearly all the country’s rivers flow westward or southward into either the Yellow Sea or the East China Sea; only a few short, swift rivers drain eastward from the T’aebaek Mountains. The Naktong River, South Korea’s longest, runs southward for 325 miles (523 km) to the Korea Strait. Streamflow is highly variable, being greatest during the wet summer months and considerably less in the relatively dry winter.

Han River, South Korea
Rock cliffs along the Han River in North Ch’ungch’ŏng province, South Korea.
Korea Britannica Corp.

Kŭm River, South Korea
Taech’ŏng Dam on the Kŭm River, west-central South Korea.
Yoo Chung
Soils
Most of South Korea’s soils derive from granite and gneiss. Sandy and brown-coloured soils are common, and they are generally well-leached and have little humus content. Podzolic soils (ash-gray forest soils), resulting from the cold of the long winter season, are found in the highlands.

Climate
The greatest influence on the climate of the Korean peninsula is its proximity to the main Asian landmass. This produces the marked summer-winter temperature extremes of a continental climate while also establishing the northeast Asian monsoons (seasonal winds) that affect precipitation patterns. The annual range of temperature is greater in the north and in interior regions of the peninsula than in the south and along the coast, reflecting the relative decline in continental influences in the latter areas.

South Korea’s climate is characterized by a cold, relatively dry winter and a hot, humid summer. The coldest average monthly temperatures in winter drop below freezing except along the southern coast. The average January temperature at Seoul is in the low 20s °F (about −5 °C), while the corresponding average at Pusan (Busan), on the southeast coast, is in the mid-30s °F (about 2 °C). By contrast, summer temperatures are relatively uniform across the country, the average monthly temperature for August (the warmest month) being in the high 70s °F (about 25 °C).

small thistle New from Britannica
ONE GOOD FACT
The first Europeans to visit Japan were shipwrecked Portuguese sailors in 1543. Portuguese influence on Japanese society persists in dishes like tempura.
See All Good Facts
Annual precipitation ranges from about 35 to 60 inches (900 to 1,500 mm) on the mainland. Taegu, on the east coast, is the driest area, while the southern coast is the wettest; southern Cheju Island receives more than 70 inches (1,800 mm) annually. Up to three-fifths of the annual precipitation is received in June–August, during the summer monsoon, the annual distribution being more even in the extreme south. Occasionally, late-summer typhoons (tropical cyclones) cause heavy showers and storms along the southern coast. Precipitation in winter falls mainly as snow, with the heaviest amounts occurring in the T’aebaek Mountains. The frost-free season ranges from 170 days in the northern highlands to more than 240 days on Cheju Island.

Plant and animal life
The long, hot, humid summer is favourable for the development of extensive and varied vegetation. Some 4,500 plant species are known. Forests once covered about two-thirds of the total land area, but, because of fuel needs during the long, cold winter and the country’s high population density, the original forest has almost disappeared. Except for evergreen broad-leaved forests in the narrow subtropical belt along the southern coast and on Cheju Island, most areas contain deciduous broad-leaved and coniferous trees. Typical evergreen broad-leaved species include camellias and camphor trees, while deciduous forests include oaks, maples, alders, zelkovas, and birches. Species of pine are the most representative in the country; other conifers include spruces, larches, and yews. Among indigenous species are the Abeliophyllum distichum (white forsythia or Korean abelia), a shrub of the olive family, and the Korean fir (Abies koreana).

springtime in South Korea
Spring blossoms at a temple near Kangnŭng, South Korea.
Kim/Bavaria-Verlag
Korean fir

Korean fir (Abies koreana).
Jan Maksymilian Mehlich
Wild animal life is similar to that of northern and northeastern China. The most numerous larger mammals are deer. Tigers, leopards, lynx, and bears, formerly abundant, have almost disappeared, even in remote areas. Some 380 species of birds are found in the country, most of which are seasonal migrants. Many of South Korea’s fish, reptile, and amphibian species are threatened by intensive cultivation and environmental pollution except in the DMZ between North and South Korea, which has become a de facto nature preserve. Once farmland, and subsequently a devastated battleground, the DMZ has lain almost untouched since the end of hostilities and has reverted to nature to a large extent, making it one of the most pristine undeveloped areas in Asia. It contains many ecosystems including forests, estuaries, and wetlands frequented by migratory birds. The zone serves as a sanctuary for hundreds of bird species, among them the endangered white-naped and red-crowned cranes, and is home to dozens of fish species and Asiatic black bears, lynxes, and other mammals.

People
Ethnic groups
It was long believed that the Korean people originally may have had links with the people of Central Asia, the Lake Baikal region of Siberia, Mongolia, and the coastal areas of the Yellow Sea. Tools of Paleolithic type and other artifacts found in Sokch’ang, near Kongju, are quite similar to those of the Lake Baikal and Mongolian areas. In 2017, genetic analysis of bones found in Primorye kray in Far Eastern Russia suggested that Koreans were related to a population that had inhabited that area for at least 7,700 years. The genes of these Neolithic humans were expressed alongside those of indigenous agriculturalists from Southeast Asia to produce the genetic structure of modern Koreans.

South Korea: Ethnic composition
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The population of South Korea is highly homogeneous; almost the entire population is ethnically Korean, and there is a small minority of ethnic Chinese permanent residents. The number of foreigners is growing, especially in the major urban areas; people from Japan, the United States (including members of the military), and China make up the largest foreign populations, although they still constitute only small fractions. Many foreign nationals are employed in business or the diplomatic corps, and tens of thousands of workers come from China and Southeast Asia.

Languages
All Koreans speak the Korean language, which is often classified as one of the Altaic languages, has affinities to Japanese, and contains many Chinese loanwords. The Korean script, known in South Korea as Hangul (Han’gŭl) and in North Korea as Chosŏn muntcha, is composed of phonetic symbols for the 10 vowels and 14 consonants. Korean often is written as a combination of Chinese ideograms and Hangul in South Korea, although the trend is toward using less Chinese. A large number of English words and phrases have crept into the language—either intact or modified by local usage—as a result of the American presence in the country since 1950.

Hangul
Hangul, the Korean alphabet, depicted with pronunciation guide.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Religion
Discover about the shaman culture in South Korea
Discover about the shaman culture in South Korea
Learn about shamanism in South Korea.
Contunico © ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Mainz
See all videos for this article
Freedom of religion is constitutionally guaranteed in South Korea, and there is no national religion. There also is little uniformity of religious belief, a situation that often is confusing to outside observers. Historically, several religions prevailed successively: shamanism (the religious belief in gods, demons, and ancestral spirits responsive to a priest, or shaman), Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism. None of these religions was abandoned, however, when one supplanted another in dominance, and all have had a role in the country’s sociocultural development. Thus, the rites of shamanism (which has existed in Korea since ancient times) are still practiced by many. The principles and social outlook of Confucianism are still much in evidence in Korean daily life and family relationships, and Buddhism remains influential—even among people who may be nominally Christian, for example. Approximately one-fourth of the population professes Christianity, with Protestants (particularly Presbyterians and Methodists), independent Christians, and Roman Catholics the largest groups. Less than one-sixth of the population is Buddhist.

South Korea: Religious affiliation
South Korea: Religious affiliation
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
shamans in South Korea
shamans in South Korea
Korean shamans petitioning the spirits to protect the community’s fishermen.
© Karen Sparks
Christianity is relatively new in Korea, Roman Catholic missionaries having reached the peninsula only in the late 18th century, and their Protestant counterparts a century later. Christianity has had a profound effect on the modernization of Korean society. Buddhism was first introduced in the 4th century CE and was the official religion of the Koryŏ dynasty, which began in 918. About one-sixth of the population adheres to so-called new religions. These include Wŏnbulgyo (Wŏn Buddhism), Taejonggyo (“Great Ancestral Religion”), and Ch’ŏndogyo. Ch’ŏndogyo (“Teaching of the Heavenly Way”), originally known as Tonghak (“Eastern Learning”), is a blend of Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity, and even Daoism; it spread widely in the latter part of the 19th century. Shamanism and traditional geomancy (p’ungsu) persist, though their practices usually are limited to certain occasions, such as funerals. Confucianism was the basis of national ethics during the Chosŏn (Yi) dynasty (1392–1910); though the number of its official adherents is now small, most Korean families still follow its principles, including ancestor worship.

Kangwŏn province, South Korea
Kangwŏn province, South Korea
Pungsuwon Catholic Church in Kangwŏn province, South Korea.
Korea Britannica Corp.
temple buildings in South Korea
temple buildings in South Korea
Unmun Temple, North Kyŏngsang province, South Korea.
© Karen Sparks
Settlement patterns
Agglomerated villages are common in river valleys and coastal lowlands in rural areas, ranging from a few houses to several hundred. Villages are frequently located along the foothills facing toward the south, backed by hills that give protection from the severe northwestern winter winds. Small clustered fishing villages are found along the coastline. In contrast to the lowlands, settlements in mountain areas are usually scattered. The pace of urbanization in South Korea since 1960 has caused considerable depopulation of rural areas, and the traditional rural lifestyle has been slowly fading away.

South Korea: Urban-rural
South Korea: Urban-rural
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Cheju Island
Cheju Island
Coastal village on Cheju Island, South Korea.
Knodel/Shostal Associates
In contrast to rural areas, urban populations have grown enormously. Seoul, the political, economic, and cultural centre of the country, is by far the largest city; satellite cities around Seoul—notably Anyang, Sŏngnam, Suwŏn, and Puch’ŏn—also have grown rapidly, forming an extensive conurbation (Greater Seoul) to the south of the city. New towns around Seoul such as Kwach’ŏn, Pundang, Ilsan (now administratively part of Koyang [Goyang] city), and Sanbon (part of Kunp’o [Gunpo] city) were constructed in the 1970s and ’80s. In addition to Seoul, other cities with populations of at least one million are Pusan, Inch’ŏn, Taegu, Taejŏn, Kwangju, and Ulsan. The populations of most of the small and medium-size cities serving as rural service centres, however, generally have been stagnating.

Seoul, South Korea
Seoul, South Korea
Namdaemun Market at night, Seoul, South Korea.
© Lorraine Murray
Seoul, South Korea
Seoul, South Korea
Traffic in the Chong-no (Jongno) area of Seoul, South Korea.
© Lorraine Murray
Brown globe on antique map. Brown world on vintage map. North America. Green globe. Hompepage blog 2009, history and society, geography and travel, explore discovery
BRITANNICA QUIZ
Countries & Their Features
Where is the Great Fence? What is Rhodesia now called? And which country’s name means “silvery”? It’s a country challenge–are you up for it?
Demographic trends
South Korea’s population more than doubled over the second half of the 20th century. From 1960, however, birth rates decreased rapidly, and the population growth rate was almost negligible by the beginning of the 21st century. During the same period, mortality rates also slowed, reflecting an overall increase in living standards.

South Korea: Age breakdown
South Korea: Age breakdown
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The rapid increase in the urban population and the resultant depopulation of vast rural areas are South Korea’s main demographic issues. More than four-fifths of the population is classified as urban; roughly half the population lives in the country’s seven largest cities. Thus, although the country’s rate of population growth is low, its overall population density is high—some two and a half times that of North Korea—with huge concentrations of people in the major cities.

Pusan, South Korea
Pusan, South Korea
Nighttime aerial view of Pusan, South Korea.
Jupiterimages Corporation
Large numbers of Koreans emigrated before World War II: those from northern Korea to Manchuria (northeastern China), and those from southern Korea to Japan. It is estimated that in 1945 some two million Koreans lived in Manchuria and Siberia and about the same number in Japan. About half of the Koreans in Japan returned to South Korea just after 1945. The most important migration, however, was the north-to-south movement of people after World War II, especially the movement that occurred during and after the Korean War. About two million people migrated to South Korea from the North during that period, settling largely in the major cities. In addition to creating large resident populations in China and Japan, Koreans have emigrated to many other countries, notably the United States and Canada.

Economy
The South Korean economy has grown remarkably since the early 1960s. In that time, South Korea transformed itself from a poor agrarian society to one of the world’s most highly industrialized nations. This growth was driven primarily by the development of export-oriented industries and the abundance of highly skilled and educated labour, fostered by strong government support. Government and business leaders together fashioned a strategy of targeting specific industries for development, and beginning in 1962 this strategy was implemented in a series of economic development plans. The first targeted industries were textiles and light manufacturing, followed in the 1970s by such heavy industries as iron and steel and chemicals. Still later, the focus shifted to such high-technology industries as automobiles, electronics, and information technology.

Samsung, South Korea
Samsung, South Korea
In the 21st century, South Korea was one of the world’s top producers of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels.
© pcruciatti/Shutterstock.com
The government exercised strong controls on industrial development, giving most support to the large-scale projects of the emerging giant corporate conglomerates called chaebŏl. As a result, small and medium-size industries that were privately managed became increasingly difficult to finance, and many of these became, in essence, dependent subcontractors of the chaebŏl.

Korea joined the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1996 and took a step closer to becoming an economically advanced country. In the early 21st century, Korea’s per capita gross national income far exceeded those of most of its neighbours, other than Japan and Taiwan. These notable accomplishments, however, have at times been overshadowed by economic difficulties caused by both external and domestic factors..

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing
Less than one-fourth of the republic’s area is cultivated. Along with the decrease in farm population, the proportion of national income derived from agriculture has decreased to a fraction of what it was in the early 1950s. Improvements in farm productivity were long hampered because fields typically are divided into tiny plots that are cultivated largely by manual labour and animal power. In addition, the decrease and aging of the rural population has caused a serious farm-labour shortage. However, more recently productivity has been improving as greater emphasis has been given to mechanization, specialization, and commercialization.

rice paddy in South Korea
rice paddy in South Korea
Flooded paddy-field landscape south of Seoul, South Korea.
Shostal Associates
Rice is the most important crop. Cultivation of a wide variety of fruits including tangerines and other citrus fruits, pears, persimmons, and strawberries, along with vegetables (especially cabbages) and flowers, has become increasingly important. Although it constitutes only a small portion of Korea’s agricultural production, the country’s ginseng is valued for its superior quality and is exported. Barley, wheat, soybeans, and potatoes are also cultivated, but most of the country’s needs for these commodities must be imported.

ginseng roots
ginseng roots
The roots of Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng) in a Korean market.
© Leung Cho Pan/Dreamstime.com
Livestock and dairying are also important. The top three agricultural products after rice are pork, beef, and milk. The number of livestock farms fell from 1990 through the early 21st century even as production of dairy products and meat, especially pork, increased. Consumption of meat and dairy products also grew during the same period.

From the 1970s successful reforestation efforts were mounted in areas previously denuded. Domestic timber production, however, supplies only a negligible fraction of demand. Logging, mainly of coniferous trees, is limited to the mountain areas of Kangwŏn and North Kyŏngsang provinces. A large plywood and veneer industry has been developed, based on imported wood.

Fishing has long been important for supplying protein-rich foods and has emerged as a significant export source. South Korea has become one of the world’s major deep-sea fishing nations. Coastal fisheries and inland aquaculture are also well developed.

Resources and power
Mineral resources in South Korea are meagre. The most important reserves are of anthracite coal, iron ore, graphite, gold, silver, tungsten, lead, and zinc, which together constitute some two-thirds of the total value of mineral resources. Deposits of graphite and tungsten are among the largest in the world. Most mining activity centres around the extraction of coal and iron ore. All of the country’s crude petroleum requirements and most of its metallic mineral needs (including iron ore) are met by imports.

oil refinery in South Korea
oil refinery in South Korea
Oil refinery in Ulsan, South Korea.
Shostal Associates
Thermal electric-power generation accounts for more than half of the power produced. Since the first oil refinery started to produce petroleum products in 1964, power stations have changed over gradually from coal to oil. Hydroelectricity constitutes only a small proportion of overall electric-power production; most stations are located along the Han River, not far from Seoul. Nuclear power generation, however, has become increasingly important.

Han River, South Korea
Han River, South Korea
Uiam Hydroelectric Station on the North Han River, south of Ch’unch’ŏn, South Korea.
Korea Britannica Corp.
Manufacturing
Textiles and other labour-intensive industries have declined from their former preeminence in the national economy, although they remain important, especially in export trade. Heavy industries, including chemicals, metals, machinery, and petroleum refining, are highly developed. Industries that are even more capital- and technology-intensive grew to importance in the late 20th century—notably shipbuilding, motor vehicles, and electronic equipment. Emphasis was given to such high-technology industries as electronics, bioengineering, and aerospace, and the service industry grew markedly. Increasing focus has been placed on the rise of information technology and the promotion of venture-capital investment. Much of the country’s manufacturing is centred on Seoul and its surrounding region, while heavy industry is largely based in the southeast; notable among the latter enterprises is the concentration of steel manufacturers at P’ohang and Kwangyang, in the southeast.

P’ohang, South Korea
POSCO iron-and-steel manufacturing company, P’ohang, South Korea.
© Lorraine Murray
Finance
The Korean won is the official currency. The government-owned Bank of Korea, headquartered in Seoul, is the country’s central bank, issuing currency and overseeing all banking activity. All banks were nationalized in the early 1960s, but by the early 1990s these largely had been returned to private ownership. Foreign branch banking has been allowed in South Korea since the 1960s, and in 1992 foreigners began trading on the Korea Stock Exchange in Seoul.

South Korean won
A 50,000-won banknote from South Korea.
Courtesy of Lorraine Murray
South Korea borrowed heavily on international financial markets to supply capital for its industrial expansion, but the success of its exports allowed it to repay much of its debt. However, the accumulation of a staggering amount of foreign debt and excessive industrial expansion by major conglomerates caused severe economic difficulties in the late 1990s. Government and business leaders jointly created reforms, such as the restructuring of foreign debt and a bailout agreement with the International Monetary Fund, to create a more stable economic structure.

Trade
The country generally has maintained a positive balance in annual trade. The major imports are machinery, mineral fuels, manufactured goods, and such crude materials as textile fibres and metal ores and scrap. Principal exports include machinery, electronics, textiles, transportation equipment (notably, automobiles), and clothing and footwear. South Korea’s principal trading partners are the United States, Japan, and Middle Eastern, East Asian, and Southeast Asian countries.

South Korea: Major import sources
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

South Korea: Major export destinations
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Services
Some two-thirds of the labour force is employed in the service sector, which contributes roughly three-fifths of the gross domestic product. Tourism alone constitutes a significant portion of this amount annually. The majority of visitors come from other Asian countries—mostly from Japan and, to a lesser extent, from China—although the number of tourists from the United States also has been appreciable. Tourists are drawn by South Korea’s many palaces and other historical attractions, religious sites, including Buddhist temples, and natural beauty. The increasing international recognition of South Korea’s popular culture, such as music, films, and television dramas, also has generated tourist interest.