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@Korea, South
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Map
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Location: 37 00 N, 127 30 E -- Eastern Asia, southern half of the
Korean Peninsula bordering the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea,
south of North Korea

Flag
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Description: white with a red (top) and blue yin-yang symbol in
the center; there is a different black trigram from the ancient I
Ching (Book of Changes) in each corner of the white field

Geography
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Location: Eastern Asia, southern half of the Korean Peninsula
bordering the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea, south of North Korea

Geographic coordinates: 37 00 N, 127 30 E

Map references: Asia

Area:
total area: 98,480 sq km
land area: 98,190 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than Indiana

Land boundaries:
total: 238 km
border country: North Korea 238 km

Coastline: 2,413 km

Maritime claims:
continental shelf: not specified
territorial sea: 12 nm; 3 nm in the Korea Strait

International disputes: Demarcation Line with North Korea;
Liancourt Rocks claimed by Japan

Climate: temperate, with rainfall heavier in summer than winter

Terrain: mostly hills and mountains; wide coastal plains in west
and south
lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m
highest point: Halla-san 1,950 m

Natural resources: coal, tungsten, graphite, molybdenum, lead,
hydropower

Land use:
arable land: 21%
permanent crops: 1%
meadows and pastures: 1%
forest and woodland: 67%
other: 10%

Irrigated land: 13,530 sq km (1989)

Environment:
current issues: air pollution in large cities; water pollution from
the discharge of sewage and industrial effluents; drift net fishing
natural hazards: occasional typhoons bring high winds and floods;
earthquakes in southwest
international agreements: party to - Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test
Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83,
Tropical Timber 94; signed, but not ratified - Desertification, Law
of the Sea

People
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Population: 45,482,291 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 23% (male 5,531,032; female 4,962,915)
15-64 years: 71% (male 16,374,678; female 15,910,846)
65 years and over: 6% (male 1,014,649; female 1,688,171) (July 1996
est.)

Population growth rate: 1.02