d financial and organizational
difficulties. Continuing tensions between North and South have
raised concerns of provocative military actions by the North.
Geography
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
Map references: Asia
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:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: not specified
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm; between 3 nm and 12 nm in the Korea Strait
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
Land use:
arable land: 19%
permanent crops: 2%
permanent pastures: 1%
forests and woodland: 65%
other: 13% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 13,350 sq km (1993 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; water
pollution from the discharge of sewage and industrial effluents;
driftnet fishing
Environment--international agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical
Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol,
Desertification
People
Population: 46,884,800 (July 1999 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 22% (male 5,504,333; female 4,874,974)
15-64 years: 71% (male 16,949,807; female 16,432,951)
65 years and over: 7% (male 1,192,688; female 1,930,047) (1999 est.)
Population growth rate: 1% (1999 est.)
Birth rate: 15.95 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Death rate: 5.68 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.13 m
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