|
|
|
|
|
Capital |
Pyongyang,
Seoul
 37°32′N
126°59′E
/ 37.533,
126.983 |
|
Largest conurbation
(population) |
Seoul |
|
Official languages |
Korean |
|
Area |
|
- |
Total |
220,186 kmē (84th
if ranked)
85,020 sq mi |
|
- |
Water (%) |
2.8 |
|
|
Population |
|
- |
2007 estimate |
72,326,462 (18th
if ranked) |
|
- |
Density |
328.48/kmē
850.7/sq mi |
|
Currency |
Won (₩)
(N/S) |
|
Time zone |
KST
(UTC+9) |
|
Korea
is a geographic area,
civilization, and a former state
situated on the Korean Peninsula
in East Asia. It borders China
to the west and Russia to the
north, with Japan situated to
the east. The Korean Peninsula
is divided into two separate
states, North Korea and South
Korea. However, the name "Korea"
is often used to refer to South
Korea due to its greater
economic significance and
influence in the world.
The history of Korea began with
the legendary founding of
Gojoseon in 2333 BC by Dangun.
Limited linguistic evidence
suggests probable Altaic origins
of these people, whose northern
Mongolian steppe culture
absorbed migration and trade
with the peoples of Manchuria
and China. The adoption of the
Chinese writing system ("hanja"
in Korean) in the 2nd century
BC, and Buddhism in the 4th
century AD, had profound effects
on the Three Kingdoms of Korea.
Baekje later passed on a
modified version of these
cultural advances to
Japan.[1][2][3][4]
Since the Goryeo Dynasty, Korea
was ruled by a single government
and maintained political and
cultural independence until the
nineteenth century, despite the
Mongol invasions of the Goryeo
Dynasty in the 13th century and
Japanese invasions of the Joseon
Dynasty in the 16th century. In
1377, Korea produced the Jikji,
the world's oldest movable metal
print document.[5] In the 15th
century, the turtle ships,
possibly the world's first
ironclad warships, were
deployed, and King Sejong the
Great promulgated the Korean
alphabet han-geul to increase
literacy among his people who
could not read nor write hanja
(Chinese characters).
