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 Korea, South| Facts & Figures |
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| President: Lee
Myung-bak (2008) Prime Minister:
Han Seung Soo (2008) Land area: 37,911 sq mi (98,189 sq
km) Population (2009 est.): 48,508,972
(growth rate: 0.2%); birth rate: 8.9/1000; infant mortality rate:
4.2/1000; life expectancy: 78.7; density per sq km: 501
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Seoul, 10,287,847 (city proper) Other large cities: Pusan, 3,504,900;
Inchon, 2,479,600 (part of Seoul metro. area); Taegu, 2,369,800 Monetary unit: won More Facts & Figures |
GeographySlightly larger than Indiana, South Korea lies
below the 38th parallel on the Korean peninsula. It is mountainous in the
east; in the west and south are many harbors on the mainland and offshore
islands.
GovernmentRepublic.
HistorySouth Korea came into being after World War II,
the result of a 1945 agreement reached by the Allies at the Potsdam
Conference, making the 38th parallel the boundary between a northern zone
of the Korean peninsula to be occupied by the USSR and southern zone to be
controlled by U.S. forces. (For details,
see
Korea, North.
)
Elections were held in the U.S. zone in 1948 for
a national assembly, which adopted a republican constitution and elected
Syngman Rhee as the nation's president. The new republic was proclaimed on
Aug. 15 and was recognized as the legal government of Korea by the UN on
Dec. 12, 1948.
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