Weather
Temperate, with rainfall heavier in summer than winter.
Terrain
Mostly hills and mountains; wide coastal plains in west and south.
Currency
South Korean Won (KRW)
Languages
Korean, English widely taught in junior high and high school
Religion
no affiliation 46%, Christian 26%, Buddhist 26%, Confucianist 1%, other 1%
Ethnic groups
homogeneous (except for about 20,000 Chinese)
History
Korea was an independent kingdom under Chinese suzerainty for most of the past millennium. Following its victory in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Japan occupied Korea; five years later it formally annexed the entire peninsula. After World War II, a republic was set up in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula while a Communist-style government was installed in the north. During the Korean War (1950-1953), US and other UN forces intervened to defend South Korea from North Korean attacks supported by the Chinese. An armistice was signed in 1953, splitting the peninsula along a demilitarized zone at about the 38th parallel. Thereafter, South Korea achieved rapid economic growth with per capita income rising to roughly 18 times the level of North Korea. In 1987, South Korean voters elected ROH Tae-woo to the presidency, ending 26 years of military dictatorships. South Korea today is a fully functioning modern democracy. In June 2000, a historic first North-South summit took place between the South's President KIM Tae-chung and the North's leader KIM Jong Il.
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