All you need to know about South Korea : South Korea is a sovereign country located in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula, with an area of about 100,000 square kilometers. It is a densely populated country with a strong and developed economy. Here is a collection of facts, information and everything you need to know about South Korea.
Population of South Korea
In the 2009 census, the population of South Korea was about 48 million. About 20 percent of the population lives in Seoul, which is one of the largest cities in the world, with an estimated population of 10 million.
The official language in South Korea
The official language of South Korea is Korean, however, a range of other languages are spread in the country, especially English, which is widely taught in the country’s schools, in addition to the languages of the surrounding communities, such as Japanese.
Demographics
South Korea is considered one of the most ethnically homogeneous societies in the world, as more than 99 percent of the country’s population is Korean, while only 1 percent of the population is of other ethnicities. Recently, the proportion of foreigners began to rise, especially immigrants from China.
Religion in South Korea
The dominant religious groups in South Korea are Christianity and Buddhism, with a significant proportion of the population who do not believe in any religion. Islam is a minority in the country, and the number of Muslims is believed to be 130,000, of whom 35,000 are local Muslims.
In response to the rapidly changing demographics of religion in South Korea, 여론 속의 여론 (Yeo- Lone SUO-k ue yeo-leon) a Korean research journal, performed a survey on the present religious demographic in South Korea. According to the survey, new results deviate from the traditional sentiments of South Korean culture. In South Korea today, 52% of the population are atheist or non-religious. The latter half of the population that are religious, are split in the following way: 18% believe in Protestantism, 16% believe in Buddhism, 13% believe in Catholicism, and 1% being other religions or cults. Essentially, the studies findings show that 50% of South Korean are now non-religious, 32% follow some section of Christianity, 16% are Buddhist, and 2% believe in some other form of religion. The deviation from the traditionally religious South Korea culture and demographics, is the rise of Atheists.
Previous to this sudden change, A Cohort Analysis of Religious Population Change in Korea launched by the Korean Citation Index analyzed Korean religious demographics from 1999 to 2015. The data from the study focused on understanding religious conversion, switching, or abandonment within the demographic. Today, the study has given insight on the potential effects of the deviation in South Korea’s religious demographic.
The study performed by the research journal, 여론 속의 여론 (Yeo- Lone SUO-k ue yeo-leon), discovered the change in the South Korea religious demographics stemmed from the youth. The younger demographic of South Korea tend to have a higher percentage of atheists, while the older demographics have remained relatively religious. The study states that 33% of Koreans who are around the age of 20 believe in religion, while above 61% of those aged 60 or older continue to believe in religion. The study also reveals that the demographic of believers and non believers are also affected by many more variables. For example, the specific religion and the age at which the religion was introduced to the individual can have effects on the probability of an individual to stay religious throughout their lives. Overall, there seems to be a large deviation between those who were introduced to religion before elementary and those who were introduced after their 50s. Of 101 individuals interviewed, 29 were introduced to religion before elementary school, 18 during elementary, 9 in their 40s, and 7 in their 50s. While Catholicism and Protestantism maintained a similar standard deviation, believers of Buddhism seemed to start during and near their 30s. With the younger generation of South Korea remaining increasingly non-religious, and South Korea traditionally being a religious nation, the developments of South Korea’s religious demographics will have many implications on the nation’s culture, politics, and way of life.
South Korean government
The government of South Korea is a republic with a single legislature consisting of the National Assembly, while the executive branch consists of the head of state, the head of state, the head of government, and the prime minister.
Geography of south korea
Most of South Korea’s terrain is mountainous and the highest point in the country lies at an altitude of 1,950 meters. About two-thirds of the land is wooded. There are more than 3,000 islands in South Korea located on the south and west coasts of the country.
The climate of South Korea
South Korea’s climate is temperate with cold winters and hot, humid summers. The average temperature in January in the capital, Seoul, is 2.5 degrees Celsius, while the average high temperature in summer is 29.5 degrees Celsius.
South Korea’s economy
South Korea has one of the strongest economies in the world, and one of the most developed. The country’s major industries include electronics, communications, automobile production, steel, shipbuilding, and chemical production. The largest companies in Korea are Hyundai, LG, and Samsung.
express trains
In 2004, South Korea inaugurated a high-speed railway called KTX, a high-speed system that runs daily to deliver more than 100 people across the country’s cities. The maximum speed of trains in normal service is about 305 km per hour, although the infrastructure of the line is designed to speeds of 350 km per hour.
