http://asianhistory.about.com/od/southkorea/p/South-Korea-Facts-And-History.htm

http://www.mapsofworld.com/pages/fast-facts/south-korea/

Check out these interesting Facts about South Korea:

http://www.travelingeast.com/asia/south-korea/ten-interesting-facts-about-south-korea/

Please remember that I am still looking for two more families in the Fairlawn area to host from mid December through mid March and mid March through mid June.   Please send me any good leads or information.

colvillehall2@gmail.com

Thanks for your help and your support for our Rotary Youth Exchange program.

In Rotary service,

Susan

South Korea or the Republic of Korea (official name) 

Capital and Population: Seoul is the capital with as many as 10 million people.

Country Population:  South Korea is estimated to be home to nearly 49 million people.

Country Size: South Korea occupies about 99,720 square kilometers (or 38,500 square miles), roughly the size of the U.S. state of Indiana.

Neighbors: Bordered only by North Korea, the two sharing the most heavily fortified border in the world along the 38th Parallel, South Korea’s coastlines are close to Mainland China and Japan.

Language and Ethnicity:  An overwhelmingly homogenous nation both ethnically and linguistically, nearly all of its citizens speak Korean.  English is the most popular second language and is taught widely in schools.

Religions: South Korea grants religious freedom and has no national religion with 46.5% of South Koreans indicating no religious preference. The largest religious adherence is to Buddhism, with 22.8%, followed by all Protestant Christian denominations, at 18.3%, and Catholics, at 10.9%.

Government:  South Korea is a constitutional democracy with a three-branched government system. Although it has been this way for a very long time, until recently South Korea was ruled by a series of military authoritarians. 

The executive branch is headed by the president, directly elected for a single five-year term. The president, currently Park Geun-hye, appoints a Prime Minister, subject to approval from the National Assembly.  The National Assembly is a unicameral legislative body with 299 representatives. Members serve for four years.

President and World Leadership: The current head of state is President Park Geun-hye.  She is the first women president of South Korea.  A former Foreign Minister, Ban Ki-moon, is now the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

History: After two thousand years as an independent or unified kingdom with strong ties to China, Korea was annexed by the Japanese in 1910.  J apan controlled Korea as a colony until 1945 when they surrendered to the Allied forces at the end of World War II. As the Japanese pulled out, the northern half was to be administered by the Soviet Union and the southern half by the United States.  Reconciliation seemed impossible for the two states. Eventually the communist regime in North Korea, helped by the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China, invaded the South in 1950. This sparked the Korean War and eventually put an end to any hopes of creating a single, unified Korea.

Economy: South Korea is one of Asia's Tiger Economies, ranked fourteenth in the world according to GDP. This impressive economy is based largely on exports, particularly of consumer electronics and vehicles. Important South Korean manufacturers include Samsung, Hyundai and LG.

Per capita income in South Korea is $30,200 US, and the unemployment rate as of 2010 was an enviable 3.3%. However, 15% of the population lives below the poverty line.

Currency: The South Korea currency is the won. As of May, 2011, $1 US = 1,075 Korean won.