Climate: temperate, with rainfall heavier in summer than winter
Terrain: mostly hills and mountains; wide coastal plains in west and south
Natural resources: coal, tungsten, graphite, molybdenum, lead, hydropower
Land use: 21% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 1% meadows and pastures; 67% forest and woodland; 10% other; includes 12% irrigated
Environment: occasional typhoons bring high winds and floods; earthquakes in southwest; air pollution in large cities
Notes: strategic location along the Korea Strait, Sea of Japan, and
Yellow Sea
- People
Population: 43,045,098 (July 1990), growth rate 0.8% (1990)
Birth rate: 20 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: - 1 migrants/1,000 population (1990)