Environment - current issues:
air pollution in large cities; acid rain; water pollution from the
discharge of sewage and industrial effluents; drift net fishing
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living
Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine
Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83,
Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
strategic location on Korea Strait
People Korea, South
Population:
48,422,644 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 19.4% (male 4,952,177/female 4,450,821)
15-64 years: 72% (male 17,715,267/female 17,147,808)
65 years and over: 8.6% (male 1,670,971/female 2,485,600) (2005 est.)
Median age:
total: 34.51 years
male: 33.53 years
female: 35.53 years (2005 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.38% (2005 est.)
Birth rate:
10.08 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate:
6.26 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)