South Korea, officially known as the Republic of Korea, country in
             North eastern Asia that occupies the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula.
             South Korea is bounded on the north by North Korea; on the east by the Sea of
             Japan; on the southeast and south by the Korea Strait, which separates it from
             Japan; and on the west by the Yellow Sea. It has a total area of about 38,023sq.
             Mi., including numerous offshore islands in the south and west, the largest of
             which is Cheju (area, 1829 sq. km/706 sq. mi.). The state of South Korea was
             established in 1948 following the post-World War II partitioning of the
             peninsula between the occupying forces of the United States in the south and the
             Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in the north. The capital and largest
             In contrast to North Korea, South Korea is relatively poor in mineral
             resources. The principal resources are coal (mostly anthracite), iron ore, and
             graphite. Other minerals include gold, silver, copper, lead, tungsten, zinc, and
             uranium. Reserves of natural gas have been discovered offshore. These minute
             resources are not as depended upon by the people of South Korea as in the North.
             The north is heavy in mining these resources because they have a large surplus
             of them, and the north is not; they have moved on and found other economical
             The population of South Koreais is about 45,182,000
             People estimated in 1995.The country's estimated population density of 1188 per sq mi is one of the
             highest in the world. The majority of the population lives in the southern and
             western coastal areas. The annual rate of increase has dropped steadily from
             more than 3 percent in the late 1950s to 0.8 percent in the mid-1990s.
             Urbanization of the country has proceeded rapidly since the 1960s, with
             substantial rural to urban migration; approximately 78 percent of the population
             is now classified as urban. Since the establishment of...