Geography
The Republic of Korea shares the Korean Peninsula with North Korea
(the People's Republic of Korea) to the North. South Korea occupies
99,237 square kilometers, about 45 percent of the whole of Korea
and is slightly larger than Hungary, but a little smaller than Iceland
in comparison. Its neighbors are China to the West, Japan to the
East and Russia to the North.
The peninsula extends southward from eastern Manchuria and Siberia
and well into Kyushu, Japan's major southern island. The northern
border of the peninsula extends along the boundary of China (Manchuria)
and touches Russia to the east, just 75 miles away from Vladivostok,
Russia's major eastern port city. The northern border is mainly
formed by two large rivers - the Amnokkang that flows westward into
the Yellow Sea; the Tumangang that flows into the East Sea.
About 70% of Korea is mountainous, mainly to the north and east,
causing a great variation in rainfall and temperature between winter
and summer. Only 22% of the land can be farmed because of its mountainous
being. Korea has four obvious distinct seasons: a wet monsoon/summer
in the middle of the year; a very cold winter towards the end of
the year (November to March). The warmest and wettest place in the
country is Cheju-do, off the south coast.
Korea was exploitatively logged and mined during the Japanese reign.
However, Korea has now reforested a large area of its country. The
northern Korea is now covered with alpine, where you can find beech,
fir and pine trees in abundance and it is the only part of the country
where you are able to see black bears and deer. Trailing down the
south coast, everything gets more tropical and vegetation is of
prime activity. This is where ginseng supplies (for Korea and outside
world) come from. Korea is also surrounded with 20 national parks,
namely Soraksan (the most popular one to date), Hallasan and Chirisan
parks.
Climate
The peninsula is located mid-latitude in the nothern hemisphere
and lies in the transitional zone between continental and subtropical
maritime climates. It has four distinct seasons.
The north to south geography of the peninsula produces climatic
differences aling its length. In the south, spring and summer are
normally longer, while the north, autumn and winter are longer.
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