South KoreaSouth Korea, officially known as the Republic of Korea, is a state in Northeast Asia occupying the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. South Korea borders North Korea to the north; on the east by the Sea of ​​Japan; to the southeast and south by the Korea Strait, which separates it from Japan; and to the west by the Yellow Sea. It has a total area of ​​approximately 38,023 square miles, including numerous offshore islands in the south and west, the largest of which is Cheju (area, 1829 sq km/706 square miles). The state of South Korea was founded in 1948 following the partition of the peninsula after World War II 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 city of South Korea is Seoul. Unlike North Korea, South Korea is relatively poor in mineral resources. The main resources are coal (especially anthracite), iron ore and graphite. Other minerals include gold, silver, copper, lead, tungsten, zinc, anduranium. Natural gas reserves have been discovered offshore. The people of South Korea are not as dependent on these tiny resources as they are in the North. The North is very busy extracting these resources because it has a large surplus of them, while the North does not; they moved on and found other economic niches. The population of South Korea (1995 estimate) is approximately 45,182,000 people. The country's estimated population density of 1,188 per square mile is one of the highest in the world. Most of the population lives in the southern and western coastal areas. The annual rate of increase fell steadily from over 3% in the late 1950s to 0.8% in the mid-1990s. The country's urbanization has proceeded rapidly since the 1960s, with substantial migration from rural to urban areas; approximately 78% of the population is now classified as urban. Since the founding of North Korea, approximately 4 million immigrants have crossed the border into South Korea. This increase has been partly offset by emigration from South Korea, especially to Japan and the United States. The country's main industrial center is Seoul (population: 10,612,577 in 1990). Other major cities include Pusan ​​(3,798,113), the major seaport; Taegu (2,229,...... middle of paper......a is the won (806.8 won equals 1 US dollar; 1994). The Bank of Korea is the issuing bank. Foreign Trade In following the disruption of trade during After the Korean War (1950-1953) and its aftermath, exports increased at a remarkable annual rate of 27.2 percent from 1965 to 1980 and 14.7 percent from 1980 to 1988. Major imports include industrial machinery, oil and petroleum products, chemicals, transportation equipment, raw materials (such as wood and raw cotton), and electronic components. Exports include electrical machinery, textiles, audio and telecommunications equipment, electronic microcircuits, clothing, ships, automobiles, chemicals, office machinery and footwear. Annual imports in the early 1990s were valued at $82.2 billion United States, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, Singapore, Great Britain, Canada and Australia. The main trading partners for imports were Japan, the United States, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Indonesia. To summarize, South Korea is a very industrial and export-intensive country. It has a lot of people, so they can have huge factories and be very productive.