Republic of Korea
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Motto: "홍익인간"("弘益人間") (de facto) "Hongik Ingan" "Benefit broadly the human world / Devotion to the Welfare of Humanity"[1] | |
.svg) Land controlled by South Korea shown in dark green; land claimed but uncontrolled shown in light green. | |
| Capital and largest city | Seoul 37°33′N 126°58′E / 37.550°N 126.967°E |
| Official languages | Korean (Pyojun-eo) Korean Sign Language[2] |
| Official script | Korean |
| Ethnic groups | Predominantly Korean, no official statistics[a] |
| Religion |
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| Demonym(s) | |
| Government | Unitary presidential constitutional republic |
| Moon Jae-in | |
| Chung Sye-kyun | |
| Park Byeong-seug | |
| Kim Myeong-soo | |
| Yoo Nam-seok | |
| Legislature | National Assembly |
| Establishment history | |
| c. 7th century BCE | |
| 1 March 1919 | |
| 11 April 1919 | |
• Independence from Japan | 15 August 1945 |
• US administration of Korea south of the 38th parallel | 8 September 1945 |
| 15 August 1948 | |
| 25 February 1988 | |
• Admitted to the UN | 17 September 1991 |
| Area | |
• Total | 100,363 km2 (38,750 sq mi) (107th) |
• Water (%) | 0.3 (301 km2 / 116 mi2) |
| Population | |
• 2019 estimate |  51,709,098[6] (27th) |
• Density | 507/km2 (1,313.1/sq mi) (13th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2020 estimate |
• Total |  $2.293 trillion[7] (14th) |
• Per capita | $44,292[7] (24th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2020 estimate |
• Total | $1.586 trillion[7] (10th) |
• Per capita | $30,644[7] (26th) |
| Gini (2016) |  35.7[8]medium · 93rd |
| HDI (2018) | 0.906[9] very high · 22nd |
| Currency | Korean Republic won (₩) (KRW) |
| Time zone | UTC+9 (Korea Standard Time) |
| Date format |
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| Mains electricity | 220V–60 Hz |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +82 |
| ISO 3166 code | KR |
| Internet TLD | |
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, and sharing a land border with North Korea. 25 million people, around half of the country's population of more than 51 million people, live in the Seoul Capital Area, the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the world.