Download South Korea - Effingham County Schools

South Korea
(Republic of Korea)
•The South Korean flag
is white with a red and
blue yin-yang symbol
in the center.
•There is a different
black trigram from the
ancient I Ching (Book
of Changes) in each
corner of the white
field.
•The Korean national
flag is called Taegukki
• White is a traditional Korean color and represents peace and purity
•Blue section represents the negative cosmic forces of the yin
•Red symbolizes the opposite positive forces of the yang.
•Each trigram (kwae) denotes one of the four universal elements,
which together express the principle of movement and harmony
Capital is Seoul.
Government
South Korea is a republic.
Executive branch
President Lee Myung-bak was elected by popular
vote.
Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik was appointed by
the President.
Legislative branch
• South Korea has a unicameral National
Assembly, or Kukhoe.
• They are elected by the citizens of South Korea.
Judicial branch
Judges are appointed by the President.
Official Language
• Korean
• English widely taught in junior high and
high school
Religion and Ethic Groups
Religious Groups
Christian 26.3%
(Protestant 19.7%, Roman Catholic 6.6%)
Buddhist 23.2%
Other or unknown 1.3%
None 49.3%
Ethnic Groups
homogeneous (except for about 20,000 Chinese)
Economy
• South Korea’s economy has grown greatly
in the past decades.
• It has gone from near the bottom of the
world’s economically powerful countries to
the top 20.
• South Korea has a free market economy.
Major Industry
Electronics
Telecommunications
Automobile
production
Chemicals
Shipbuilding
Steel
Natural
Resources
Coal
Tungsten
Graphite
Molybdenum
Lead
Hydropower
potential
Geography & Climate
Geography
• mostly hills and mountains
• wide coastal plains in west and south
Climate
• Temperate, with rainfall heavier in summer
than winter
Environmental Issues
• Air pollution in large cities
• Acid rain
• Water pollution from the discharge of
sewage and industrial effluents
• Drift net fishing
• Literacy Rate
– Total 98%
– Male 99%
– Female 97%
• GDP
– $28,100 per capita
• Below Poverty Level
– 15%
• Life Expectancy
– Total 79
– Male 75.5
– Female 82
• Population
48,636,068