British Indian Ocean Territory (2002) | Korea, South (2006) | |
Administrative divisions | - | 9 provinces (do, singular and plural) and 7 metropolitan cities (gwangyoksi, singular and plural)
provinces: Cheju-do, Cholla-bukto (North Cholla), Cholla-namdo (South Cholla), Ch'ungch'ong-bukto (North Ch'ungch'ong), Ch'ungch'ong-namdo (South Ch'ungch'ong), Kangwon-do, Kyonggi-do, Kyongsang-bukto (North Kyongsang), Kyongsang-namdo (South Kyongsang) metropolitan cities: Inch'on-gwangyoksi (Inch'on), Kwangju-gwangyoksi (Kwangju), Pusan-gwangyoksi (Pusan), Soul-t'ukpyolsi (Seoul), Taegu-gwangyoksi (Taegu), Taejon-gwangyoksi (Taejon), Ulsan-gwangyoksi (Ulsan) |
Age structure | - | 0-14 years: 18.9% (male 4,844,083/female 4,368,139)
15-64 years: 71.9% (male 17,886,148/female 17,250,862) 65 years and over: 9.2% (male 1,818,677/female 2,678,914) (2006 est.) |
Agriculture - products | - | rice, root crops, barley, vegetables, fruit; cattle, pigs, chickens, milk, eggs; fish |
Airports | 1 (2001) | 107 (2006) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2002) |
total: 69
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 21 1,524 to 2,437 m: 14 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 20 (2006) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 38
914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 35 (2006) |
Area | total: 60 sq km
land: 60 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago |
total: 98,480 sq km
land: 98,190 sq km water: 290 sq km |
Area - comparative | about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly larger than Indiana |
Background | Established as a territory of the UK in 1965, a number of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) islands were transferred to the Seychelles when it attained independence in 1976. Subsequently, BIOT has consisted only of the six main island groups comprising the Chagos Archipelago. The largest and most southerly of the islands, Diego Garcia, contains a joint UK-US naval support facility. All of the remaining islands are uninhabited. Former agricultural workers, earlier residents in the islands, were relocated primarily to Mauritius but also to the Seychelles, between 1967 and 1973. In 2000, a British High Court ruling invalidated the local immigration order which had excluded them from the archipelago, but upheld the special military status of Diego Garcia. | Korea was an independent kingdom for much of its millennia-long history. Following its victory in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Japan occupied Korea; five years later it formally annexed the entire peninsula. After World War II, a Republic of Korea (ROK) was set up in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula while a Communist-style government was installed in the north (the DPRK). During the Korean War (1950-53), US troops and UN forces fought alongside soldiers from the ROK to defend South Korea from DPRK attacks supported by China and the Soviet Union. An armistice was signed in 1953, splitting the peninsula along a demilitarized zone at about the 38th parallel. Thereafter, South Korea achieved rapid economic growth with per capita income rising to roughly 14 times the level of North Korea. In 1993, KIM Yo'ng-sam became South Korea's first civilian president following 32 years of military rule. South Korea today is a fully functioning modern democracy. In June 2000, a historic first North-South summit took place between the South's President KIM Dae-jung and the North's leader KIM Jong Il. |
Birth rate | - | 10 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Budget | - | revenues: $195 billion
expenditures: $189 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.) |
Capital | - | name: Seoul
geographic coordinates: 37 34 N, 127 00 E time difference: UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds | temperate, with rainfall heavier in summer than winter |
Coastline | 698 km | 2,413 km |
Constitution | - | 17 July 1948 |
Country name | conventional long form: British Indian Ocean Territory
conventional short form: none abbreviation: BIOT |
conventional long form: Republic of Korea
conventional short form: South Korea local long form: Taehan-min'guk local short form: Han'guk abbreviation: ROK |
Death rate | - | 5.85 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Debt - external | - | $153.9 billion (2005 est.) |
Dependency status | overseas territory of the UK; administered by a commissioner, resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | chief of mission: Ambassador Alexander VERSHBOW
embassy: 32 Sejong-no, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-710 mailing address: US Embassy Seoul, Unit 15550, APO AP 96205-5550 telephone: [82] (2) 397-4114 FAX: [82] (2) 738-8845 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | chief of mission: Ambassador LEE Tae-sik
chancery: 2450 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 939-5600 FAX: [1] (202) 387-0205 consulate(s) general: Agana (Guam), Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle |
Disputes - international | Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago and its former inhabitants, who reside chiefly in Mauritius, but in 2001 were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation since eviction in 1965; repatriation is complicated by the US military lease of Diego Garcia, the largest island in the chain | Military Demarcation Line within the 4-km wide Demilitarized Zone has separated North from South Korea since 1953; periodic maritime disputes with North Korea over the Northern Limit Line; South Korea and Japan claim Liancourt Rocks (Tok-do/Take-shima), occupied by South Korea since 1954 |
Economic aid - donor | - | ODA, $423.3 million (2004) |
Economy - overview | All economic activity is concentrated on the largest island of Diego Garcia, where joint UK-US defense facilities are located. Construction projects and various services needed to support the military installations are done by military and contract employees from the UK, Mauritius, the Philippines, and the US. There are no industrial or agricultural activities on the islands. When the Ilois return, they plan to reestablish sugarcane production and fishing. | Since the early 1960s, South Korea has achieved an incredible record of growth and integration into the high-tech modern world economy. Four decades ago, GDP per capita was comparable with levels in the poorer countries of Africa and Asia. In 2004, South Korea joined the trillion dollar club of world economies. Today its GDP per capita is equal to the lesser economies of the EU. This success through the late 1980s was achieved by a system of close government/business ties, including directed credit, import restrictions, sponsorship of specific industries, and a strong labor effort. The government promoted the import of raw materials and technology at the expense of consumer goods and encouraged savings and investment over consumption. The Asian financial crisis of 1997-99 exposed longstanding weaknesses in South Korea's development model, including high debt/equity ratios, massive foreign borrowing, and an undisciplined financial sector. GDP plunged by 6.9% in 1998, then recovered 9.5% in 1999 and 8.5% in 2000. Growth fell back to 3.3% in 2001 because of the slowing global economy, falling exports, and the perception that much-needed corporate and financial reforms had stalled. Led by consumer spending and exports, growth in 2002 was an impressive 7%, despite anemic global growth. Between 2003 and 2005, growth moderated to about 4%. A downturn in consumer spending was offset by rapid export growth. In 2005, the government proposed labor reform legislation and a corporate pension scheme to help make the labor market more flexible, and new real estate policies to cool property speculation. Moderate inflation, low unemployment, an export surplus, and fairly equal distribution of income characterize this solid economy. |
Electricity - consumption | NA kWh | 321.1 billion kWh (2004) |
Electricity - exports | - | 0 kWh (2004) |
Electricity - imports | - | 0 kWh (2004) |
Electricity - production | NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by the US military | 342.1 billion kWh (2004) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 m |
lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m
highest point: Halla-san 1,950 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | air pollution in large cities; acid rain; water pollution from the discharge of sewage and industrial effluents; drift net fishing |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | - | homogeneous (except for about 20,000 Chinese) |
Exchange rates | - | South Korean won per US dollar - 1,024.1 (2005), 1,145.3 (2004), 1,191.6 (2003), 1,251.1 (2002), 1,291 (2001) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)
head of government: Commissioner Alan HUCKLE (since 2001); Administrator Louise SAVILL (since NA); note - both reside in the UK cabinet: NA elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; commissioner and administrator appointed by the monarch |
chief of state: President ROH Moo-hyun (since 25 February 2003)
head of government: Prime Minister HAN Myeong-sook (since 20 April 2006); Deputy Prime Ministers KIM Woo-sik (since 10 February 2006); KWON O-kyu (since 18 July 2006); KIM Shin-il (since 20 September 2006) cabinet: State Council appointed by the president on the prime minister's recommendation elections: president elected by popular vote for a single five-year term; election last held 19 December 2002 (next to be held in December 2007); prime minister appointed by president with consent of National Assembly; deputy prime ministers appointed by president on prime minister's recommendation election results: ROH Moo-hyun elected president; percent of vote - ROH Moo-hyun (MDP) 48.9%; LEE Hoi-chang (GNP) 46.6%; other 4.5% |
Exports | - | 645,200 bbl/day (2004) |
Exports - commodities | - | semiconductors, wireless telecommunications equipment, motor vehicles, computers, steel, ships, petrochemicals |
Exports - partners | - | China 21.8%, US 14.6%, Japan 8.5%, Hong Kong 5.5% (2005) |
Fiscal year | - | calendar year |
Flag description | white with six blue wavy horizontal stripes; the flag of the UK is in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the striped section bears a palm tree and yellow crown centered on the outer half of the flag | white with a red (top) 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 |
GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture: 3.3%
industry: 40.3% services: 56.3% (2005 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | - | 4% (2005 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 6 00 S, 71 30 E | 37 00 N, 127 30 E |
Geography - note | archipelago of 2,300 islands; Diego Garcia, largest and southernmost island, occupies strategic location in central Indian Ocean; island is site of joint US-UK military facility | strategic location on Korea Strait |
Heliports | - | 540 (2006) |
Highways | total: NA km
paved: short stretch of paved road of NA km between port and airfield on Diego Garcia unpaved: NA km |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%: 2.9%
highest 10%: 25% (2005 est.) |
Imports | - | 2.263 million bbl/day (2004) |
Imports - commodities | - | machinery, electronics and electronic equipment, oil, steel, transport equipment, organic chemicals, plastics |
Imports - partners | - | Japan 18.5%, China 14.8%, US 11.8%, Saudi Arabia 6.2% (2005) |
Independence | - | 15 August 1945 (from Japan) |
Industrial production growth rate | - | 5.9% (2005 est.) |
Industries | - | electronics, telecommunications, automobile production, chemicals, shipbuilding, steel |
Infant mortality rate | - | total: 6.16 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 6.54 deaths/1,000 live births female: 5.75 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | 2.8% (2005 est.) |
International organization participation | - | AfDB, APEC, APT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, CP, EAS, EBRD, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, LAIA, MIGA, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, ONUB, OPCW, OSCE (partner), PCA, PIF (partner), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMOGIP, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 0 sq km (1998 est.) | 8,780 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | - | Supreme Court (justices appointed by president with consent of National Assembly); Constitutional Court (justices appointed by president based partly on nominations by National Assembly and Chief Justice of the court) |
Labor force | - | 23.53 million (2005 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | agriculture: 6.4%
industry: 26.4% services: 67.2% (2005 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 238 km
border countries: North Korea 238 km |
Land use | arable land: NEGL
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 16.58%
permanent crops: 2.01% other: 81.41% (2005) |
Languages | - | Korean, English widely taught in junior high and high school |
Legal system | the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply | combines elements of continental European civil law systems, Anglo-American law, and Chinese classical thought |
Legislative branch | - | unicameral National Assembly or Kukhoe (299 seats - members elected for four-year terms; 243 in single-seat constituencies, 56 by proportional representation)
elections: last held 15 April 2004 (next to be held in April 2008; byelections held on 30 April 2005 and on 26 October 2005) election results: percent of vote by party - Uri 51%, GNP 41%, DLP 3%, DP 3%, others 2%; seats by party - Uri 144, GNP 127, DP 11, DLP 9, ULD 3, independents 5 note: percent of vote is for 2004 general election; seats by party reflect results of April and October 2005 byelections involving six and four seats respectively; MDP became DP in May 2005; United Liberal Democrats (ULD) merged with GNP in February 2006. (2006) |
Life expectancy at birth | - | total population: 77.04 years
male: 73.61 years female: 80.75 years (2006 est.) |
Literacy | - | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.9% male: 99.2% female: 96.6% (2002) |
Location | Southern Asia, archipelago in the Indian Ocean, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia | Eastern Asia, southern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea |
Map references | Political Map of the World | Asia |
Maritime claims | exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 3 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm; between 3 nm and 12 nm in the Korea Strait
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: not specified |
Merchant marine | - | total: 669 ships (1000 GRT or over) 8,634,188 GRT/13,733,624 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 157, cargo 193, chemical tanker 98, container 81, liquefied gas 22, passenger 5, passenger/cargo 24, petroleum tanker 57, refrigerated cargo 17, roll on/roll off 6, specialized tanker 3, vehicle carrier 6 foreign-owned: 22 (France 12, Japan 1, UK 2, US 7) registered in other countries: 365 (Belize 4, Cambodia 23, China 2, Cyprus 1, Georgia 1, Honduras 6, Hong Kong 6, Indonesia 1, Liberia 3, Malaysia 1, Malta 6, Marshall Islands 1, Panama 291, Singapore 17, unknown 2) (2006) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the UK; the US lease on Diego Garcia expires in 2016 | - |
Military branches | - | Army, Navy, Republic of Korea Air Force (Han-guk Kong Goon), Marine Corps, National Maritime Police (coast guard) (2006) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $21.06 billion FY05 (2005 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 2.6% FY05 (2005 est.) |
National holiday | - | Liberation Day, 15 August (1945) |
Nationality | - | noun: Korean(s)
adjective: Korean |
Natural hazards | NA | occasional typhoons bring high winds and floods; low-level seismic activity common in southwest |
Natural resources | coconuts, fish, sugarcane | coal, tungsten, graphite, molybdenum, lead, hydropower potential |
Net migration rate | - | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 1,482 km; refined products 827 km (2006) |
Political parties and leaders | - | Democratic Labor Party or DLP [MOON Seong-hyun]; Democratic Party or DP [HAHN Hwa-kap]; Grand National Party or GNP [KANG Jae-sup]; People-Centered Party or PCP [SHIN Kook-hwan]; Uri Party [KIM Geun-tae] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | - | Federation of Korean Industries; Federation of Korean Trade Unions; Korean Confederation of Trade Unions; Korean National Council of Churches; Korean Traders Association; Korean Veterans' Association; National Council of Labor Unions; National Democratic Alliance of Korea; National Federation of Farmers' Associations; National Federation of Student Associations |
Population | no indigenous inhabitants
note: approximately 1,200 former agricultural workers resident in the Chagos Archipelago, often referred to as Chagossians or Ilois, were relocated to Mauritius and the Seychelles around the time of the construction of UK-US military facilities; in 2001, there were approximately 1,500 UK and US military personnel and 2,000 civilian contractors living on the island of Diego Garcia (July 2002 est.) |
48,846,823 (July 2006 est.) |
Population below poverty line | - | 15% (2003 est.) |
Population growth rate | - | 0.42% (2006 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Diego Garcia | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 61, FM 150, shortwave 2 (2005) |
Radios | NA | - |
Railways | - | total: 3,472 km
standard gauge: 3,472 km 1.435-m gauge (1,361 km electrified) (2005) |
Religions | - | no affiliation 46%, Christian 26%, Buddhist 26%, Confucianist 1%, other 1% |
Sex ratio | - | at birth: 1.08 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.11 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
Suffrage | - | 19 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: separate facilities for military and public needs are available
domestic: all commercial telephone services are available, including connection to the Internet international: international telephone service is carried by satellite (2000) |
general assessment: excellent domestic and international services
domestic: NA international: country code - 82; 10 fiber-optic submarine cables - 1 Korea-Russia-Japan, 1 Korea-Japan-Hong Kong, 3 Korea-Japan-China, 1 Korea-Japan-China-Europe, 1 Korea-Japan-China-US-Taiwan, 1 Korea-Japan-China, 1 Korea-Japan-Hong Kong-Taiwan, 1 Korea-Japan; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Pacific Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean) and 3 Inmarsat (1 Pacific Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | NA | 23.745 million (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | - | 38.342 million (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (1997) | terrestrial stations 43; cable operators 59; relay cable operators 190 (2005) |
Terrain | flat and low (most areas do not exceed four meters in elevation) | mostly hills and mountains; wide coastal plains in west and south |
Total fertility rate | - | 1.27 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
Unemployment rate | - | 3.7% (2005 est.) |
Waterways | none | 1,608 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2006) |