Compare Korea, South (2006) - British Virgin Islands (2005)

Compare Korea, South (2006) z British Virgin Islands (2005)

	Korea, South (2006)	British Virgin Islands (2005)

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)	none (overseas territory of the UK)
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.)	0-14 years: 21% (male 2,400/female 2,358) 15-64 years: 73.9% (male 8,607/female 8,115) 65 years and over: 5.1% (male 614/female 549) (2005 est.)
Agriculture - products	rice, root crops, barley, vegetables, fruit; cattle, pigs, chickens, milk, eggs; fish	fruits, vegetables; livestock, poultry; fish
Airports	107 (2006)	3 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways	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)	total: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 38 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 35 (2006)	total: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Area	total: 98,480 sq km land: 98,190 sq km water: 290 sq km	total: 153 sq km land: 153 sq km water: 0 sq km note: comprised of 16 inhabited and more than 20 uninhabited islands; includes the island of Anegada
Area - comparative	slightly larger than Indiana	about 0.9 times the size of Washington, DC
Background	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.	First settled by the Dutch in 1648, the islands were annexed in 1672 by the English. The economy is closely tied to the larger and more populous US Virgin Islands to the west; the US dollar is the legal currency.
Birth rate	10 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)	14.96 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Budget	revenues: $195 billion expenditures: $189 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.)	revenues: $121.5 million expenditures: $115.5 million, including capital expenditures of NA (1997)
Capital	name: Seoul geographic coordinates: 37 34 N, 127 00 E time difference: UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)	Road Town
Climate	temperate, with rainfall heavier in summer than winter	subtropical; humid; temperatures moderated by trade winds
Coastline	2,413 km	80 km
Constitution	17 July 1948	1 June 1977
Country name	conventional long form: Republic of Korea conventional short form: South Korea local long form: Taehan-min'guk local short form: Han'guk abbreviation: ROK	conventional long form: none conventional short form: British Virgin Islands abbreviation: BVI
Death rate	5.85 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)	4.42 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Debt - external	$153.9 billion (2005 est.)	$36.1 million (1997)
Dependency status	-	overseas territory of the UK; internal self-governing
Diplomatic representation from the US	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	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Diplomatic representation in the US	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	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Disputes - international	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	none
Economic aid - donor	ODA, $423.3 million (2004)	-
Economic aid - recipient	-	NA
Economy - overview	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.	The economy, one of the most stable and prosperous in the Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism, generating an estimated 45% of the national income. An estimated 350,000 tourists, mainly from the US, visited the islands in 1998. Tourism suffered in 2002 because of the lackluster US economy. In the mid-1980s, the government began offering offshore registration to companies wishing to incorporate in the islands, and incorporation fees now generate substantial revenues. Roughly 400,000 companies were on the offshore registry by yearend 2000. The adoption of a comprehensive insurance law in late 1994, which provides a blanket of confidentiality with regulated statutory gateways for investigation of criminal offenses, is expected to make the British Virgin Islands even more attractive to international business. Livestock raising is the most important agricultural activity; poor soils limit the islands' ability to meet domestic food requirements. Because of traditionally close links with the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands has used the dollar as its currency since 1959.
Electricity - consumption	321.1 billion kWh (2004)	33.74 million kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2004)	0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2004)	0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - production	342.1 billion kWh (2004)	36.28 million kWh (2002)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m highest point: Halla-san 1,950 m	lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Mount Sage 521 m
Environment - current issues	air pollution in large cities; acid rain; water pollution from the discharge of sewage and industrial effluents; drift net fishing	limited natural fresh water resources (except for a few seasonal streams and springs on Tortola, most of the islands' water supply comes from wells and rainwater catchments)
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)	black 83%, white, Indian, Asian and mixed
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)	the US dollar is used
Executive branch	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%	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor Tom MACAN (since 14 October 2002) head of government: Chief Minister Orlando D. SMITH (since 17 June 2003) cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the governor from members of the Legislative Council elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed chief minister by the governor
Exports	645,200 bbl/day (2004)	NA
Exports - commodities	semiconductors, wireless telecommunications equipment, motor vehicles, computers, steel, ships, petrochemicals	rum, fresh fish, fruits, animals; gravel, sand
Exports - partners	China 21.8%, US 14.6%, Japan 8.5%, Hong Kong 5.5% (2005)	Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US
Fiscal year	calendar year	1 April - 31 March
Flag description	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	blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Virgin Islander coat of arms centered in the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms depicts a woman flanked on either side by a vertical column of six oil lamps above a scroll bearing the Latin word VIGILATE (Be Watchful)
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 3.3% industry: 40.3% services: 56.3% (2005 est.)	agriculture: 1.8% industry: 6.2% services: 92% (1996 est.)
GDP - per capita	-	purchasing power parity - $38,500 (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	4% (2005 est.)	1% (2002 est.)
Geographic coordinates	37 00 N, 127 30 E	18 30 N, 64 30 W
Geography - note	strategic location on Korea Strait	strong ties to nearby US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico
Heliports	540 (2006)	-
Highways	-	total: 177 km paved: 177 km unpaved: 0 km (2000)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 2.9% highest 10%: 25% (2005 est.)	lowest 10%: NA highest 10%: NA
Illicit drugs	-	transshipment point for South American narcotics destined for the US and Europe; large offshore financial center makes it vulnerable to money laundering
Imports	2.263 million bbl/day (2004)	NA
Imports - commodities	machinery, electronics and electronic equipment, oil, steel, transport equipment, organic chemicals, plastics	building materials, automobiles, foodstuffs, machinery
Imports - partners	Japan 18.5%, China 14.8%, US 11.8%, Saudi Arabia 6.2% (2005)	Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US
Independence	15 August 1945 (from Japan)	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Industrial production growth rate	5.9% (2005 est.)	NA%
Industries	electronics, telecommunications, automobile production, chemicals, shipbuilding, steel	tourism, light industry, construction, rum, concrete block, offshore financial center
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.)	total: 18.05 deaths/1,000 live births male: 21.02 deaths/1,000 live births female: 14.95 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	2.8% (2005 est.)	2.5% (2003)
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	Caricom (associate), CDB, Interpol (subbureau), IOC, OECS (associate), UNESCO (associate), UPU
Irrigated land	8,780 sq km (2003)	NA
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)	Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consisting of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal (one judge of the Supreme Court is a resident of the islands and presides over the High Court); Magistrate's Court; Juvenile Court; Court of Summary Jurisdiction
Labor force	23.53 million (2005 est.)	12,770 (2004)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 6.4% industry: 26.4% services: 67.2% (2005 est.)	agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA%
Land boundaries	total: 238 km border countries: North Korea 238 km	0 km
Land use	arable land: 16.58% permanent crops: 2.01% other: 81.41% (2005)	arable land: 20% permanent crops: 6.67% other: 73.33% (2001)
Languages	Korean, English widely taught in junior high and high school	English (official)
Legal system	combines elements of continental European civil law systems, Anglo-American law, and Chinese classical thought	English law
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)	unicameral Legislative Council (13 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote, one member from each of 9 electoral districts, four at-large members; members serve four-year terms) elections: last held 16 May 2003 (next to be held NA 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NDP 8, VIP 5
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 77.04 years male: 73.61 years female: 80.75 years (2006 est.)	total population: 76.49 years male: 75.41 years female: 77.62 years (2005 est.)
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97.9% male: 99.2% female: 96.6% (2002)	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97.8% (1991 est.) male: NA% female: NA%
Location	Eastern Asia, southern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea	Caribbean, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico
Map references	Asia	Central America and the Caribbean
Maritime claims	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	territorial sea: 3 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
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)	total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 83,825 GRT/155,909 DWT by type: cargo 1 registered in other countries: 7 (2005)
Military - note	-	defense is the responsibility of the UK
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)	Territory Day, 1 July
Nationality	noun: Korean(s) adjective: Korean	noun: British Virgin Islander(s) adjective: British Virgin Islander
Natural hazards	occasional typhoons bring high winds and floods; low-level seismic activity common in southwest	hurricanes and tropical storms (July to October)
Natural resources	coal, tungsten, graphite, molybdenum, lead, hydropower potential	NEGL
Net migration rate	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)	10.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 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]	Concerned Citizens Movement or CCM [Ethlyn SMITH]; National Democratic Party or NDP [Orlando SMITH]; United Party or UP [Gregory MADURO]; Virgin Islands Party or VIP [Ralph T. O'NEAL]
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	NA
Population	48,846,823 (July 2006 est.)	22,643 (July 2005 est.)
Population below poverty line	15% (2003 est.)	NA
Population growth rate	0.42% (2006 est.)	2.06% (2005 est.)
Ports and harbors	-	Road Town
Radio broadcast stations	AM 61, FM 150, shortwave 2 (2005)	AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 0 (2004)
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%	Protestant 86% (Methodist 33%, Anglican 17%, Church of God 9%, Seventh-Day Adventist 6%, Baptist 4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 2%, other 15%), Roman Catholic 10%, none 2%, other 2% (1991)
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.)	at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.12 male(s)/female total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Suffrage	19 years of age; universal	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	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)	general assessment: worldwide telephone service domestic: NA international: country code - 1-284; submarine cable to Bermuda
Telephones - main lines in use	23.745 million (2005)	11,700 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular	38.342 million (2005)	8,000 (2002)
Television broadcast stations	terrestrial stations 43; cable operators 59; relay cable operators 190 (2005)	1 (plus one cable company) (1997)
Terrain	mostly hills and mountains; wide coastal plains in west and south	coral islands relatively flat; volcanic islands steep, hilly
Total fertility rate	1.27 children born/woman (2006 est.)	1.72 children born/woman (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate	3.7% (2005 est.)	3% (1995)
Waterways	1,608 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2006)	-

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