Background:
The Korean Peninsula extends southward from the northeast part of the Asian continent. The country has a long history and proud tradition. Buddhism and Confucianism have influenced the nation's society and culture.
Koreans, like many other Asian peoples, are descendants of the Mongolian Tungus stock. They differ from the neighboring Japanese and Chinese, however, in that Koreans are a homogeneous ethnic group with their own language, culture, and customs.
Over the last several decades, Korea has transformed herself from an agrarian society to an industrial leader on the world economic scene. Progress is being made in education, science and technology and social welfare.
In 2002 South Korea has co-hosted, the FIFA World Cup^TM tournament.

After World War II, a republic was set up in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula (in August 15, 1945) while a communist-style government was installed in the north.
The Korean War (1950-53) had US and other UN forces intervene to defend South Korea from North Korean attacks supported by the Chinese. 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 13 times the level of North Korea.
In 1997, the nation suffered a severe financial crisis from which it continues to make a solid recovery. South Korea has also maintained its commitment to democratize its political processes.

In June 2000, a historic first south-north summit took place between the south's President KIM Dae-jung and the north's leader KIM Chong-il. In December 2000, President KIM Dae-jung won the Noble Peace Prize for his lifeling committment to democracy and human rights in Asia. He is the first Korean to win a Nobel Prize.
(Source: various sources)

Geography of Seoul
The traditional heart of Seoul is the old Joseon Dynasty city, which is now the downtown area, where most palaces, government offices, corporate headquarters, hotels, and traditional markets are located. This area occupies the valley of Cheonggyecheon (û°èõ), a now-covered stream that runs from west to east through the valley before emptying into the Han River.

To the north of downtown is Bukhan Mountain, and to the south is the smaller Namsan ("South Mountain"). Further south are the old suburbs of Yongsan-gu and Mapo-gu, and the Han River. Across the Han River are the newer and wealthier areas of Gangnam-gu and surrounding neighbourhoods. Yeouido is a large island in the middle of the Han River, downstream from Gangnam-gu, and is home to the National Assembly, the major broadcasting studios, and a number of large office buildings. The Olympic Stadium, Olympic Park, and Lotte World are located in Songpa-gu, on the south side of the Han River, upstream from Gangnam-gu. South of the sprawling Gangnam area are Namhan Mountain and Gwanak Mountain. Urban and civil planning was a key concept when Seoul was first designed to serve as a capital in the 14th century. The Royal Palaces of the Joseon Dynasty still remain in Seoul, with the main palace (Gyeongbukgung) currently being restored to its original form.

Today, there exist 9 major efficient subway lines stretching for more than 100 kilometers which connects the greater Seoul Metropolian area, with a 10th line being planned. There are many significant streets to Seoul, but the most historically significant is Jongno - meaning the "Bell Street" - where 'jong' means a bell, and 'no' means a street. This bell that signalled different time of the day and therefore controlled the four gates to the city. It is still intact in its original form, and hit ceremonially at 0:00 every new years day. Seoul's most important streetcar line ran along Jongno until it was replaced by Line 1 of the Seoul subway system in the early 1970s. Other notable streets in downtown Seoul include Euljiro (À»Áö·Î), Sejongno (¼¼Á¾·Î), Chungmuro (Ã湫·Î), Yulgongno (À²°î·Î), and Toegyero (Åð°è·Î).

People
There are 48,289,037 South Koreans as of July, 2003. There are slightly more men than women in South Korea, in all age groups. There are 12 Koreans born for every 6 that die. However, as more and more Korean women decide to marry later or not at all, the Korean government is becoming concerned about less and less children being born. They are taking steps to provide more services such as child care and paternity leave to help with the rising costs of raising children.The life expectancy for the total population is 75.36 years, for males 71.73 years, for females 79.32 years. Korea is homogeneous (except for about 20,000 Chinese). The religions are: Christian 49%, Buddhist 47%, Confucianist 3%, Shamanist, Chondogyo (Religion of the Heavenly Way), and other 1%. 98% of the people are literate.

How North and South Korea came to be
After World War II, the US. set up a republic in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula and the former USSR set up a Communist-style government in the north. During the Korean War (1950-1953), US and other UN forces intervened to defend South Korea from North Korean attacks supported by the Chinese. 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 20 times the level of North Korea. South Korea has maintained its commitment to democratize its political processes. 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.

Korean Provinces
Korea has 9 provinces and 7 metropolitan cities. The seven metropolitan cities are unattached to the provinces, like Washington DC is independant of the surrounding provinces in the U.S. The names in parenthesis are the old romanized spelling of the Korean provinces using the old system.

9 provinces (called do in Korean, singular and plural) Jeju-do (Cheju-do), Jeollabuk-do (Cholla-bukto), Jeollanam-do (Cholla-namdo), Chungcheongbuk-do (Ch'ungch'ong-bukto), Chungcheongnam-do (Ch'ungch'ong-namdo) Gangwon-do (Kangwon-do), Gyeonggi-do (Kyonggi-do), Gyeongsangbuk-do (Kyongsang-bukto), and Gyeongsangnam-do (Kyongsang-namdo).

7 metropolitan cities (called gwangyoksi in Korean, singular and plural)
Incheon (Inch'on), Gwangju (Kwangju), Busan (Pusan), Seoul (Soul), Daegu (Taegu), Daejeon (Taejon), Ulsan