Korea, South 
Facts
Population:
47,904,370 (July 2001 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:
21.59% (male 5,475,453; female 4,864,918)
15-64 years:
71.14% (male 17,291,202; female 16,789,380)
65 years and over:
7.27% (male 1,352,312; female 2,131,105) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.89% (2001 est.)
Birth rate:
14.85 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate:
5.93 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth:
1.11 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.13 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.63 male(s)/female
total population:
1.01 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
7.71 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
74.65 years
male:
70.97 years
female:
78.74 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.72 children born/woman (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.01% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
3,800 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
180 (1999 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Korean(s)
adjective:
Korean
Ethnic groups:
homogeneous (except for about 20,000 Chinese)
Religions:
Christian 49%, Buddhist 47%, Confucianist 3%, Shamanist, Chondogyo (Religion of the Heavenly Way), and other 1%
Languages:
Korean, English widely taught in junior high and high school
Literacy:
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population:
98%
male:
99.3%
female:
96.7% (1995 est.)
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $764.6 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
9% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $16,100 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture:
5.6%
industry:
41.4%
services:
53% (1999 est.)
Population below poverty line:
NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%:
2.9%
highest 10%:
24.3% (1993)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.3% (2000)
Labor force:
22 million (2000)
Labor force - by occupation:
services 68%, industry 20%, agriculture 12% (1999)
Unemployment rate:
4.1% (2000 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
$81.8 billion
expenditures:
$94.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $6.1 billion (1999)
Industries:
electronics, automobile production, chemicals, shipbuilding, steel, textiles, clothing, footwear, food processing
Industrial production growth rate:
17% (2000)
Electricity - production:
250.287 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel:
59.22%
hydro:
1.64%
nuclear:
39.12%
other:
0.02% (1999)
Electricity - consumption:
232.767 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products:
rice, root crops, barley, vegetables, fruit; cattle, pigs, chickens, milk, eggs; fish
Exports:
$172.6 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
Exports - commodities:
electronic products, machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, steel, ships; textiles, clothing, footwear; fish
Exports - partners:
US 20.5%, Japan 11%, China 9.5%, Hong Kong 6.3%, Taiwan 4.4% (1999)
Imports:
$160.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
Imports - commodities:
machinery, electronics and electronic equipment, oil, steel, transport equipment, textiles, organic chemicals, grains
Imports - partners:
US 20.8%, Japan 20.2%, China 7.4%, Saudi Arabia 4.7%, Australia 3.9% (1999)
Debt - external:
$137 billion (November 2000)
Economic aid - recipient:
$NA
Currency:
South Korean won (KRW)
Currency code:
KRW
Exchange rates:
South Korean won per US dollar - 1,271.89 (January 2001), 1,130.96 (2000), 1,188.82 (1999), 1,401.44 (1998), 951.29 (1997), 804.45 (1996)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Statistics: CIA World Factbook.
Press
1 2 3 4 
Displaying 1 to 7 of 28 items.
(Conservative), Seoul
http://www.chosun.com/
Dong Huwa News Agency
(Independent news service), Seoul
(Independent), Seoul
http://www.donga.com/
Seoul
http://www.etnews.co.kr
Seoul
http://www.fnnews.com
Han'guk Kyeongje Sinmun
Seoul
(Independent), Seoul
http://www.hankooki.com/
South Korea in the News
1 2 3 4
Displaying 1 to 4 of 15 items.
The Secretary of State traveled to four leading Asian countries in her first foreign diplomatic foray.
If U.S. forces stationed in South Korea become deployable as task forces in Northeast Asia, South Korea may have to spend $60 billion for national defense until 2020.
In an internvew, a top Chinese government think tank scholar outlines Seoul's options.
In an on-going effort to make the country a “hub of Northeast Asia,” South Korea is taking steps to develop its largest island, Jeju, as a major international center.
Americas 
