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
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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
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Displaying 1 to 4 of 14 items.
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.
Although the party leader, Chung Dong-young has already resigned over the election results, there is a serious danger that the ruling party itself is about to break up.
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