Population: 52,081,799

With approximately 70% of the country considered mountainous, the country's population is primarily concentrated in the lowland areas, where density is quite high; Gyeonggi Province in the northwest, which surrounds the capital of Seoul and contains the port of Incheon, is the most densely populated province; Gangwon in the northeast is the least populated.

Area: 100,210 km²

slightly smaller than Pennsylvania; slightly larger than Indiana

Strategic location on Korea Strait; about 3,000 mostly small and uninhabited islands lie off the western and southern coasts.