South Korea 🇰🇷

Quick facts

• Capital: Seoul
• Continent: Asia
• Population: 51,815,810
• Area: 100,210 km²
• Density: 517 people per km²
• Currency: KRW
• Languages: Korean
• ISO code: KR

Where South Korea sits

South Korea 🇰🇷 is one of 48 countries in Asia, with its capital at Seoul. It covers 100,210 square kilometres — 107th in the world — and is home to about 51,815,810 people, 29th globally.

The countries it shares a continent with include China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.

How South Korea compares

Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, South Korea sits closest to Colombia and Kenya. In land area, its nearest counterparts are Iceland and Hungary.

At 517 people per square kilometre it is about 8.7 times the world average of 59.4. It ranks higher by population than by area, so it is more crowded than its size alone suggests.

Korean is an official language in 2 countries here, among them North Korea. The KRW is used by South Korea and no one else.

To see South Korea next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.

How to remember South Korea

Seoul is in the northwest of South Korea, on the Han River. For the flag, picture a red-and-blue ball on white paper with four black barcodes in the corners.

The flag of South Korea: white, red, blue and black

🇰🇷 The flag is the Taegukgi: a white flag with a red-and-blue circle (taegeuk) in the centre and a black trigram of bars in each corner. White stands for peace and purity. The red and blue circle shows the balance of opposite cosmic forces, yin and yang, and the four trigrams from the ancient I Ching stand for universal elements in harmony.

Region and neighbours

South Korea is a country in East Asia that makes up the southern half of the Korean Peninsula, with the Yellow Sea to the west and the Sea of Japan to the east. It shares land borders with one country: North Korea.

• North Korea 🇰🇵 — capital Pyongyang

Three facts about South Korea

1. Hallasan, a dormant volcano, is South Korea's highest point at 1,950 m.
2. Jeju Island, about 100 km off the southern coast, is South Korea's largest island.
3. The Seoul area is home to more than half of South Korea's population.

Sources: Wikipedia: South Korea, Wikipedia: Flag of South Korea, Wikipedia: Seoul, CIA World Factbook.

Quiz yourself on South Korea

• Asian capitals quiz — match South Korea to Seoul
• Asian flags quiz — spot the South Korea flag among its neighbours

Quizzes that include South Korea

Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For South Korea those are:

• Asia map quiz — place it on a blank map
• Asia flags quiz — identify its flag among its neighbours
• Asia capitals quiz — match it to Seoul
• South Korea capital quiz — five quick questions starting with South Korea
• Daily Map Challenge — five countries to find on a blank world map, the same five for everyone each day

Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.

Read more about South Korea

• Capital of South Korea: Seoul — the capital in detail, with size and density rankings
• All 48 countries of Asia

Nearby countries

• Afghanistan 🇦🇫 — capital Kabul
• Armenia 🇦🇲 — capital Yerevan
• Azerbaijan 🇦🇿 — capital Baku
• Bahrain 🇧🇭 — capital Manama
• Bangladesh 🇧🇩 — capital Dhaka
• Bhutan 🇧🇹 — capital Thimphu
• Brunei 🇧🇳 — capital Bandar Seri Begawan
• Cambodia 🇰🇭 — capital Phnom Penh
• China 🇨🇳 — capital Beijing
• Georgia 🇬🇪 — capital Tbilisi
• India 🇮🇳 — capital New Delhi
• Indonesia 🇮🇩 — capital Jakarta

Frequently asked questions

What are the colours of the South Korea flag?

The flag of South Korea is the Taegukgi: a white flag with a red-and-blue circle (taegeuk) in the centre and a black trigram of bars in each corner. White stands for peace and purity. The red and blue circle shows the balance of opposite cosmic forces, yin and yang, and the four trigrams from the ancient I Ching stand for universal elements in harmony.

Which countries border South Korea?

South Korea shares land borders with North Korea.

How can I remember the capital of South Korea?

Seoul is in the northwest of South Korea, on the Han River. For the flag, picture a red-and-blue ball on white paper with four black barcodes in the corners.