Korean Peninsula

The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. A peninsula is a piece of land that is nearly surrounded by Water but connected to Mainland via an Isthmus. It extends southwards for about 684 miles (1,100 km) from continental Asia into the Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by the Sea of Japan (East Sea) on the east, the East China Sea to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the west, the Korea Strait connecting the first two bodies of water. The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions The Sea of Japan is a Marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, bordered by Japan, Korea, North Korea and Russia The East China Sea is a Marginal sea east of China. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean and covers an area of 1249000 km² The Yellow Sea is the name given to the northern part of the East China Sea, which is a Marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. The Korea Strait is a sea passage between South Korea and Japan, connecting the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan (East Sea in

Until the end of World War II, Korea was a single political entity whose territory roughly coincided with the Korean Peninsula. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Korea is a geographic area composed of two sovereign countries a civilization and a former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. Since the cessation of the Korean War in 1953, the northern half has been occupied by North Korea, while the southern half has been occupied by South Korea. A ceasefire (or truce) is a temporary stoppage of a War or any Armed conflict, where each side of the conflict agrees The Korean War refers to a period of military conflict between North Korean and South Korean regimes with major hostilities lasting from June 25 1950 until the North Korea is the commonly used short form name for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (or DPRK) a State located in East Asia, South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often referred to as Korea ( Korean: 대한민국 tɛː "Korean (or Korea) Peninsula", or "Korea", is sometimes used to refer to these two states together, though in South Korea, and in common discourse among many native English speakers, the word "Korea" refers specifically to the South. In Political geography and International politics, a country is a Political division of a geographical entity (This may be due to the perception of North Korea being a taboo subject in and of itself. Also, since North Koreans rarely travel outside of North Korea, the presumption is that any Korean one encounters is from the south).

The northern boundaries for the Korean Peninsula are commonly (and tacitly) taken to coincide with today's political borders between North Korea and her northern neighbors, China (1,416 km along the provinces of Jilin and Liaoning) and Russia (19 km). China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National ( Postal map spelling: Kirin; Manchu: Girin ula is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern ( is a northeastern province of the People's Republic of China. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending These borders are formed naturally by the rivers Yalu/Amnok and Tumen/Tuman/Duman. The Yalu River ( Chinese) or the Amnok River ( Korean) is a River on the border between China and North Korea. The Tumen or Tuman River is a 521 km-long river that serves as part of the boundary between China, North Korea, and Russia, rising in Taking this definition, the Korean Peninsula (including its islands) has an area of 220,847 km². Square Kilometre ( US spelling square kilometer) symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of

The peninsula is called Joseon Bando (hangul:조선반도 ) in North Korea and Han Bando (hangul:한반도 ) in South Korea due to the different names for Korea. North Korea is the commonly used short form name for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (or DPRK) a State located in East Asia, South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often referred to as Korea ( Korean: 대한민국 tɛː There are various names of Korea in use today derived from ancient kingdoms and dynasties

Physical geography

Main articles: Geography of North Korea and Geography of South Korea

Mountains cover 70 percent of the Korean Peninsula and arable plains are generally small and far in between the successive mountain ranges. North Korea is located in East Asia on the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. South Korea is located in East Asia, on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula jutting out from the far east of the Asian land mass The peninsula becomes more mountainous towards the north and the east, with the highest mountains (including Baekdu Mountain which stands at 2,744 m or 9,003 feet) found in the north. Baekdu Mountain, also known as Changbai Mountain in China, is a volcanic Mountain on the border between China and North Korea

The peninsula has 8,460 kilometres of coastline, and the south and west coasts are highly irregular in particular; most of the 3,579 islands off the peninsula are found along the south and the west coasts.

Climate

The climate of the Korean Peninsula differs dramatically from north to south. The southern regions experience a relatively warm and wet climate similar to that of Japan, affected by warm ocean waters including the East Korea Warm Current. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. The East Korea Warm Current is an Ocean current in the Sea of Japan (East Sea The northern regions experience a colder and to some extent more inland climate, in common with Manchuria. Manchuria ( Romanized Manchu: Manju,, Маньчжурия Mongolian: Манж is a historical name given to a vast geographic region in northeast For example, the annual precipitation of the Yalu River valley (600 mm) is less than half of that on the south coast (1500 mm). The Yalu River ( Chinese) or the Amnok River ( Korean) is a River on the border between China and North Korea. ^[1] Likewise, there is a 20 °C difference in January temperature between the peninsula's southern and northern tips.

The entire peninsula, however, is affected by similar general patterns, including the East Asian monsoon in midsummer and the frequent incidence of typhoons in autumn. A monsoon is a seasonal prevailing wind which lasts for several months The majority of rainfall takes place during the summer months, with nearly half during the monsoon alone. Winters are cold, with January temperatures typically below freezing outside of Jeju Island. Jeju may refer to Jeju-do, an island of South Korea Jeju City, the biggest city on that island Winter precipitation is minimal, with little snow accumulation outside of mountainous areas.

Biology

Surveys of Korean flora have identified more than 3,000 species on the peninsula, of which more than 500 are endemic. Endemism is the Ecological state of being unique to a place Endemic species are not naturally found elsewhere The peninsula's floristic provinces are commonly divided between warm-temperate, temperate, and cold-temperate zones. A Phytochorion, in Phytogeography, is a geographic area with a relatively uniform composition of plant species The warm-temperate zone prevails over the southern coast and islands, including Jeju. Jeju may refer to Jeju-do, an island of South Korea Jeju City, the biggest city on that island It is typified by a large number of broad-leaved evergreens. The temperate zone covers the great majority of the peninsula, away from the southern coast and high mountains. It is dominated by the Korean pine and various broad-leaved deciduous trees. The tree species Pinus koraiensis is Korean Pine It is native to eastern Asia, Manchuria, far eastern Russia, Korea and central Cold-temperate vegetation is found along the peninsula's northern fringe and in the high mountains, including the upper reaches of Hallasan on Jeju. Hallasan is a Shield volcano on Jeju Island of South Korea. Hallasan is the highest Mountain of South Korea Evergreens in this area include larch and juniper. Larches are Conifers in the genus Larix, in the family Pinaceae. Junipers are Coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Much of this vegetation is shared with Manchuria.

Geology

The terrain of the Korean Peninsula is rumpled, covered with low mountains. Most rocks are of Precambrian origin, although isolated pockets of Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic rock can also be found. The Precambrian ( Pre-Cambrian) is an informal name for the supereon comprising the eons of the Geologic timescale that came before the current The Paleozoic or Palaeozoic Era (from the Greek palaio (παλαιο "old" and zoe (ζωη "life" meaning "ancient life" The Mesozoic Era is one of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon. The Cenozoic (also Caenozoic or Cainozoic) Era (ˌsiːnəˈzoʊɪk/ /ˌsɛn- (meaning "new life" ( Greek ( kainos) "new"

There are no active volcanoes on the peninsula. However, Baekdu Mountain in the north and Hallasan in the south have crater lakes, indicating that they were active not long ago. Baekdu Mountain, also known as Changbai Mountain in China, is a volcanic Mountain on the border between China and North Korea Crater Lake is a Caldera Lake located in the US state of Oregon. Furthermore, hot springs indicative of low-level volcanic activity are widespread throughout the peninsula. A hot spring is a spring that is produced by the emergence of geothermally heated Groundwater from the earth's crust. Roughly two earthquakes are recorded per year, but few have any major impact.

Notes

References

KOIS (Korea Overseas Information Service) (2003). Handbook of Korea, 11th ed. . Seoul: Hollym. Hollym is a Publishing house with offices in Seoul, Korea and New Jersey, USA. ISBN 1-56591-212-8.  

See also

• Korea
• North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea)
• South Korea (Republic of Korea)
• List of Korea-related topics
• Geography of North Korea
• Geography of South Korea