Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, now known as the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with South Korea comprising its southern half and North Korea comprising its northern half. The region consists of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and a number of minor islands near the peninsula. The peninsula is bordered by China (Manchuria) to the north and Russia to the northeast, across the Amnok and Duman rivers. It is separated from Japan to the southeast by the Korea Strait.
Paektu Mountain or Baekdu Mountain (Korean: 백두산) is an active stratovolcano on the Chinese–North Korean border. In China, it is known as Changbai Mountain. At 2,744 m (9,003 ft), it is the tallest mountain in North Korea and Northeast China and the tallest mountain of the Baekdu-daegan and Changbai mountain ranges. The mountain notably has a caldera that contains a large crater lake called Heaven Lake, and is also the source of the Songhua, Tumen, and Yalu rivers. Korean and Manchu people assign a mythical quality to the mountain and its lake, and consider the mountain to be their ancestral homeland.
The Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture in the east of Jilin Province, China. Yanbian is bordered to the north by Heilongjiang Province, on the west by Jilin's Baishan City and Jilin City, on the south by North Korea's North Hamgyong Province and on the east by Primorsky Krai in Russia. Yanbian is designated as a Korean autonomous prefecture due to the large number of Chaoxianzu living in the region. The prefectural capital is Yanji and the total area is 42,700 square kilometres (16,500 sq mi).
Daejeon is South Korea's fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of 1.5 million as of 2019. Located in a central lowland valley alongside forested hills and the Geum River, the city is known for its technology and research institutions, and for celebrating its natural environment, with most mountains, hot springs, and rivers freely open for public use. Daejeon serves as a hub of transportation for major rail and road routes, and is approximately 50 minutes from the capital, Seoul, by KTX or SRT high speed rail.
Gangwon State is a province of South Korea and the least densely populated subdivision of the country. Gangwon is one of the two provinces with self-governing status, the other being Jeju-do. On the east bound by the East Sea, it borders Gyeonggi Province to its west, North Gyeongsang Province and North Chungcheong Province to its south, and the Military Demarcation Line to the north, separating it from North Korea's Kangwŏn Province. Before the division of Korea in 1945 Gangwon and Kangwŏn Provinces formed a single province.
North Gyeongsang Province is a province in eastern South Korea and with an area of 19,030 km2 (7,350 sq mi) the largest province in the Korean peninsula. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Gyeongsang province, and remained a province of Korea until the country's division in 1945, then became part of South Korea.
North Chungcheong Province, also known as Chungbuk, is a province of South Korea. North Chungcheong has a population of 1,578,934 (2014) and has a geographic area of 7,433 km2 (2,870 sq mi) located in the Hoseo region in the south-center of the Korean Peninsula. North Chungcheong borders the provinces of Gyeonggi and Gangwon to the north, North Gyeongsang to the east, North Jeolla to the south and South Chungcheong, Sejong Special Autonomous City and Daejeon Metropolitan City to the west.
Gyeonggi Province is the most populous province in South Korea.
The Liaodong or Liaotung Peninsula is a peninsula in southern Liaoning province in Northeast China, and makes up the southwestern coastal half of the Liaodong region. It is located between the mouths of the Daliao River in the west and the Yalu River in the east, and encompasses the territories of the whole sub-provincial city of Dalian and parts of prefectural cities of Yingkou, Anshan and Dandong.
Kangwon Province is a province of North Korea, with its capital at Wŏnsan. Before the division of Korea in 1945, Kangwŏn Province and its South Korean neighbour Gangwon Province formed a single province that excluded Wŏnsan.
Heaven Lake is a volcanic crater lake atop Baekdusan. It lies on the border between China and North Korea, and is roughly evenly divided between the two countries. It is recognized as the highest volcanic lake in the world by the Shanghai Office of the Guinness World Records.
The Taebaek Mountains (Korean: 태백산맥) are a mountain range that stretches across North Korea and South Korea. They form the main ridge of the Korean peninsula.
Mount Kumgang or the Kumgang Mountains is a mountain massif, with a 1,638-metre-high (5,374 ft) peak, in Kangwon-do, North Korea. It is located on the east coast of the country, in Mount Kumgang Tourist Region, formerly part of Kangwŏn Province, and is part of the Taebaek mountain range which runs along the east of the Korean Peninsula. The mountain is about 50 kilometres (31 mi) from the South Korean city of Sokcho in Gangwon-do.
Goyang is a city in Gyeonggi Province in the north of South Korea. It is part of the Seoul Capital Area, making Goyang one of Seoul's satellite cities. It is one of the largest cities in the Seoul Capital Area, with a population of just over 1 million. Ilsan, a planned city, is located in the Ilsandong-gu and Ilsanseo-gu districts of Goyang. It also includes Deogyang-gu which is closer to Seoul.
Jeju Island is South Korea's largest island, covering an area of 1,833.2 km2 (707.8 sq mi), which is 1.83 percent of the total area of the country. It is also the most populous island in the Republic of Korea ; at the end of September 2020, the total resident registration population of Jeju Province is 672,948, of which 4,000 of the total provincial population reside on outlying islands such as the Chuja Islands and Udo Island. The total area of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province is 1,849 km2 (714 sq mi).
Korea comprises the Korean Peninsula and 3,960 nearby islands. The peninsula is located in Northeast Asia, between China and Japan. To the northwest, the Amnok River separates Korea from China and to the northeast, the Duman River separates Korea from China and Russia. The Yellow Sea lies to the west, the East China Sea and Korea Strait to the south, and the Korean East Sea to the east. Notable islands include Jeju Island (Jejudo), Ulleung Island (Ulleungdo), and the Liancourt Rocks.
Seoul, officially Seoul Special City, serves as the capital and South Korea's most extensive urban center. The broader Seoul metropolitan area, encompassing Gyeonggi province and Incheon metropolitan city, emerged as the world's fourth largest metropolitan economy in 2014, trailing only Tokyo, New York City, and Los Angeles, hosting more than half of South Korea's population. Although Seoul's population peaked at slightly over 10 million, it has gradually decreased since 2014, standing at approximately 9.97 million residents as of 2020. Seoul is the seat of the Korean government.
Seon or Sŏn Buddhism is the Korean name for Chan Buddhism, a branch of Mahāyāna Buddhism commonly known in English as Zen Buddhism. Seon is the Sino-Korean pronunciation of Chan an abbreviation of 禪那 (chánnà), which is a Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit word of dhyāna ("meditation"). Seon Buddhism, represented chiefly by the Jogye and Taego orders, is the most common type of Buddhism found in Korea.
