Administrative structure: It is divided into 1 city of special status (ti'kpyolsi), 6 cities of regional status (kwan'yoksi), and 9 provinces (do).
Major cities: Seoul, Busan, Gwangju, Incheon, Techjon, Ulsan.
Currency: won.
Geographical location. "Taehan Minguk" means Republic of Korea in Korean. The word Korea is derived from the name of the ancient Korean dynasty in the region (918–1392). The name Koryo goes back to the earlier Koguryo state. The Republic of Korea is located in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, which is why it is unofficially called South Korea. The Korean coast is washed by the Yellow Sea to the west, the Sea of Japan to the east, the Korean Strait to the south, and the North China Sea. In the north, it borders the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The country is predominantly mountainous, with XNUMX% of the plains.
History. Archaeological research suggests that humans came to the Korean Peninsula seventy thousand years ago. The oldest Stone Age tools have been found in Hamgyongbuk-do, Pyongyang-Namdo, Gyeonggi-do and Chungcheongbuk-do. The earliest pottery specimens date back to 8000 BC.
The first state in Korean history is Ancient Choson (Ko Choson). This association was first mentioned in the sources of the IV-III centuries BC. The Choson state was originally formed as a tribal association, and became a centralized state only by the 676th century BC. When this kingdom was in crisis, tribal associations of Mahan, Qinghan, and Pyongyang emerged. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Silla, Pekche, and Goguryeo ruled the Korean Peninsula, and the state of Parhe in the north. The Silla tribal alliance conquered Pekche and Goguryeo in 936, resulting in the United Silla state. This kingdom was renamed Koryo in 1392 and ruled until XNUMX.
In 1231, the Mongols invaded Koryo, and after twenty-five years of war, the Koryo kingdom became a vassal. In the middle of the 1392th century, Mongol rule began to wane and King Conmin began to act independently. In 1627, Koryo's commander-in-chief, Lee Son-ge, overthrew the kingdom and founded the Chosun State. The country's capital, Hanson, was moved to what is now Seoul. In the 1636th century, the Korean alphabet was created. The Chason Kingdom was ruled by the Sin Kingdom from 1895 to 1897. In 1904, it came under de facto Japanese rule. In 1905, Van Kojon regained the imperial throne, but to no avail. After the Russo-Japanese War of 1910–XNUMX, Japan regained control of Korea, and in XNUMX completely conquered it. The defeat in World War II ended Japan's rule in Korea. The northern part of Korea was occupied by the former Soviet Union and the southern part by the United States.
In 1948, the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea were established. The 1950-1953 war between the two countries completely destroyed the neighborly relations.
The Republic of Korea has been ruled by a dictatorial regime for forty years. It was preceded by the reign of Lee Sin Man (overthrown in 1960), followed by Park Jeong-hee (assassinated in 1979). From 1980 to 87, Chon Du Hwan served as president. A referendum in 1987 approved a new constitution. The constitution, which came into force on February 1988, 25, introduced direct presidential elections instead of multi-stage elections, expanded parliamentary powers, limited the president's powers, reduced his term from seven to five years, and strengthened freedom of the press.
In the December 1992 presidential election, Democratic Liberal Party candidate Kim Jong Un won. His motto was "reforms in a stable environment" and he carried out a number of reforms. Since then, the country has been ruled by several presidents, and democracy has become the main criterion of governance.
National holidays: August 15 - Korean Independence Day (1945); October 3 is the day the state was founded.
It has been cooperating with Uzbekistan since January 1992, 29 in various fields.
Member of the United Nations since September 1991, 17.
Economy. In the 1960s, Korea was one of the poorest countries in the region. It is now one of the most developed, strongly industrialized countries. Here, as in other developed countries, the service sector is the dominant sector of the economy. It accounts for two-thirds of GDP.
One of the world's leading shipbuilders. Forty-five percent of the world market is accounted for by Korea. The automotive industry is also developed. There are a number of large enterprises with Korean capital in Uzbekistan.
Population of. The main part of the population is Korean. There are about XNUMX Chinese, mostly from Japan, Malaysia, India and the Philippines.
Students are required to speak Korean and English in order to attend middle and high school. Upon entering senior year, you can choose to study Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Russian, Spanish, and Arabic for additional study.
Religion. According to the 2005 census, 46,5 percent of the population did not identify with any religion, and 29,3 percent identified themselves as Christians. 18,3 percent of Christians are Protestant and 10,9 percent are Catholic. 22,8% of the population are Buddhists.
The number of Muslims in the country is over forty thousand. Most of them are migrants from South and Southeast Asia. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of locals converting to Islam. The largest mosque in Korea is located in Seoul’s Itewon district. All other major cities have mosques.
The first Muslims came to Korea in the VI-IX centuries. They were Chinese merchants. This country is considered a closed country in religious matters. This situation lasted until the XIX century. However, although not regularly, Koreans became acquainted with Islamic science and culture. In the 60s, the number of Muslims in the country began to increase. In 1980, a group of Korean Muslims went on Hajj for the first time.
