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The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. It extends southwards for about 1,100 kilometres from the continental Asian mainland 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. It is currently divided into the countries of South Korea in the south and North Korea in the north. The single term Korean Peninsula is therefore often used to refer to these two states at the same time. Up until the division of the peninsula following the end of World War II, Korea was a single political entity for many centuries whose territory roughly coincided with the Korean Peninsula.
The northern boundaries for the Korean Peninsula is commonly (and tacitly) taken to coincide with today's political borders between North Korea and her northern neighbours, China (1,416 km) and Russia (19 km). These borders are formed naturally by the rivers Yalu (Amnok) and Tumen (Tuman/Duman). Taking this definition, the Korean Peninsula has an area of approximately 220,000 km².
By the inhabitants, it is called Hanbando (Hangul: 한반도) in South Korea or Choson bando (조선반도) in North Korea), due to the different names for Korea.
Physical geography
Mountains cover 70 percent of the Korean Peninsula and arable plains are generally small and far in between the successive mountain ranges. The peninsula becomes more mountainous towards the north and the east, with the highest mountains (including Paektu-san/Baekdu-san which stands at 2,744 m) found in the north.
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. The northern regions experience a colder and to some extent more inland climate, in common with Manchuria. For example, the annual precipitation of the Yalu River valley (600 mm) is less than half of that on the south coast (1500 mm). [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. 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. Winter precipitation is minimal, with little snow accumulation outside of mountainous areas.
Biogeography
Surveys of Korean flora have identified more than 3,000 species on the peninsula, of which more than 500 are endemic. The peninsula's floristic provinces are commonly divided between warm-temperate, temperate, and cold-temperate zones. The warm-temperate zone prevails over the southern coast and islands, including Jeju. It is typified by a larg 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. Cold-temperate vegetation is found along the peninsula's northern fringe and in the high mountains, including the upper reaches of Hallasan on Jeju. Evergreens in this area include larch and juniper. 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.
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. In addition, Ulleung Island in the Sea of Japan is believed to have been of volcanic origin. Furthermore, hot springs indicative of low-level volcanic activity are widespread throughout the peninsula. Roughly two earthquakes are recorded per year, but few have any major impact.
Symbolism
The Unification Flag has a blue map of the Korean Peninsula on a white background. The flag was introduced in 1991 to represent the joint North and South Korean team at the table tennis world championships. The athletes from the two Koreas marched together under this flag at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Notes
- ^ KOIS 2003, p. 17.
References
KOIS (Korea Overseas Information Service) (2003). Handbook of Korea, 11th ed., Seoul:Hollym. ISBN 1-56591-212-8
See also
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