South Korea is a country in Asia, with about 51.7 million people (2025) and an area of 100,450 square kilometres. Its capital is Seoul, and its only land neighbour is North Korea.
By Team Geography·Last reviewed
Flag of South KoreaSouth Korea in solid, land neighbours outlined, capital marked.
The app teaches each country through short hand written lenses: PLACE for physical geography, STORY for history and identity, NOW for the news, and THREAD for the ties between countries. Here is one of South Korea's 16, in full.
NOWLens 1 of 16
South Korea bet its industrial policy on chips
South Korea placed semiconductors at the center of industrial policy in 2025, committing 9 trillion won in subsidies and tax credits to expand fabrication capacity. Two firms, Samsung and SK Hynix, carry more than a third of the Kospi by market capitalization, a concentration unmatched in any major developed economy. That makes chip policy indistinguishable from macroeconomic policy: a downturn in memory prices arrives as a national fiscal problem rather than a corporate one.
More on the Kospi
The Kospi is the benchmark stock index of the Korea Exchange, comprising the largest companies listed in Seoul. Because so much of its value is chip earnings, the index doubles as a barometer of memory prices, and Korean household wealth and pension fund returns rise and fall with a commodity cycle rather than with the domestic economy.
15 more lenses on South Korea in the app
PLACE A peninsula under pressure
NOW A supply-chain heavyweight in a compact package
STORY South Korea became globally legible through culture
THREAD South Korea anchors a semiconductor alliance in the Pacific
NOW Living next to North Korea is a constant strategic calculation
STORY South Korea compressed a century of development into decades
THREAD Sharing a market with TSMC
PLACE A peninsula that hosted history
STORY The summer the country turned red
NOW Eleven tournaments in a row, and out early
THREAD The 2002 hosts, two decades on
PLACE Seoul, a capital pressed to the border
STORY From Park to Son, a lineage
NOW A footballing economy built to export talent
THREAD Asia's tilt toward a new center of gravity
Titles only. The app brings each lens back on a spaced repetition schedule set by how well you knew it: New, Hazy or Clear.
Compare South Korea with another country
Opens the country comparison tool with population, area, income and more side by side, every figure dated.
Common questions
What is the capital of South Korea?
The capital of South Korea is Seoul. Seoul lies at about 37.6 degrees north and 127.0 degrees east. South Korea is in Asia. It is home to about 51.7 million people. The world capitals quiz on this site tests every capital, and the printable capitals sheets cover each continent.
What is the population of South Korea?
About 51.7 million people live in South Korea, according to the World Bank figures for 2025. That makes it the 29th most populous of the 195 countries. With an area of 100,450 square kilometres, that is about 515 people per square kilometre.
What countries border South Korea?
South Korea shares land borders with 1 country: North Korea. The map on this page outlines each of them around South Korea. The count includes only borders on land, not neighbours across a sea or a lake. Borders here follow Natural Earth at the 1:50 million scale, with Crimea shown as part of Ukraine and Western Sahara as a separate territory.
How big is South Korea?
South Korea covers 100,450 square kilometres, or about 38,784 square miles. That makes it the 108th largest of the 195 countries. The figure is total surface area, which includes inland water such as lakes and rivers. Its population of about 51.7 million gives a density of 515 people per square kilometre.
South Korea is a country in Asia, with about 51.7 million people (2025) and an area of 100,450 square kilometres. Its capital is Seoul, and its only land neighbour is North Korea.
Capital
Seoul
Continent
Asia
Population
51,684,564 2025, World Bank. 29th of 195.
Area
100,450 km² (38,784 sq mi) World Bank, surface area. 108th largest of 195.
Population density
515 people per km²
Land neighbours
1: North Korea
Official name
Republic of Korea
UN status
Member state
NOW · from the Geography app
South Korea bet its industrial policy on chips
South Korea placed semiconductors at the center of industrial policy in 2025, committing 9 trillion won in subsidies and tax credits to expand fabrication capacity. Two firms, Samsung and SK Hynix, carry more than a third of the Kospi by market capitalization, a concentration unmatched in any major developed economy. That makes chip policy indistinguishable from macroeconomic policy: a downturn in memory prices arrives as a national fiscal problem rather than a corporate one.
Keep going on your iPhone. Scan for Geography: the world, one country at a time, about five minutes a day. No quizzes and no streaks. playgeography.app/countries/south-korea/ · Map data: Natural Earth. Figures: World Bank and national sources, as listed on the page.
Geography · Country report
South Korea
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Colour South Korea on the map, then fill in what you find.
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One question I still have
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Keep going on your iPhone. Scan for Geography: the world, one country at a time, about five minutes a day. No quizzes and no streaks. playgeography.app/countries/south-korea/ · Map data: Natural Earth. Figures: World Bank and national sources, as listed on the page.
