South Korea ( listen) is a sovereign state located in the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is also called the Republic of Korea (ROK, Hangul: 대한민국; listen), and is described in a 1948 U.N. resolution as the only lawful government in Korea. The English name Korea came from old dynasty Goryeo in the period of which many western people noticed the existence of the dynasty in Korean Peninsula. The Korean name Daehan Minguk can be translated as Republic of Great Han. Han is the name of the peoples distributed in Korean peninsula and some parts of Manchuria. This name of the peoples came from the name of the ancient only God of Korean peoples, called Hananim.[citation needed]
Its neighbors are China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea to the south. South Korea lies in the north temperate zone with a predominantly mountainous terrain. Its territory covers a total area of 99,392 square kilometers and has a population of almost 50 million. The capital and largest city is Seoul, with a population of 10,421,782.
Archaeological findings show that the Korean Peninsula was occupied by the Lower Paleolithic period. Korean history begins with the founding of Gojoseon in 2333 BC by the legendary Dan-gun. Following the unification of the Three Kingdoms of Korea under Silla 668 AD, Korea went through the Goryeo Dynasty and Joseon Dynasty as one nation until the end of the Korean Empire in 1910, when Korea was annexed by Japan. After liberation and occupation by Soviet and U.S. forces at the end of World War II, the nation was divided into North and South Korea. The latter was established in 1948 as a democracy, though political turmoil, and periods of military rule and martial law, were to characterize much of the period until the foundation of the Sixth Republic in 1987.
