The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula A peninsula is a piece of land that is surrounded by water but connected to mainland via an isthmus. In many Germanic languages, peninsulas are called "half-islands". A peninsula can also be a headland (head), cape, island promontory, bill, point, or spit.. Note that a point is generally considered a tapering piece of land projecting in East Asia East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms. Geographically and geo-politically, it covers about 12,000,000 km2 (4,600,000 sq mi), or about 28 percent of the Asian continent, about 15 percent bigger than the area of Europe. It extends southwards for about 684 miles (1,100 km) from continental Asia Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population. During the 20th century Asia's population nearly quadrupled into the Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east and is surrounded by the Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, bordered by Japan, South Korea, North Korea and Russia. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure. There was a dispute at the United Nations over its official name. Although the issue is still open to discussion, the United Nations (also called The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, bordered by Japan, South Korea, North Korea and Russia. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure. There was a dispute at the United Nations over its official name. Although the issue is still open to discussion, the United Nations East Sea) on the east, the East China Sea The East China Sea is bounded on the East by the Kyūshū and Ryukyu Islands, on the South by Taiwan, and on the West by mainland China. It is connected with the South China Sea by the Taiwan Strait and with the Sea of Japan by the Korea Strait; it opens in the North to the Yellow Sea to the south, and the Yellow Sea The innermost bay of the Yellow Sea is called the Bohai Sea . Into it flow both the Yellow River (through Shandong province and its capital Jinan) and Hai He (through Beijing and Tianjin) to the west, the Korea Strait The Korea Strait is a sea passage between South Korea and Japan, connecting the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan in the northwest Pacific Ocean. The strait is split by the Tsushima Island into the western channel and the Tsushima Strait (eastern channel) connecting the first two bodies of water.
Until the end of World War II Albania · Australia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belgium · Brazil · Bulgaria · Burma · Cambodia · Canada · Ceylon (Sri Lanka) · Channel Islands · China · Czechoslovakia · Denmark · Dutch East Indies · Egypt · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Gibraltar · Greece · Greenland · Hong Kong · Hungary · Iceland ·, Korea Korea (Korean: 한국 "Hanguk" [ˌhanˈkuːk—]-South and North Korea, rsp. ) is a territory of East Asia that was formerly unified under one state, but now divided into two separate states and a region in northeastern Asia. Located on the Korean Peninsula, it is bordered by China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is was a single political entity whose territory roughly coincided with the Korean Peninsula. Since the cessation A ceasefire is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be declared as part of a formal treaty, but they have also been called as part of an informal understanding between opposing forces of the Korean War The Korean War was a military conflict between the Republic of Korea, supported by the United Nations, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and People's Republic of China (PRC), with air support from the Soviet Union. The war began on 25 June 1950 and an armistice was signed on 27 July 1953. The war was a result of the political division in 1953, the northern half has been occupied by North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Chosongul: 조선민주주의인민공화국), is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea. The Amnok River and, while the southern half has been occupied by South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (Korean: 대한민국, pronounced [tɛːhanminɡuk̚] ( listen)), is a country in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by China to the west, Japan to the east, and North Korea to the north. Its capital is Seoul. South Korea lies in a temperate climate.
The northern boundaries for the Korean Peninsula are commonly (and tacitly) taken to coincide with today's political borders between North Korea and her northern neighbors, China China is seen variously as an ancient civilization extending over a large area in East Asia, a nation and/or a multinational entity (1,416 km along the provinces of Jilin Jilin (Chinese: 吉林; pinyin: Jílín; Wade-Giles: Chi-lin, IPA: [tɕǐlǐn] ; Postal map spelling: Kirin; Manchu: Girin ula), is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to and Liaoning Liaoning (simplified Chinese: 辽宁; traditional Chinese: 遼寧; pinyin: Liáoníng) is a northeastern province of the People's Republic of China. Its one-character abbreviation is Liao (辽 pinyin: liáo)) and Russia Russia (pronounced /ˈrʌʃə/ ; Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya, pronounced [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya, pronounced [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈraʦəjə] ( listen)), is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal (19 km). These borders are formed naturally by the rivers Yalu/Amnok The Yalu River or the Amnok River (Korean) is a river on the border between China and North Korea. The Chinese name comes from a Manchu word meaning "the boundary between two countries". The Korean name is the Korean pronunciation of the same Chinese characters and Tumen/Tuman/Duman The Tumen or Tuman River is a 521 km-long river that serves as part of the boundary between China, North Korea, and Russia, rising in Mount Baekdu and flowing into the Sea of Japan (East Sea). Taking this definition, the Korean Peninsula (including its islands) has an area of 220,847 km2 (85,270 sq mi).
The peninsula is called Chosŏn Pando (조선반도; 朝鮮半島) in North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Chosongul: 조선민주주의인민공화국), is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea. The Amnok River and and Han Bando (한반도; 韓半島) in South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (Korean: 대한민국, pronounced [tɛːhanminɡuk̚] ( listen)), is a country in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by China to the west, Japan to the east, and North Korea to the north. Its capital is Seoul. South Korea lies in a temperate climate based on the respective names of the two countries There are various names of Korea in use today, derived from ancient kingdoms and dynasties. The modern English name Korea is an exonym derived from the Goryeo period and is used by both North Korea and South Korea in international contexts. In the Korean language, the two Koreas use different terms to refer to the nominally unified nation: Chosŏn. They both use "Korea" as part of their official English names.
Contents |
Physical geography
Main articles: Geography of North Korea North Korea is located in east Asia on the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. North Korea shares a border with three states, including China along the Amnok River, Russia along the Duman River, and South Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone . The Yellow Sea and the Korea Bay are off the west coast and the Sea of Japan (also called East and Geography of South Korea South Korea is located in East Asia, on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula jutting out from the far east of the Asian land massMountains 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 Baekdu Mountain Baekdu Mountain, also known as Changbai Mountain in China, is a volcanic mountain on the border between North Korea and China, located at 42°00′24″N 128°03′18″E / 42.00667°N 128.055°E. At 2,744 m , it is the highest mountain of the Changbai mountain range to the north and Baekdudaegan mountain range to the south. It is also the which stands at 2,744 m or 9,003 feet) 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
Map of the Korean peninsulaThe 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 Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is, 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 Manchuria is a historical name given to a vast geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria either falls entirely within People's Republic of China, or is divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast China , and historically referred as Guandong (simplified Chinese: . For example, the annual precipitation of the Yalu River The Yalu River or the Amnok River (Korean) is a river on the border between China and North Korea. The Chinese name comes from a Manchu word meaning "the boundary between two countries". The Korean name is the Korean pronunciation of the same Chinese characters 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 The East Asian monsoon is a monsoonal flow that carries moist air from the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean to East Asia. It affects approximately one-third of the global population, and the countries China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, etc. It is driven by temperature differences between the Asian continent and the Pacific Ocean. The 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 Jeju-do is the only special autonomous province of South Korea, situated on and coterminous with the country's largest island. Jeju-do lies in the Korea Strait, southwest of Jeollanam-do Province, of which it was a part before it became a separate province in 1946. Its capital is the city of Jeju. Winter precipitation is minimal, with little snow accumulation outside of mountainous areas.
Biology
Surveys of Korean flora have identified more than 3,000 species on the peninsula, of which more than 500 are endemic Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a particular geographic location, such as a specific island, habitat type, nation or other defined zone. To be endemic to a place or area means that it is found only in that part of the world and nowhere else. For example, many species of lemur are endemic to the island of Madagascar. Physical,. The peninsula's floristic provinces A phytochorion, in phytogeography, is a geographic area with a relatively uniform composition of plant species. Adjacent phytochoria do not usually have a sharp boundary, but rather a soft one, a transitional area in which many species from both regions overlap. The region of overlap is called a vegetation tension zone are commonly divided between warm-temperate, temperate In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold. But in continental areas, such as central North America the variations between summer and winter can be extreme. In regions, and cold-temperate zones. The warm-temperate zone prevails over the southern coast and islands, including Jeju-do Jeju-do is the only special autonomous province of South Korea, situated on and coterminous with the country's largest island. Jeju-do lies in the Korea Strait, southwest of Jeollanam-do Province, of which it was a part before it became a separate province in 1946. Its capital is the city of Jeju. It is typified by a large 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 The tree species Pinus koraiensis is commonly called Korean Pine. It is native to eastern Asia, Manchuria, far eastern Russia, Korea and central Japan. In the north of its range, it grows at moderate altitudes, typically 600-900 m, whereas further south, it is a mountain tree, growing at 2,000-2,600 m altitude in Japan. It is a large tree, 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 Hallasan is a shield volcano on Jeju Island of South Korea. Hallasan is the highest mountain of South Korea. The area around the mountain is a designated national park, the Hallasan National Park . Hallasan is commonly considered to be one of the three main mountains of South Korea, with Jirisan and Seoraksan being the other two on Jeju. Evergreens in this area include larch Larches are conifers in the genus Larix, in the family Pinaceae. Growing from 15-50m tall, they are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the far north, and high on mountains further south. Larch are among the dominant plants in the immense boreal forests of Russia and Canada and juniper Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the mountains of Central America. 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 The Precambrian is an informal name for the span of time before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is divided into several eons of the geologic time scale. It spans from the formation of Earth around 4500 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Cambrian Period, when macroscopic hard-shelled animals first appeared in abundance about 542 Ma origin, although isolated pockets of Paleozoic The Paleozoic or Palaeozoic Era (from the Greek palaios , "old" and zoe (ζωή), "life", meaning "ancient life") is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Paleozoic spanned from roughly 542 to 251 million years ago (ICS, 2004), and is subdivided into six geologic periods; from oldest to, Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is a period from about 250 million years ago to about 67 million years ago. It is called the Age of Dinosaurs because most dinosaurs developed, and went extinct, during that time. The Chicxulub impact and other events ended the era when a majority of species on earth went extinct, and Cenozoic The Cenozoic Era is the most recent of the three classic geological eras and covers the period from 65.5 million years ago to the present. It is marked by the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous that saw the demise of the last non-avian dinosaurs and the end of the Mesozoic Era. The Cenozoic era is ongoing rock can also be found.
There are no active volcanoes on the peninsula. However, Baekdu Mountain Baekdu Mountain, also known as Changbai Mountain in China, is a volcanic mountain on the border between North Korea and China, located at 42°00′24″N 128°03′18″E / 42.00667°N 128.055°E. At 2,744 m , it is the highest mountain of the Changbai mountain range to the north and Baekdudaegan mountain range to the south. It is also the in the north and Hallasan in the south have crater lakes A crater lake is a lake that forms in a volcanic crater, such as a maar, or in a caldera. Sometimes the latter are called caldera lakes, but often this distinction is not made. Crater lakes covering active volcanic vents are sometimes known as volcanic lakes, and the water within them is often acidic, saturated with volcanic gases, and cloudy with, indicating that they were active not long ago. Furthermore, hot springs A hot spring is a spring that is produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater from the Earth's crust. There are hot springs all over the earth, on every continent and even under the oceans and seas indicative of low-level volcanic activity are widespread throughout the peninsula. Roughly two earthquakes are recorded per year, but few have any major impact.
Notes
- ^ KOIS 2003, p. 17.
References
- KOIS (Korea Overseas Information Service) (2003). Handbook of Korea, 11th ed.. Seoul: Hollym. ISBN The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering (SBN) code created by Gordon Foster, now Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin, for the booksellers and stationers W.H. Smith and others in 1966 1-56591-212-8.
- Lithuanian lake similar to the Korean Peninsula kaibab gordian
See also
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Korean Peninsula |
- Korea Korea (Korean: 한국 "Hanguk" [ˌhanˈkuːk—]-South and North Korea, rsp. ) is a territory of East Asia that was formerly unified under one state, but now divided into two separate states and a region in northeastern Asia. Located on the Korean Peninsula, it is bordered by China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is
- North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Chosongul: 조선민주주의인민공화국), is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea. The Amnok River and (Democratic People's Republic of Korea)
- South Korea (Republic of Korea)
- List of Korea-related topics
- Geography of North Korea
- Geography of South Korea
External links
- Location of The Korean Peninsula - The Official Korea Tourism Guide Site
|
||||||||||||||
Categories: Peninsulas of Asia | Geography of Korea
|
Fri, 16 Jul 2010 07:12:27 GMT+00:00
or Anywhere Else Worldmeets.us The Korean Peninsula is a place where Chinese, American, Russian and Japanese interests intersect. Geography determined that these nations would be ...
509px x 765px | 123.20kB
[source page]
Korean Peninsula Click for full size image
Georgetown CNSL
Wed, 21 Jul 2010 01:03:32 GM
The aircraft-carrier strike group of warships led by the USS George Washington will take part in exercises in the Sea of Japan, east of the . Korean Peninsula. , in war games that will be the largest of their kind in recent years.
Q. I try not to travel in the latter half of the month, in case something happens on the Korean peninsula. So those are a couple of dinner's that might have to be rescheduled for a later date.
Asked by Jacquot- Un chat furieux - Sun Jan 13 22:33:24 2008 - - 8 Answers - 0 Comments
A. Hmmn... I think you just did. :) But if I was that girl, I would certainly understand. If she is a kind-hearted, animal-loving kind of a girl, surely she will understand if you need to reschedule your hot dates with her. And while you are away, I am sure you won't mind if she spends some time with this guy ... xoxox
Answered by Wonder the Chatty Cat *cries* - Sun Jan 13 22:49:01 2008
