Getting to know Korea : Geography

Physical Geography
Korea is a peninsula surrounded by three separate bodies of water. To the west is the Yellow Sea. To the south is the East China Sea. Finally to the east is the Sea of Japan. Being that it is surrounded by water on the majority of its borders, Korea experiences relatively humid weather in both winter and summer. However, there are dramatic differences in temperature between the north and the south throughout the year. In the summer, in all parts of the peninsula, expect to see the effects of the East Asian monsoon which amounts to a lot of rainfall nearly everyday for approximately one month.

Nearly 70% of Korea's landmass is mountainous for those of you who enjoy hiking or just getting out of the city to see a bit of nature. Baekdu Mountain is the highest point in Korea and it is located in the northern half of the peninsula.

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Major cities
Korea, although it is small in area, is a heavily populated country. The capital and most populated city is Seoul. It is the world's 8th largest city. Within the confines of the city, there are over 10 million residents. In the metropolitan area there are approximately 25 million! Seoul is centered around the Han River in the northwestern part of the country. The city is divided into 25 districts or ("gu") which are then in turn divided into neighborhoods or ("dong"). There are many corporate headquarters based out of this nation's capital as well as many tourist sites. Seoul is easy to navigate via subway, bus or train for those who want to travel outside of Seoul.

Busan (often written as Pusan) is the second largest city in South Korea with a population of about 3.5 million. It differs quite a bit from Seoul in lifestyle and climate due to geographical location. It is the largest port city on the peninsula and therefore offers an array of seafood. It is partitioned into 15 districts which were designed to fit around the sea. There are many beaches, hotels and resorts to enjoy in this city and "Texas Street" is a very well known quarter created with foreigners in mind. Busan is connected to other major Korean cities by rail, air and bus. There is also a ferry from the city's port to various other Japanese cities.

The 3rd biggest city is Incheon, which is also the location of South Korea's major international airport (ICN). It is also a coastal city situated just about 16.5 miles (or 26.75 kilometers) from Seoul by train or bus. In fact the Incheon Subway and Seoul Metropolitan Subway systems are linked. This city is well on its way to becoming the next Hong Kong or Singapore thanks to its efforts via the Free Economic Zone. Incheon, despite being the 3rd biggest city, enjoys a relatively large and dense population of just over 2.6 million inhabitants.

Other major cities in order of the greatest to the lowest population are :
-Daegu
-Daejeon
-Gwangju
-Ulsan
-Suwon
-Seongnam
-Goyang
-Bucheon

-- Information gathered from the following sites :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Peninsula

http://www.citypopulation.de/KoreaSouth-Mun.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_proper_by_population

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seoul

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incheon#Free_Economic_Zone