Today’s post will be a geography lesson on Korea. As many of you probably know, Korea is a peninsula surrounded by the Pacific ocean, the East Sea, and the Yellow Sea. Korea is in close proximity to China in the north, parts of southern Russia in the northeast, and to Japan in the south. Seventy percent of the Korean peninsula is covered by mountains, with the majority of the mountains in North Korea.

The tallest mountain in North Korea is 백두산. This mountain is considered sacred because it’s believed that the first Korean humans descended from this mountain. There is very little arable land for crops. There are several natural hot springs and waterfalls. The climate of North Korea tends to be bitterly cold in the long winters, humid and rainy in the short summers.

Forests and the woodlands make up about 65% of South Korea. The longest river in South Korea is the 낙동강. There is also a sea passage between South Korea and Japan called the 조선해협 or the Korea Strait. Ferries in this strait allow goods and people to be moved from and to South Korea and Japan. The capital of South Korea is 서울, while the capital of North Korea is 평양.

Technically, 제주 Island is not geographically part of the Korean peninsula, but it’s still considered a territory of South Korea. 제주 Island is the only island that has been designated as its own self governing province, meaning that it’s administratively independent from South Korea. The tallest mounatin on 제주 is 한라산. Being that 제주 is surrounded by water, it has a large fishing community.