South Korea

million people located on the southern portion of the Korean

Peninsula, which borders the East Sea (Sea of Japan) and the Yellow Sea.

part of the Korean Peninsula below the 38th parallel of

latitude.

It has coastlines along the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea. South Korea's topography consists mainly of hills and mountains but there are large coastal plains in the western and southern parts of the country.

an extinct volcano, which rises to 6,398 feet (1,950 m).

It is located on South Korea's Jeju Island, which is located south of the mainland.

and rainfall is heavier in the summer than in the

winter due to the presence of the East Asian Monsoon. Winters are cold to very cold depending upon altitude and summers are hot and humid.

faith and a large growing Christian population (Composed of Catholic

Christians and Protestants of various denominations). The practice of both of these faiths has been strongly influenced by the enduring legacies of Korean Confucianism, which was the official ideology of the 500-year-long Joseon Dynasty, and Korean shamanism, the native religion of the Korean Peninsula.

The modern form of Korean developed from Middle Korean. This

itself had developed from Old Korean which had developed from the kind of speech used in Prehistoric Korea.

with Buddhism were adopted as the language's main script called

hanja. King Sejong the Great introduced the writing system currently called Hangul to deal with the inadequacy of hanja. Today, Hangul is preferred over hanja.

The Gyeonggi dialect is the most popular of the rest

of the dialects, and it is the basis on which the standard variant of Korean is formed.

which includes the Incheon and Seoul Cities together with Gyeonggi

Province. The Jeju dialect is used in South Korea's Jeju Province, and it is different from the Korean dialects used in the mainland. The dialect is regarded as a local language, and it is majorly used by the older people. The Gyeongsang dialects are used by communities in the Yeongnam region. Some of these dialects are tonal unlike standard Korean. The Jeolla dialect is mainly used in South Korea's Honam region including Gwangju region. The Chungcheong dialects are used in the Chuncheong region as well as in Daejeon City.

public communication of news: television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, and

Internet-based websites.

Hankook Ilbo, all published in Seoul.

The five nationwide television

networks are KBS-1 and KBS-2 (public broadcast), MBC (run as a public organization), EBS (state-funded), and SBS (a commercial broadcaster).

Some 70 percent of South Korean households have broadband Internet access, and the online media marketplace is growing rapidly. Popular news Web sites (such as OhMyNews.com) register as many as 15 million visits per day.

through electronic means and the country is at the leading

edge of the digital revolution and a trailblazer for high-speed and wireless internet services.

each other and dedicated to maintaining their nexus. In some

traditional/rural social circles, families can be so defining that they are perceived as having a collective face. Therefore, the act of an individual can impact the perception of the entire family by others.

which emphasised patriarchal authority. Under this family model, a husband/father was to

exhibit dominance and kindness to his wife in return for obedience and love. Likewise, he would show guidance and protection to his children and receive filial piety, respect and obedience. Many families would uphold him as the ultimate decision-maker.

many worship their ancestors multiple times a year in ceremonies

that revere their previous three generations (parents, grandparents and great grandparents). This act of respect honours the belief that Korean children are in eternal debt to their parents.