The Korean Peninsula was first populated by Tungusic people who migrated from the northwestern regions of Asia. Some of these peoples also populated parts of northeast China (Manchuria); Koreans and Manchurians still show physical similarities.

Koreans are racially and linguistically homogeneous. Although there are no indigenous minorities in North Korea, there is a small Chinese community (about 50,000) and some 1,800 Japanese wives who accompanied the roughly 93,000 Koreans returning to the North from Japan during 1959-62.

Korean is nowadays widely stated as isolated language, although it has been postulated to belonging to proposed Ural-Altaic language family. Some linguists also believe that Korea has genetic relationship with Japanese.

Although dialects exist, the Korean spoken throughout the peninsula is mutually comprehensible. In North Korea, the Korean alphabet (hangul) is used exclusively, unlike in South Korea, where the dominant written language is in hangul and classical Chinese is used by minorities in academic circles such as newspapers and history research centers.

Korea's traditional religions are Buddhism and Shamanism. Christian missionaries arrived as early as the 16th century, but it was not until the 19th century that they founded schools, hospitals, and other modern institutions throughout Korea. Major centers of 19th-century missionary activity included Seoul and Pyongyang, and there was a relatively large Christian population in the north before 1945. Although religious groups exist in North Korea, most available evidence suggests that the government severely restricts religious activity.

Population: 21,687,550 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 26% (male 2,843,250; female 2,705,206)
15-64 years: 68% (male 7,223,364; female 7,502,094)
65 years and over: 6% (male 448,242; female 965,394) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.35% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 20.43 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 6.88 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.46 male(s)/female
total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 24.29 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 70.74 years
male: 67.76 years
female: 73.86 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.3 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Korean(s)
adjective: Korean

Ethnic groups: racially homogeneous: Koreans; there is a small Chinese community and a few ethnic Japanese.

Religions: traditionally Buddhist and Confucianist, some Christian and syncretic Chondogyo (Religion of the Heavenly Way)
note: autonomous religious activities now almost nonexistent; government-sponsored religious groups exist to provide illusion of religious freedom

Languages: Korean

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write Korean
total population: 99%
male: 99%
female: 99% (1990 est.)

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• North Korea