1. By: Leeanne Nastri, Matt Thompson, Justin Talaga,and Lindsey Anderson 1.Geography 2.Culture 3.History 4.Life Style 5.Map

2. Mountains and hills cover nearly the entire country with narrow valleys and small plains in between.The north and east coasts are the most rugged areas. Population: 21,968,228

3. Spans five thousand years.Korea is known for inventing the worlds most precise alphabet its Koryo porcelains, 18 th century painters and, in modern times,its performing virtuosos. The 1988 Olympics gave the world an introduction to Korean culture, as will the 2002 soccer world cup.

4. The overall pattern of development in the history of the Korean peninsula is a process that begins with an unknown number of early tribal groups that populate the peninsula in prehistoric times, wandering out of Siberia and areas to the west. Over time, some of these groups form more complex societies that eventually result in early kingdoms that grow up on the peninsula; in some cases extending westwards into what is now Chinese territory. As time and events unfolded, these kingdoms were unified, though the borders and degree of unity have continued to change over time—down to today. Besides the obvious split between North and South Korea, cultural differences (including dialect, food, and local identity) exist between the various regions of the peninsula. In some cases these differences are enough to influence the results of political elections. Nevertheless, Korean culture is highly homogenous in comparison with China, and even Japan.

5. In Korea, bowing is a normal form of greeting, particularly when meeting those who are senior to you, either in age or in a given social or work-related hierarchy. In addition, it is a customary Confucian tradition to perform the jeol, a deep bow on bent knees, chest touching the floor and the arms stretched forward to show respect to parents or older relatives on special holidays. Koreans traditionally live in homes with heated floors, and it is normal not to wear shoes inside. Even those who use beds instead of sleeping on the "ondol" floor never go to bed with shoes on. Because of this, it is bad manners to visit someone's home barefoot, as is the case in English-speaking countries.

6. The basic Korean meal consists of bap, or boiled rice; either guk or tang (soup); gimchi; and other side dishes. While the main dish is bap, other dishes made of flour such as bread and noodles can also be eaten in its place. Although Koreans have developed a large number of side dishes, gimchi is the most popular and the most indispensable of all. In other words, gimchi and Koreans are inseparable. Members of some households eat bread, milk, and eggs for breakfast, as Westerners do, while others eat porridge or drink health beverages. However, there are a large number of families who continue to eat a traditional meal of rice, soup and side dishes for breakfast, just as they do for lunch and supper. It is just as impolite to blow your nose at the table as it is to belch. Yet another sign of bad manners is holding the rice bowl in your hand. The arrangement of bowls and silverware is crucial at the Korean table. The rice bowl and the soup bowl should be arranged side- by-side, rice on the left and the soup on the right. The spoon should always be placed to the left of the chopsticks; otherwise the arrangement indicates a ritual meal for the dead. Also it is inappropriate to leave either the spoon or chopsticks stuck in the steamed rice, as it indicates a ritual for the dead as well.

7. Koreans offer glasses of liquor to each other rather than pouring their own. When someone offers you an empty liquor glass, you are expected to hold it out and receive a fill-up, drink it empty, and in likewise fashion return into to the person who offered it to you. This drinking tradition helps promote close ties around a drinking table. Most Korean houses have shower facilities, and there are public bath facilities in every neighborhood. It is quite common for Koreans to bathe together and wash each others' backs. The public bath has separate sections for women and men, and some places run family bath facilities. Most public baths are equipped with saunas, and some have fitness or Jjim-jil-bang or steam room facilities as well.

8. Traditional Korean clothing is the hanbok, worn today either on holidays or for special occasions. As young Koreans in particular are very fashion-conscious, fashion trends come and go, even changing from season to season.

9. Pigmeat Moblie Phones Chemical Fibers, Petrochemicals Cosmetics Semiconductors: any of a class of solids (as germanium or silicon) whose electrical conductivity is between that of a conductor and that of an insulator in being nearly as great as that of a metal at high temperatures and nearly absent at low temperatures Telecommunicators and microprocessors