Population:
48,508,972 (July 2009 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 16.8% (male 4,278,581/female 3,887,516)
15-64 years: 72.3% (male 17,897,053/female 17,196,840)
65 years and over: 10.8% (male 2,104,589/female 3,144,393) (2009 est.)

Median age:
total: 37.3 years
male: 36 years
female: 38.5 years (2009 est.)

Population growth rate:
0.266% (2009 est.)

Birth rate:
8.93 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Death rate:
5.94 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

Net migration rate:
-0.33 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Urbanization:
urban population: 81% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 0.6% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 4.26 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 4.49 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 4.02 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 78.72 years
male: 75.45 years
female: 82.22 years (2009 est.)

Total fertility rate:
1.21 children born/woman (2009 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
less than 0.1% (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
13,000 (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
fewer than 500 (2007 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Korean(s)
adjective: Korean

Ethnic groups:
homogeneous (except for about 20,000 Chinese)

Religions:
Christian 26.3% (Protestant 19.7%, Roman Catholic 6.6%), Buddhist 23.2%, other or unknown 1.3%, none 49.3% (1995 census)

Languages:
Korean, English widely taught in junior high and high school

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.9%
male: 99.2%
female: 96.6% (2002)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 17 years
male: 18 years
female: 15 years (2007)

Education expenditures:
4.6% of GDP (2004)