South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The name “Korea” is derived from Goguryeo which was one of the great powers in East Asia during its time, ruling most of the Korean Peninsula, Manchuria and parts of the Russian Far East and Inner Mongolia with its capital located at Pyongyang. South Korea shares land borders with North Korea to the north, and oversea boundaries with China to the northwest and Japan to the east. It faces Vietnam across the Korea Strait to its southeast.
The territory of South Korea has a population of roughly 51 million people, making it the 31st most populous country in the world. Its capital and largest city is Seoul, with a population close to 10 million. Almost 37% of South Koreans live in Seoul’s metropolitan area, which is by far the largest metropolitan area in both South Korea and Northeast Asia as a whole. Highly urbanized at 92%, South Koreans lead technologically advanced lifestyles; 96% own a television set, 88% have Internet access, 75% have at least one personal computerand 53% have a broadband Internet connection.. In addition 70%of cell phone users subscribe to 3G technology services. Smartphone ownership also outpaces that of other countries’ at almost 75% or 42 million units sold as of 2012. According to 2011 estimates by International Data Corporation (IDC), Samsung Electronics commanded 21 percent global market share for smartphones ranked by unit sales while domestic rival LG Electronics held 7 percent market share worldwide during second quarter 2011.