---
title: "South Korea — capital, area, population and currency"
description: "South Korea: capital Seoul, area 99,720 km², population 51,684,564 (2025), currency South Korean won. Languages, time zones and calling code."
url: https://atoneplace.net/country/south-korea/
site: "At One Place"
---

# South Korea

**South Korea: Capital Seoul**

99,720 km² · 51,684,564 people (2025) · South Korean won

About seventy percent mountain, so the population is packed into the valleys and coastal plains; the Seoul metropolitan area holds roughly half the country. Jeju Island is a shield volcano whose lava tube system is among the finest in the world. South Korea has the fastest average internet connections of any large country.

## The facts

- **Capital:** Seoul
- **Area:** 99,720 km² — 38,502 sq mi
- **Population:** 51,684,564 (2025)
- **Density:** 518.3 people per km²
- **Currency:** South Korean won (KRW, ₩)
- **Official language:** Korean
- **Time zone:** UTC+09:00
- **Calling code:** +82
- **Drives on the:** right
- **ISO codes:** KR · KOR
- **Continent:** Asia

## How it compares

- **By area:** 108 of 200
- **By population:** 29 of 200

> Population is the only figure on this page that dates — it is a 2025 estimate and will drift. Area, capital, currency, languages, calling code and driving side change rarely or never.

## Countries of a similar size

| Country | Area (km²) | Population |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Guatemala | 108,889 | 18,687,881 |
| Iceland | 103,000 | 392,404 |
| South Korea ← | 99,720 | 51,684,564 |
| Hungary | 93,028 | 9,514,251 |
| Portugal | 92,090 | 10,804,871 |

## Common questions

### What is the capital of South Korea?

Seoul

### What currency does South Korea use?

The South Korean won (KRW).

### How big is South Korea?

99,720 km², or 38,502 square miles — 108 of 200 by area.

### Which side of the road does South Korea drive on?

The right.

## Related pages

- [Guatemala](https://atoneplace.net/country/guatemala/)
- [Iceland](https://atoneplace.net/country/iceland/)
- [Hungary](https://atoneplace.net/country/hungary/)
- [Portugal](https://atoneplace.net/country/portugal/)
- [India](https://atoneplace.net/country/india/)
- [China](https://atoneplace.net/country/china/)
- [Indonesia](https://atoneplace.net/country/indonesia/)
- [Pakistan](https://atoneplace.net/country/pakistan/)
- [Bangladesh](https://atoneplace.net/country/bangladesh/)
- [Japan](https://atoneplace.net/country/japan/)
- [Philippines](https://atoneplace.net/country/philippines/)
- [Vietnam](https://atoneplace.net/country/vietnam/)

## Sources

- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/) [Public domain (US Government)]
- World Bank Open Data — The World Bank (https://data.worldbank.org/) [CC BY 4.0]