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The Korean Peninsula  sits in the center of the East Asian world, facing Manchuria and China to the west and Russian Siberia to the north with its back toward Japan.
At their closest point, Korea and China are only about 110 miles (177 km) apart across the Yellow Sea. About 193 km (120 mi) across the Korea Strait (Tsushima Strait) from the Korean seaport of Pusan lies Japan's main island of Honshu.
The Korean Peninsula along with its numerous small islands covers 219,020 sq km (84,564 sq mi) of the earth's surface, nearly the same area covered by the State of Utah (219,933 sq km / 84,916 sq mi). With an average width of about 386 km (240 mi), Korea is only about 114 km (71 mi) wide at its narrowest point.
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HIGHEST ELEVATION |
LOWEST ELEVATION |
| Korean Peninsula |
MT PAEKTU
2,744 meters (9,003 ft) |
Sea Level |
Korea's 1,673 km (1,040 mi) international land border is divided between a 1,416 km (880 mi) border with Manchuria and a 19 km (12 mi) border with Siberia. The land boundary between China and Korea is largely formed by two rivers: the Amnok-gang River (Yalu River in Chinese) which flows from Mt. Paektu southwest and empties into the Korea Bay, and the Tumen-gang River (Tumen River in Chinese) which also flows from Mt. Paektu, first northeast then southeast to the East Sea. The last 16 kilometers of the Tumen River marks Korea's border with Russia.
Internally, North and South Korea share a common border along the DMZ that stretches 238 km (148 mi) across the waist of the peninsula.
Surrounded on three sides by water, Korea boasts a coastline nearly 17,300 km (10,750 mi) long; 8,700 km (5,406 mi) of coastline and an estimated 8,600 km (5,344 mi) of shoreline surrounding the 3,479 small islands - most of them mere rocks - that dot its southern and southwestern waters.
North Korea claims a 22 km (12 nm) territorial limit from its 2,495 km (1,550 mi) coastline, an exclusive economic zone of 367 km (200 nm), a military boundary 92 km (50 nm) into the East Sea, and an exclusive economic zone in the Yellow Sea where all foreign vessels and aircraft require permission to enter.
South Korea claims a 22 km (12 nm) territorial limit from its 2,413 km (1,499 mi) coastline, but only 6 km (3 nm) into the Korea Strait.
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