Korean Peninsula

Korean Peninsula 

a peninsula in East Asia between the Sea of Japan to the east, the Western Channel and the Korean and Cheju straits to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the west.

The Korean Peninsula is joined with the mainland by the Korean Isthmus. It is approximately 600 km long, with a width of 200 km in most places; its area is approximately 150,000 sq km. The peninsula is part of Korea (the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea and South Korea). The eastern seacoast is mildly indented, and in the west and south there are many gulfs and bays. Relief is primarily mountainous; in the east and south are the East Korea Mountains (elevations to 1,915 m); in the center, low mountains; and in the west, coastal lowlands. The climate is temperate monsoonal, subtropical in the south. Precipitation measures 900-1,500 mm per year. Deciduous broad-leaved forests give way in the south to subtropical evergreen forests, and above 900 m to mixed forests with Korean cedar.