Korea is located on the Korean peninsula of the same name. The country is washed by two seas: the Yellow Sea in the west and the East Sea in the east. There are two "sisters" of Korea on the island - South (democratic) Korea and North (communist) Korea. Seoul is the capital of South Korea, divided into 9 provinces.
The population of Seoul, according to official figures, is more than 10 million people, or 19.5% of the country's population. The city forms the Seoul-Incheon agglomeration with a population of 23.5 million (2015), the fifth largest in the world.
The country's national currency is the Korean won (KRW). In 2015, Seoul was ranked among the top ten most expensive cities in the world.
The first mention of the city dates back to the 4th century BC. However, at that time, the city was called Vireson - it was the capital of an ancient Korean kingdom. Seoul received its current name, which translates as "southern capital", in the XI century. By the way, in Korean the name is pronounced Hansan, which literally means "city on the Hangang River".
