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South Korea Population Settlement Patterns
South Korea was one of the world's most densely populated
countries, with an estimated 425 people per square kilometer in
1989--over sixteen times the average population density of the
United States in the late 1980s. By comparison, China had an
estimated 114 people, the Federal Republic of Germany (West
Germany) 246 people, and Japan 323 people per square kilometer in
the late 1980s. Because about 70 percent of South Korea's land
area is mountainous and the population is concentrated in the
lowland areas, actual population densities were in general
greater than the average. As early as 1975, it was estimated that
the density of South Korea's thirty-five cities, each of which
had a population of 50,000 or more inhabitants, was 3,700 people
per square kilometer. Because of continued migration to urban
areas, the figure was doubtless higher in the late 1980s.
In 1988 Seoul had a population density of 17,030 people per
square kilometer as compared with 13,816 people per square
kilometer in 1980. The second largest city, Pusan, had a density
of 8,504 people per square kilometer in 1988 as compared with
7,272 people in 1980. Kyonggi Province, which surrounds the
capital and contains Inch'on, the country's fourth largest city,
was the most densely populated province; Kangwon Province in the
northeast was the least densely populated province.
The extreme crowding in South Korea in 1990 was a major
factor not only in economic development and in the standard of
living but also in the development of social attitudes and human
relationships. More than most other peoples, South Koreans have
had to learn to live peacefully with each other in small, crowded
spaces, in which the competition for limited resources, including
space itself, is intense. Continued population growth means that
the shortage of space for living and working will grow more
severe. According to the government's Economic Planning Board,
the population density will be 530 people per square kilometer by
2023, the year the population is expected to stabilize.
Data as of June 1990
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