The Koreans reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Koreans

The Korean people are one of the main East Asian ethnic groups. Most Koreans live on the Korean peninsula and speak the Korean language. Korea's population is one of the most ethnically and linguistically homogenous in the world, with the only minorities being very small Chinese communities in South and North Korea, and a very small Japanese one in North Korea.

According to recent estimates, the population of ethnic Koreans worldwide is:

• North Korea: 21,687,550
• South Korea: 47,470,969
• The United States: 2,057,546
• China: 2,043,578
• Japan: 660,214
• Russia and former Soviet republics: 486,857
• Canada : 110,000
• Latin America (Brazil in particular): 100,000

Table of contents

1 Culture 2 Koreans in Central Asia 3 Koreans in China 4 Koreans in Japan 5 Koreans in other countries 6 See also 7 External links

Culture

Main article: Culture of Korea

Koreans in both South Korea and North Korea share many cultural aspects, but the political distinctions between the two countries result in regional differences in culture between the North and South.

There are around 70 million speakers of the Korean language worldwide.

Koreans in Central Asia

Approximately 450,000 ethnic Koreans reside in the former USSR, primarily in the newly independent states of Central Asia. In 1937, Stalin deported approximately 200,000 ethnic Koreans to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, on the official premise that the Koreans might act as spies for Japan.

As of January 1, 1998, 1,123,200 ethnic Koreans lived in Uzbekistan, amounting to 4.7% of the total country's population.

Probably as a consequence of these ethnic ties, South Korea was the second import partner of Uzbekistan, after Russia, and one of its largest foreign investors. The car manufacturer Daewoo set up a joint venture (August 1992) and a factory in Asaka city, Andizhan province, in Uzbekistan.

See also: Population transfer in the Soviet Union

Koreans in China

Koreans form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. It is considered one of the "major minorities".

They mostly occupy the north of China, especially in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, where they numbered 854,000 in 1997.

Koreans in Japan

There are 528,904 Koreans in Japan, amounting to 40.4% of the non-Japanese population of the country. 75% of the Japanese Koreans are Japanese-born, but most are legal aliens nevertheless.

See also: Ethnic issues in Japan

Koreans in other countries

Koreatowns can be found in New York (Koreatown, Manhattan) and Los Angeles with signs in Korean. There is also a Koreatown in London.

• Korean American
• List of famous Korean Americans

See also

• Demographics of North Korea
• Demographics of South Korea

External links

• Koryo Saram - The Koreans of Central Asia
• Sources - Koreans of Central Asia

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