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Size and Principal Features

The 38th parallel runs through northern South Korea while the sub-tropical Island of Jeju, about 80km south of the peninsula, is near the 33rd parallel. Seoul is similar in latitude to San Francisco and Washington, DC. Jeju is similar in latitude to Los Angeles and Charlotte, North Carolina. The country has an area of just under 100,000 square kilometers, making it about the same size as Ohio or twice as large as Nova Scotia. Most of the country is mountainous, though the mountains rarely exceed 1,500 meters, or 5,000 feet, in height. The main mountain range runs down the Eastern side of the peninsula and, about 150km from the south coast, turns west, and continues southwest to the coast. Despite being densely populated, more than half the land area is forested. Korea is bounded by ocean to the east, west and south and by North Korea to the north.

Population

South Korea has about 47 million people, of whom about 200,000 are non-permanent foreign nationals. Seoul is one of the largest cities in the world, with over 10 million people in the city proper and a metropolitan area population of almost 20 million. South Korean cities do not seem as populous as they are. Urban development is dense and cities grow upwards instead of sprawling outward.

Cities and Provinces

Seoul and other Korean cities are divided into large neighborhoods, called "Gu" and smaller neighborhoods, called "Dong." When thinking about Korean cities, it is important to keep in mind that Seoul is to Korea much as London is to the U.K. or Paris is to France. It is, by far, the dominant city and the only city that can really claim to have much international exposure. Busan and other cities are much smaller and are definitely not cosmopolitan by Western (or even Asian) standards.

South Korea is divided into nine provinces, called "do" in Korean, and seven Metropolitan Cities. The provincial boundaries more-or-less follow historical regional divisions. The Metropolitan Cities have most of the powers of provinces.

Currently, Wikipedia seems to have the most comprehensive English-language guide to, and links for, Korean cities and provinces:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_South_Korea