Koreans

Koreans
한국인(韓國人) / 조선인(朝鮮人)

A Korean couple wearing traditional Hanbok
Total population
(82.5 million[1])
Regions with significant populations
South Korea      50,423,955 (2014 estimated)[2]  North Korea      25,300,000 (2014 estimated)[3] Other countries with significant populations as of 2013
China	2,573,928[4]
United States	2,091,432[4]
Japan	892,704[4]
Canada	215,993[4]
Russia	176,411[4]
Uzbekistan	173,832[4]
Australia	156,865[4]
Kazakhstan	105,483[4]
Philippines	88,102[4]
Vietnam	86,000[4]
Mexico	51,800[4]
Brazil	49,511[4]
United Kingdom	44,749[4]
Indonesia	40,284[4]
Germany	33,774[4]
New Zealand	30,527[4]
Argentina	22,580[4]
Singapore	20,330[4]
Thailand	20,000[4]
Kyrgyzstan	18,403[4]
France	14,000[4]
Malaysia	14,000[4]
Ukraine	13,083[4]
Guatemala	12,918[4]
India	10,397[4]
United Arab Emirates	9,728[4]
Sweden	7,250[4]
Saudi Arabia	5,145[4]
Paraguay	5,126[4]
Cambodia	4,372[4]
Taiwan	4,304
Ecuador	2,000
Languages
Korean speakers: 80 million[5]
Religion
Plurality: non-religious. Large segments of followers of Christianity, Korean Buddhism, Korean shamanism, Cheondoism. Background of Korean Confucianism.[6][7]

Part of a series on the
Culture of Korea
History
People Demographics of South Korea / Demographics of North Korea Diaspora South Korean nationality law / Nationality Law(DPRK)
Languages History Dialects North-South differences Phonology Grammar Honorifics Hangul
Traditions Philosophy Etiquette Marriage Funerals Tea ceremony Masks Kisaeng Hanjeungmak / Jjimjilbang Court music Clothing
Mythology and folklore Mythology folklore
Cuisine Gimbap Patbingsu Bibimbap Seolleongtang Kimchi Korean fried chicken Tteok Banchan Gochujang Doenjang Anju Makgeolli Soju
Festivals Korean New Year National Liberation Day Chuseok
Religion Shamanism Taoism Buddhism Neo-Confucianism Cheondoism Christianity Unification Church
Art Calligraphy Buddhist art Paintings Flower arrangements Gardens Jade carving Knotting Pottery and porcelain
Literature Hyangga Sijo Chinese-language literature Sinsoseol North Korean literature / South Korean literature Manhwa Poetry
Music and performing arts Music Performing arts
Media Cinema Internet censorship / Internet censorship in North Korea Cinema of South Korea / Cinema of North Korea Music of South Korea / Music of North Korea Chosun Ilbo / Donga Ilbo / JoongAng Ilbo / Hankook Ilbo / Kyunghyang Shinmun / The Hankyoreh KBS1 / KBS2 / MBC / EBS / SBS Nate / Naver / Daum / Cyworld Propaganda K-pop / K-drama
Sport Martial arts Video games / Esports
Monuments World Heritage Sites Architecture
Symbols Flag Coat of arms
Organisations Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism List of museums in North Korea
Korea portal

The Koreans (Hangul: 한민족; hanja: 韓民族; alternatively Hangul: 조선민족; hanja: 朝鮮民族, see names of Korea) are a historic people based in the Korean Peninsula and Manchuria.^[8] In the last century and a half, the 7 million people of the Korean diaspora have spread along the Pacific Rim, especially to China, United States and Japan.

Etymology

South Koreans refer to themselves as Hanguk-in (Hangul: 한국인; hanja: 韓國人), or Hanguk-saram (Hangul: 한국 사람), both of which mean "Korean country people." When referring to members of the Korean diaspora, Koreans often use the term Han-in (Hangul: 한인; hanja: 韓人; literally "Korean people").

North Koreans refer to themselves as Joseon-in (Hangul: 조선인; hanja: 朝鮮人) or Joseon-saram (Hangul: 조선 사람), both of which literally mean "Joseon people". Using similar words, Koreans in China refer to themselves as Chaoxianzu (Chinese: 朝鲜族) in Chinese or Joseonjok (Hangul: 조선족) in Korean, which are cognates that literally mean "Joseon ethnic group".

Ethnic Koreans living in Russia and Central Asia refer to themselves as Koryo-saram (Hangul: 고려 사람; Cyrillic script: Корё сарам), alluding to Goryeo, a Korean dynasty spanning from 918 to 1392.

Origins

Linguistic and archaeological studies

Koreans are the descendants of the peoples of Korean Peninsula, often said to be Altaic-speaking^[9][10] or proto-Altaic^[11] tribes. Archaeological evidence suggests proto-Koreans were migrants from south-central Siberia.^[12]

The largest concentration of dolmens in the world is found on the Korean Peninsula. In fact, with an estimated 35,000-100,000 dolmen,^[13] Korea counts for nearly 70% of the world's total. Similar dolmens can be found in Manchuria, the Shandong Peninsula, and Kyushu, yet it is unclear why this culture only flourished so extensively on the Korean Peninsula compared to the remainder of Northeastern Asia.

Genetic studies

Studies of polymorphisms in the human Y-chromosome have so far produced evidence to suggest that the Korean people have a long history as a distinct, mostly endogamous ethnic group, with successive waves of people moving to the peninsula and three major Y-chromosome haplogroups.^[14]

Y-DNA haplogroups

Korean males display a high frequency of Haplogroup O-M176 (O2b), a subclade that probably has spread mainly from somewhere in the Korean Peninsula or its vicinity,^[15][16] and Haplogroup O-M122 (O3), a common Y-DNA haplogroup among East Asians in general.^[17][18] Haplogroup O2b occurs in approximately 30% (ranging from 20%^[19][20][21] to 37%^[22]) of all Korean males, while haplogroup O3 has been found in approximately 40% of sampled Korean males.^[23][24][25] Korean males also exhibit a moderate frequency (approximately 15%) of Haplogroup C-M217.

Korean males sporadically show Haplogroup D-M174 (0/216 = 0.0% DE-YAP,^[25] 1/68 = 1.5% DE-YAP(xE-SRY4064),^[20] 8/506 = 1.6% D1b-M55,^[15] 3/154 = 1.9% DE,^[21] 5/164 = 3.0% D-M174,^[26] 1/75 D1b*-P37.1(xD1b1-M116.1) + 2/75 D1b1a-M125(xD1b1a1-P42) = 3/75 = 4.0% D1b-P37.1,^[22] 3/45 = 6.7% D-M174^[27]), with a mean frequency of about 2%. The D1b-M55 subclade has been found with maximal frequency in a small sample (n=16) of the Ainu people of Japan, and is generally frequent throughout the Japanese Archipelago.^[28] Other haplogroups that have been found less commonly in samples of Korean males are Y-DNA haplogroup N-M231 (approx. 4%), haplogroup O1-MSY2.2 (approx. 3%), O2(xO2b) (approx. 2%), haplogroup Q-M242 and Haplogroup R1 (approx. 2% total), J, Y*(xA, C, DE, J, K), L, C-RPS4Y(xM105, M38, M217), and C-M105.^[15][20][29]

mtDNA haplogroups

Studies of Korean mitochondrial DNA lineages have shown that there is a high frequency of Haplogroup D4, ranging from approximately 23% (11/48) among ethnic Koreans in Arun Banner, Inner Mongolia^[30] to approximately 32% (33/103) among Koreans from South Korea.^[31][32] Haplogroup D4 is the modal mtDNA haplogroup among Koreans and among Northeast Asians in general. Haplogroup B, which occurs very frequently in many populations of Southeast Asia, Polynesia, and the Americas, is found in approximately 10% (5/48 ethnic Koreans from Arun Banner, Inner Mongolia) to 20% (21/103 Koreans from South Korea) of Koreans.^[21][30][32] Haplogroup A has been detected in approximately 7% (7/103 Koreans from South Korea) to 15% (7/48 ethnic Koreans from Arun Banner, Inner Mongolia) of Koreans.^[30][32][33] Haplogroup A is the most common mtDNA haplogroup among the Chukchi, Eskimo, Na-Dene, and many Amerind ethnic groups of North and Central America.

The other half of the Korean mtDNA pool consists of an assortment of various haplogroups, each found with relatively low frequency, such as G, N9, Y, F, D5, M7, M8, M9, M10, M11, R11, C, and Z.^[21]

Autosomal studies

Koreans are generally considered a Northeast Asian group. However, recent findings have indicated that the peopling of Korea might have been more complex, involving dual origins from both southern and northern parts of East Asia. To understand the male lineage history of Korea, more data from informative genetic markers from Korea and its surrounding regions are necessary. In this study, 25 Y-chromosome single nucleotide polymorphism markers and 17 Y-chromosome short tandem repeat (Y-STR) loci were genotyped in 1,108 males from several populations in East Asia.^[34]

Culture

North Korea and South Korea share a common heritage, but the political division since 1945 has resulted in some divergence of modern culture.

Language

The language of the Korean people is the Korean language, which uses Hangul as its main writing system. There are more than 78 million speakers of the Korean language worldwide.^[35]

North Korean data

North Korean soldiers in the Joint Security Area

Estimating the size, growth rate, sex ratio, and age structure of North Korea's population has been extremely difficult. Until release of official data in 1989, the 1963 edition of the North Korea Central Yearbook was the last official publication to disclose population figures. After 1963 demographers used varying methods to estimate the population. They either totaled the number of delegates elected to the Supreme People's Assembly (each delegate representing 50,000 people before 1962 and 30,000 people afterward) or relied on official statements that a certain number of persons, or percentage of the population, was engaged in a particular activity. Thus, on the basis of remarks made by President Kim Il-sung in 1977 concerning school attendance, the population that year was calculated at 17.2 million persons. During the 1980s, health statistics, including life expectancy and causes of mortality, were gradually made available to the outside world.

In 1989 the Central Statistics Bureau released demographic data to the United Nations Population Fund in order to secure the UNFPA's assistance in holding North Korea's first nationwide census since the establishment of the state in 1948. Although the figures given to the United Nations might have been distorted, it appears that in line with other attempts to open itself to the outside world, the North Korean regime has also opened somewhat in the demographic realm. Although the country lacks trained demographers, accurate data on household registration, migration, and births and deaths are available to North Korean authorities. According to the United States scholar Nicholas Eberstadt and demographer Brian Ko, vital statistics and personal information on residents are kept by agencies on the ri ("village", the local administrative unit) level in rural areas and the dong ("district" or "block") level in urban areas.

Korean diaspora

A Russian stamp honoring Soviet rock star Viktor Tsoi.

Large-scale emigration from Korea began as early as the mid-1860s, mainly into the Russian Far East and Northeast China or what was historically known as Manchuria; these populations would later grow to nearly three million Koreans in China and several hundred thousand Koryo-saram (ethnic Koreans in Central Asia).^[36][37] During the Korea under Japanese rule of 1910–1945, Koreans were often recruited and or forced into labour service to work in mainland Japan, Karafuto Prefecture, and Manchukuo; the ones who chose to remain in Japan at the end of the war became known as Zainichi Koreans, while the roughly 40 thousand who were trapped in Karafuto after the Soviet invasion are typically referred to as Sakhalin Koreans.^[38][39]

Korean emigration to America was known to have begun as early as 1903, but the Korean American community did not grow to a significant size until after the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965; as of 2010, excluding the undocumented and uncounted, roughly 1.7 million Koreans emigrants and people of Korean descent live in the United States according to the official figure by the US Census.^[40] A realistic figure is probably well over 2 million.

The Greater Los Angeles Area and New York metropolitan area in the United States contain the largest populations of ethnic Koreans outside of Korea or China. Significant Korean populations are present in China, Japan, and Canada as well. There are also Korean communities in Latin American countries such as Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. During the 1990s and 2000s, the number of Koreans in the Philippines and Koreans in Vietnam have also grown significantly.^[41][42] Koreans in the United Kingdom now form Western Europe's largest Korean community, albeit still relatively small; Koreans in Germany used to outnumber those in the UK until the late 1990s. In Australia, Korean Australians comprise a modest minority. Koreans have migrated significantly since the 1960s. Now they form an integral part in society especially in Business, Education and Cultural areas.

The Korean population in the United States is a small share of the US economy, but it has a disproportionately favorable impact. Korean Americans have a savings rate double that of the average American and also graduate from college at a rate double that of the average American, providing a highly skilled and educated addition to the U.S. workforce. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's Census 2000 data, mean household earnings for Koreans in the U.S. were $59,981, approximately 5.1% higher than the U.S. average of $56,604.^[43]

Gallery

• 

  Korean children in Hanbok

• 

  Hanbok

• 

  South Korean woman dressed as a Joseon queen

• 

  A traditional-style Korean wedding in November 2006

• 

  Museum display of a family in traditional Korean dress of Joseon

• 

  Museum display of traditional Korean wedding scene of Joseon

See also

• List of people of Korean descent
• Demographics of North Korea
• Demographics of South Korea
• Korean diaspora
• Koreatown
• Korean nationality

References

Bibliography

•  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Library of Congress Country Studies.
• 서의식 and 강봉룡. 뿌리 깊은 한국사, 샘이 깊은 이야기: 고조선, 삼국, ISBN 89-8133-536-2
• Barnes, Gina Lee (1993). The Rise of Civilization in East Asia: The Archaeology of China, Korea and Japan. Thames and Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-27974-8. 
• Nelson, Sarah M. (1993). The Archaeology of Korea. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-40783-0. 

External links

• Korean American Museum
• Korean Residents Union in Japan (Mindan)

Korean diaspora Africa Canary Islands1 South Africa North America Canada Cuba Guatemala Mexico United States Hawaii by city South America Argentina Brazil Chile Paraguay Peru Uruguay Venezuela Asia East Asia China Beijing Hong Kong Shanghai Japan Mongolia Taiwan South-East Asia Brunei Indonesia Malaysia Philippines Singapore Thailand Vietnam South Asia India Nepal Sri Lanka West Asia Arab world Iran Europe Former Soviet Union Sakhalin North Koreans Elsewhere Czech Republic France Germany Netherlands Poland Spain United Kingdom Oceania Australia New Zealand Micronesia Related topics Languages Koryo-mar Zainichi Korean Misc. Adoptees Koreatowns North Korean defectors 1 An autonomous community of Spain off the northwest coast of Africa