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The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. It extends southwards for about 1,100 km (680 mi) from continental Asia into the Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by the Sea of Japan (In Korea known as Donghae/East Sea) to the east, and the Yellow Sea to the west, the Korea Strait connecting the first two bodies of water.
The northern boundaries for the Korean Peninsula are commonly (and tacitly) taken to coincide with today's political borders between North Korea and its northern neighbors, China (1,416 km (880 mi) along the provinces of Jilin and Liaoning) and Russia (19 km (12 mi)). These borders are formed naturally by the rivers Yalu/Amnok and Tumen/Tuman/Duman. Taking this definition, the Korean Peninsula (including its islands) has an area of 220,847 km2 (85,270 sq mi).
The peninsula's names in Chosonmal, Chinese and Japanese all have the same origin, that being Joseon, the old name of Korea under the Joseon Dynasty and Gojoseon even longer before that. In North Korea's Chosonmal, the peninsula is called Chosŏn Pando (Chosongul: 조선반도 / Hanja: 朝鮮半島), while in China it is called Cháoxiǎn Bàndǎo (朝鲜半岛/朝鮮半島) and in Japan it is Chōsenhantō (Kanji: 朝鮮半島 / Hiragana: ちょうせんはんとう). In South Korea, meanwhile it is called Han Bando (Hangeul: 한반도 / Hanja: 韓半島), referring to the Samhan. They both use "Korea" as part of their official English names, which is a name that comes from the Goryeo (or Koryŏ, in North Korea) dynasty (고려/高麗). The Korean Peninsula is sometimes referred to in older English historical books as the Sino-Russian Peninsula or Silla/Sila.[citation needed]
Summarized comparison of the two countries on the Korean Peninsula[edit]