Differences among Korea, India, and China

Korea, China and India are the countries that have historical backgrounds that make each of them renowned all over the world. These countries have unique attributes that make them stand out to the whole world.  Korea is a divided country of eastern Asia. It occupies a peninsula, about 450 miles in length, between the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea. China and a tip of the Soviet Union border Korea on the north. The nearest Japanese islands are about 30 miles away, in the Korea Strait. Since 1945, Korea has been divided into two political units—the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). They are separated by a demilitarized zone, about 2  ½ miles in width, along the armistice line established in 1953 at the close of the Korea War. The total area (including the demilitarized zone) is 85,049 square miles. North Korea occupies 46,540 square miles and South Korea 38,025 square miles. Virtually all the inhabitants of the peninsula are Koreans. They are a Mongoloid people, who apparently migrated in prehistoric times from what is now Manchuria. The Korean language is believed to be unrelated to any known tongue. There is, however, a strong infusion of Chinese words in the vocabulary. A phonetic alphabet—originally 28, now 24 letters—has been in use since 1443. In South Korea offer a free education and compulsory through six years of primary school, which begins at age six. It is followed by three years of middle school and then three years of high school (Choi, 2003). The chief institution of higher learning is Seoul National University. In North Korea, education is free and compulsory through five years of primary school (which begins at age six), four years of middle school, and two years of high school. The major institution of higher learning is Kim II Sung University at Pyongyang. Technical education and the teaching of Communist ideology are stressed in North Korean education. On the other hand, India or Republic of India is a country in southern Asia and a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations. India is an English word derived from the Sanskrit sindhu, which means river and was originally applied to the part of the Indus River now in Pakistan. In Hindi, the official national language established by the Indian constitution, the nation is called Bharat. India has more than 800 languages and dialects. The constitution declares Hindi the national language, but English is also an official language in government and is widely used. The constitution establishes for use in government 14 other major languages. In addition, education is primarily the responsibility of the state governments. The union, or central, government coordinates facilities and standards in the states, administer education in the union territories, and controls four universities and certain special schools (Brown, 2005). While China or the People’s Republic of China is a country in eastern in eastern Asia. It is sometimes called Communist China or Mainland China to distinguish it from the Republic of China to distinguish it from the Republic of China, or Nationalist China, situated on the offshore island of Taiwan (Formosa). Both governments claim to be the rightful rulers of all China, but the Communists have been in firm control of the mainland since 1949 and since 1971 have been recognized by the United Nations as the legal rulers. Chinese, a Sino-Tibetan language, is spoken by most of the people in China. There are a large number of dialects, the chief being Cantonese, Fukienese, and Wu. The official language is the Mandarin dialect, officially called putonghua (common speech), which is understood by about 70 percent of people. Other languages include Tibetan, spoken in Tibet and parts of China Proper; Turkic, in Sinkiang; Mongol, in Inner Mongolia; and Thai, in parts of southern China (Barnett, 2006). With regards to its educational system, elementary education, depending on the program being pursued, lasts five or six years. Lower secondary education lasts three years; upper secondary education, depending upon the school, two or three years. China has an extensive adult-educational program, particularly to teach literacy. About one-fourth of the population is illiterate. Reference: Barnett, A.D. (2006). Modernizing China: Post-Mao Reform and Development (Westview Press). Brown, J.M. (2005). Modern India: the Origins of an Asian Democracy (Oxford University). Choi, Woonsang (2003). Korea: a Chronology and fact Book (Oceana).