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Korea is a geographic area, civilization, and a former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. It borders China to the west and Russia to the north, with Japan situated to the east. The Korean Peninsula is divided into two separate states, North Korea and South Korea. However, the name "Korea" is often used to refer to South Korea due to its greater economic significance and influence in the world.The history of Korea began with the legendary founding of Gojoseon in 2333 BC by Dangun. Limited linguistic evidence suggests probable Altaic origins of these people, whose northern Mongolian steppe culture absorbed migration and trade with the peoples of Manchuria and China. The adoption of the Chinese writing system ("hanja" in Korean) in the 2nd century BC, and Buddhism in the 4th century AD, had profound effects on the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Baekje later passed on a modified version of these cultural advances to Japan |