Provinces of South Korea

Province
Hangul	도
Hanja	道
Revised Romanization	do
McCune–Reischauer	to
Special self-governing province
Hangul	특별자치도
Hanja	特別自治道
Revised Romanization	teukbyeoljachido
McCune–Reischauer	tŭkpyŏljach'ido

Province
도 (道)
Province; 도 (道)
Category	Unitary state
Location	South Korea
Number	22; 15 controlled by ROK; 5 controlled by DPRK; 2 split between ROK and DPRK
Populations	276,589 (Sejong) – 13,413,459 (Gyeonggi Province)
Areas	1,849 km2 (714 sq mi) (Jeju) – 19,030 km2 (7,350 sq mi) (North Gyeongsang Province) – 20,569 km2 (7,942 sq mi) (Gangwon including the North Korean province)
Government	Self-governing;

Provinces are one of the first-level divisions within South Korea. There are 9 provinces in South Korea: North Chungcheong, South Chungcheong, Gangwon State, Gyeonggi, North Gyeongsang, South Gyeongsang, North Jeolla Province, South Jeolla, and Jeju Special Self-Governing Province.

History

Although the details of local administration have changed dramatically over time, the basic outline of the current three-tiered system was implemented under the reign of Gojong in 1895. A similar system also remains in use in North Korea.

Types

Provinces (도, 道) are the highest-ranked administrative divisions in South Korea, which follows the East Asian tradition name Circuit (administrative division). Along with the common provinces, there are four types of special administrative divisions with equal status: special self-governing province, special city, metropolitan city, and special self-governing city.

Special Self-governing Province or State (특별자치도, 特別自治道) is a type of provinces with more autonomy over its economy and more powers are given to the provincial government. Jeju, Gangwon, and Jeonbuk are the only special self-governing provinces in South Korea, while Seoul is the only special city and Sejong is the only special self-governing city.

Administration

Governors for the provinces and mayors for the special/metropolitan cities are elected every four years. Current governors and mayors are listed at List of governors of South Korea.

List of provinces

Name	Official English name	Hangul	Hanja	ISO	Pop. (2020)^[1]	Area (km²)	Density 2020 (/km²)	Capital	Historical province	Cultural region	Abbreviation
North Chungcheong	Chungcheongbuk-do^[2]	충청북도	忠淸北道	KR-43	1,632,088	7,433^[3]	219.6	Cheongju	Chungcheong	Hoseo	Chungbuk	충북	忠北
South Chungcheong	Chungcheongnam-do^[2]	충청남도	忠淸南道	KR-44	2,176,636	8,204^[4]	265.3	Hongseong	Chungcheong	Hoseo	Chungnam	충남	忠南
Gangwon	Gangwon State^{[citation needed]}	강원특별자치도	江原特別自治道	KR-42	1,521,763	20,569^[5]	74.0	Chuncheon	Gangwon	Gwandong	Gangwon	강원	江原
Gyeonggi	Gyeonggi-do^[2]	경기도	京畿道	KR-41	13,511,676	10,171^[6]	1,328.5	Suwon	Gyeonggi	Sudogwon	Gyeonggi	경기	京畿
North Gyeongsang	Gyeongsangbuk-do^[2]	경상북도	慶尙北道	KR-47	2,644,757	19,030^[7]	139.0	Andong	Gyeongsang	Yeongnam	Gyeongbuk	경북	慶北
South Gyeongsang	Gyeongsangnam-do^[2]	경상남도	慶尙南道	KR-48	3,333,056	10,532^[8]	316.5	Changwon	Gyeongsang	Yeongnam	Gyeongnam	경남	慶南
North Jeolla	Jeonbuk State^[9]	전북특별자치도	全北特別自治道	KR-45	1,802,766	8,043	224.1	Jeonju	Jeolla	Honam	Jeonbuk	전북	全北
South Jeolla	Jeollanam-do^[2]	전라남도	全羅南道	KR-46	1,788,807	11,858	150.9	Muan		Honam	Jeonnam	전남	全南
Jeju	Jeju Special Self-Governing Province^[2]	제주특별자치도	濟州特別自治道	KR-49	670,858	1,849^[10]	362.8	Jeju		Jeju	Jeju	제주	濟州

Claimed provinces

South Korea claims five provinces on the territory controlled by North Korea. These claimed provinces are managed by the Committee for the Five Northern Korean Provinces (Korean: 이북5도위원회; Hanja: 以北五道委員會). These provinces are based on the divisions of the Korean Empire era and are different from the present North Korean provinces.

Historical province	Name	Hangul	Hanja	Area (km²)	Capital	Cultural region	Abbreviation
Hamgyeong	North Hamgyeong	함경북도	咸鏡北道	20,345	Cheongjin	Gwanbuk	Hambuk	함북	咸北
Hamgyeong	South Hamgyeong	함경남도	咸鏡南道	31,977	Hamheung	Gwannam	Hamnam	함남	咸南
Pyeongan	North Pyeongan	평안북도	平安北道	28,443	Sinuiju	Gwanseo	Pyeongbuk	평북	平北
Pyeongan	South Pyeongan	평안남도	平安南道	14,944	Pyongyang	Gwanseo	Pyeongnam	평남	平南
Hwanghae	Hwanghae	황해도	黃海道	16,744	Haeju	Haeseo	Hwanghae	황해	黃海

References

^ "South Korea Administrative Districts". CityPopulation.de. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g [1] Archived 2017-03-12 at the Wayback Machine, p. 41.
^ 충북면적 (in Korean). North Chungcheong Province. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
^ 일반현황 (in Korean). South Chungcheong Province. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
^ "Natural Environment". Gangwon Province. Archived from the original on 10 July 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
^ 위치와 자연환경 (in Korean). Gyeonggi Province. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
^ 경북현황 (in Korean). North Gyeongsang Province. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
^ 일반 현황 (in Korean). South Gyeongsang Province. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
^ "About Jeonbuk State". Jeonbuk State. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
^ "Geography". Jeju Province. Retrieved 18 March 2013.

[1] "South Korea Administrative Districts". CityPopulation.de. Retrieved 4 January 2023.

[:0-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g [1] Archived 2017-03-12 at the Wayback Machine, p. 41.

[3] 충북면적 (in Korean). North Chungcheong Province. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2013.

[4] 일반현황 (in Korean). South Chungcheong Province. Retrieved 18 March 2013.

[5] "Natural Environment". Gangwon Province. Archived from the original on 10 July 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2013.

[6] 위치와 자연환경 (in Korean). Gyeonggi Province. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2013.

[7] 경북현황 (in Korean). North Gyeongsang Province. Retrieved 18 March 2013.

[8] 일반 현황 (in Korean). South Gyeongsang Province. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2013.

[9] "About Jeonbuk State". Jeonbuk State. Retrieved 13 October 2024.

[10] "Geography". Jeju Province. Retrieved 18 March 2013.

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v t e Regions and administrative divisions of South Korea
Regions	Gyeonggi Capital area Gwandong Yeongdong Yeongseo Hoseo Daejeon–Sejong–Chungnam Chungbuk Honam Yeongnam Daegu–Gyeongbuk Busan–Ulsan–Gyeongnam Southeastern MIR Jeju
Provinces	North Chungcheong South Chungcheong Gyeonggi North Gyeongsang South Gyeongsang South Jeolla (Claimed five Northern Korean Provinces)
Special self-governing province and States	Jeju Gangwon Jeonbuk
Special city	Seoul
Special self-governing city	Sejong
Metropolitan cities	Busan Daegu Daejeon Gwangju Incheon Ulsan

v t e Articles on first-level administrative divisions of Asian countries
Sovereign states	Afghanistan Armenia² Azerbaijan¹ Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia China Cyprus² East Timor Egypt¹ Georgia¹ India Indonesia¹ Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan¹ North Korea province special city South Korea province provincial-level city Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Oman Pakistan Philippines Qatar Russia¹ Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka Syria Tajikistan Thailand Turkey¹ Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam province municipality Yemen¹
States with limited recognition	Abkhazia² Northern Cyprus² Palestine South Ossetia² Taiwan
Table of administrative divisions by country ¹ Spans the conventional boundary between Asia and another continent. ² Considered European for cultural, political and historical reasons but is geographically in Western Asia.