Provinces of South Korea

Buy data    Donate

Updates: 

I've updated the populations in the main table to the 2000 census.

On 2004-08-11, South Korea announced plans to move its capital from Seoul by 2020. The new site has been selected: 71 km.² in Gongju and Yeongi counties, in Chungcheongnam-do province. This is still a controversial project, and it should not be considered a certainty. Thanks to Hans Wittebol for alerting me.

The National Geographic Magazine reports that South Korea adopted a new romanization system on 2000-07-04, intended to replace the McCune-Reischauer system. The new system was developed by the National Academy of the Korean Language (NAKL). It seems to be called the "new Hangeul system" in discussions on the Internet. One of its objectives is to eliminate the use of apostrophes and breves that might otherwise get lost, especially in computer implementations. I've added the new romanizations of names, as shown on the National Geographic map.

Change Notice 7 to FIPS PUB 10-4 is dated 2002-01-10. It lists new codes resulting from the splitting of Ulsan from Gyeongsangnam-do. The new codes are shown in the table below.

International standard ISO 3166-2 was published on 1998-12-15. It superseded ISO/DIS 3166-2 (draft international standard). For South Korea, the draft standard showed fifteen divisions. The final standard shows the same fifteen divisions plus one more: Ulsan city. Also, many of the ISO codes were changed. The revised codes appear in this table.

Country overview: 

See North Korea for the country overview of the Korean peninsula during the 20th century.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Sydkorea, Republikken Korea (formal)
2. Dutch: Zuid-Korea, Republiek Korea (formal)
3. English: Republic of Korea (formal)
4. Finnish: Etelä-Korea, Korean tasavalta (formal)
5. French: Corée du Sud, République f de Corée f (formal)
6. German: Südkorea n, Republik f Korea n (formal)
7. Icelandic: Suður-Kórea
8. Italian: Corea f del Sud
9. Korean: Daehan Min-kuk (formal)
10. Norwegian: Sør-Korea, Republikken Korea (formal)
11. Portuguese: Coreia do Sul, Coréia do Sul (Brazil), República f da Coreia f (formal)
12. Spanish: Corea del Sur, República f de Corea f (formal)
13. Swedish: Sydkorea

Origin of name: 

Korean koryo, dynastic name, meaning high serenity.

Primary subdivisions: 

South Korea is divided into nine do (provinces), six gwangyeoksi (metropolitan cities), and one teukbyeolsi (capital metropolitan city). (Buk = north, nam = south.)

Further subdivisions:

The provinces are subdivided into over 200 gun (counties) and shi (cities).

According to Shannon McCune's 1946 article, originally (1896?) Korea was divided into 360 ju (districts). After Japan's 1910 annexation of Korea, many of the secondary and tertiary administrative divisions were merged or altered. In 1937 the number of districts was 220. Jeju and Ulleung islands were special administrative districts, and counted as two districts in the total.

Territorial extent: 

1. Busan includes the islands of Yong-do and Ulsuk-to.
2. Chungcheongnam-do included Daejeon before it became a special city. It includes the islands of Wonsan-do, Sapshi-do, Taenanji-do, and many islets; the westernmost is Sogyŏngnyŏlbi-do.
3. Gangwon-do includes the fairly remote island of Ulleung-do, long ago called Dagelet Island.
4. Gyeonggi-do included Incheon and Soul (Seoul), now an enclave, before they became special cities. It includes the Tŏkchŏk-kundo island group, some of whose largest islands are Tŏkchŏk-to, Mungap-to, Soya-do, Chawol-to, and Paega-do; Paengnyŏng-do, Taech'ŏng-do, and Soch'ŏng-do, known long ago as the Sir James Hall Group; the Yŏnp'yŏng-yŏlto group; and many other islands, such as Kanghwa-do, Kyodong-do, Sŏngmo-do, Taebu-do, Yŏnghŭng-do, Polŭm-do, Chumun-do, Changbong-do, and Shin-do.
5. Gyeongsangbuk-do included Daegu, now an enclave, before it became a special city.
6. Gyeongsangnam-do included Busan before it became a special city. It includes the large coastal islands of Kŏje-do, Namhae-do (the westernmost), Ch'angsŏn-do, and Mirŭk-to, and many smaller ones.
7. Incheon includes the islands of Yŏngjong-do, Yongyu-do, Muŭi-do, and Sammok-to.
8. Jeju-do is an island, formerly known to westerners as Quelpart, off the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula. It also includes the Ch'uja-kundo island group, whose largest island is Hach'uja-do, and the islands of Kap'a-do and Mara-do.
9. Jeollabuk-do includes the islands of Wi-do, Ŏch'ŏng-do, Sŏnyu-do, and many more.
10. Jeollanam-do included Gwangju, now an enclave, before it became a special city. It includes the Hŭksan-chedo island group, of which Taehŭksan-do, Sohŭksan-do, and Hongdo are the largest; and an archipelago of coastal islands. The largest is Chin-do, and there are many others of considerable size. They extend as far north as Anma-do, and as far east as the Kŭmo-yŏlto group, containing Kŭmo-do.

Origins of names: 

Most of these derivations come from the article "Physical Basis for Korean Boundaries", by Shannon McCune, in Far Eastern Quarterly, Vol. V, No. 3, May, 1946 (reprinted in "Views of the Geography of Korea 1935-1960").

1. Chungcheong: = serene loyalty
2. Gangwon: = river meadow
3. Gyeonggi: = capital, or home
4. Gyeongsang: = respectful congratulation
5. Incheon: Korean in: virtue, cheon: river
6. Jeju-do: Korean je: end, ju: province, do: island
7. Jeolla: = completed network
8. Seoul: = capital, prince's residence

Change history: 

1. 1392: Start of Yi dynasty. Capital of Korea moved from Kaesong to Seoul. Country divided into eight provinces: Cholla, Chungchong, Hamgyong, Hwanghae, Kangwon, Kyonggi, Kyongsang, and Pyongang. Koreans subsequently referred to their country as "paldo kangsan," the land of eight provinces.
2. 1895-06-20: Korea reorganized into 23 administration districts.
3. 1896-08-04: The previous year's reorganization was revoked. Cholla, Chungchong, Hamgyong, Kyongsang, and Pyongang were each divided into two provinces, called north and south. (In fact, however, North Chungchong is predominantly east of South Chungchong.) The provinces at this time were:

1. 1946-08-01: Cheju-do province split from Chŏlla-namdo.
2. 1946-08-15: Seoul "special free city" split from Kyŏnggi-do province.
3. 1949-08-15: Status of Seoul changed from special free city to special city (t'ŭkpyŏlsi).
4. 1963-01-01: Pusan direct control city split from Kyŏngsang-namdo province.
5. 1981: Taegu direct control city split from Kyŏngsang-bukto province (FIPS code KS09 before change); Inch'ŏn direct control city split from Kyŏnggi-do province (KS07).
6. 1986: Kwangju direct control city split from Chŏlla-namdo province (KS02).
7. 1989: Taejŏn direct control city split from Ch'ungch'ŏng-namdo province (KS04). At this time, the primary subdivisions of South Korea were as shown in this table.

1. ~1994: Capital of Kyŏngsang-namdo moved from Ch'angwŏn to Pusan.
2. 1995-01-01: status of all five jikhalsi (direct control cities) changed to gwangyŏksi (metropolitan cities).
3. 1997-07-15: Ulsan metropolitan city split from Kyŏngsang-namdo province.
4. 1998-12-15: Final version of ISO 3166-2 changed most provincial codes from what they had been in the draft standard. The source for the old codes was Korean Customs. The source for the revised codes was Korean Standard KS C 5618 -1995: Public zone code.
5. 2000-07-04: New Hangeul romanization system became official. All province names changed.

Other names of subdivisions: 

These names were all first written in Korean characters, of course. On this page, they appear transliterated into the Roman alphabet. There are several systems of romanization in use, which accounts for much of the variation in spelling. Currently the new Hangeul system is official. The McCune-Reischauer system was preferred until recently.

In Korean, the same letter may be pronounced differently, depending on the letters in juxtaposition with it. The McCune-Reischauer system takes this into account. Other romanizations may replace p with b, ch with j, k with g, and so on.

The names of these divisions usually have generics suffixed to them. The generics are "do" for province, "gwangyeoksi" ("gwangyŏksi") for metropolitan city, and "teugbyeolsi" ("t'ŭkpyŏlsi") for capital metropolitan city. They may be written as separate words, hyphenated, or joined with the specific name. When "do" is joined to a name ending with k, it changes to "to" in the McCune-Reischauer system. Some alternate transliterations of "gwangyeoksi" are "gwang'yeogsi" and "kwangyokshi".

Korea became a Japanese protectorate in 1905-12, and then a colony on 1910-08-22. It regained its independence with the surrender of Japan on 1945-09-02. During the period of Japanese domination, Japanese names for the cities and provinces (the "Japanese" tags below) were in use.

Here are some recognized alternate names for Korean provinces and metropolitan cities. The "variant" tags are usually different romanizations.

1. Busan: Busan Gwang'yeogsi, Pusan-gwangyŏksi (variant); Fusan (Japanese)
2. Chungcheongbuk-do: Chungcheongbugdo, Ch'ungch'ŏng-bukto (variant); Chusei Hoku-do (Japanese); North Chungchong (English)
3. Chungcheongnam-do: Ch'ungch'ŏng-namdo (variant); Chusei Nan-do (Japanese); South Chungchong (English)
4. Daegu: Daegu Gwang'yeogsi, Taegu-gwangyŏksi (variant); Taikyu (Japanese)
5. Daejeon: Daejeon Gwang'yeogsi, Taejŏn-gwangyŏksi (variant); Taiden (Japanese)
6. Gangwon-do: Gang'weondo, Kangwŏn-do (variant); Kogen-do (Japanese); South Kangwon (to distinguish it from the part of Kangwon province in North Korea)
7. Gwangju: Kwangju-gwangyŏksi (variant)
8. Gyeonggi-do: Kyŏnggi-do (variant); Keiki-do (Japanese); Kyunggi (variant)
9. Gyeongsangbuk-do: Gyeongsangbugdo, Kyŏngsang-bukto (variant); Keisho Hoku-do (Japanese); North Kyŏngsang (English)
10. Gyeongsangnam-do: Kyŏngsang-namdo (variant); Keisho Nan-do (Japanese); South Kyŏngsang (English)
11. Incheon: Inch'ŏn-gwangyŏksi (variant); Jinsen (Japanese)
12. Jeju-do: Cheju-do (variant); Quelpart (name used by Westerners for the island until ~1930); Saishu-to (Japanese)
13. Jeollabuk-do: Chŏlla-bukto, Jeonrabugdo (variant); North Cholla (English); Zenra Hoku-do (Japanese)
14. Jeollanam-do: Chŏlla-namdo, Jeonranamdo (variant); South Cholla (English); Zenra Nan-do (Japanese)
15. Seoul: Keijo (Japanese); Séoul (French); Seul (Italian, Portuguese); Seúl (Spanish); Söul (variant-German, Norwegian); Soul-t'ŭkpyŏlsi (variant)