Provinces are one of the first-level divisions within South Korea. There are 8 provinces in South Korea: North Chungcheong, South Chungcheong, Gangwon State, Gyeonggi, North Gyeongsang, South Gyeongsang, North Jeolla, and Jeju Province.
South Jeolla was formerly a province, but on July 1, 2026, it was merged with the city of Gwangju into the Special Metropolitan City Jeonnam-Gwangju.
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 (, ) are the highest-ranked administrative divisions in South Korea, which use the East Asian traditional 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 (, ) is a type of province with more autonomy over its economy and more powers 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 NameOfficial English nameHangulHanjaISOPop.(2020)Area(km2)Density2020(/km2)CapitalHistoricalprovinceCulturalregionAbbreviation Chungcheongbuk-do , p. 41.KR-431,632,0887,433 219.6CheongjuChungcheongHoseoChungbukChungcheongnam-doKR-442,176,6368,204 265.3HongseongChungnam GangwonGangwon StateKR-421,521,76320,569 74.0ChuncheonGangwonGwandongGangwonGyeonggi-doKR-4113,511,67610,171 1,328.5SuwonGyeonggiSudogwonGyeonggiGyeongsangbuk-doKR-472,644,75719,030 139.0AndongGyeongsangYeongnamGyeongbukGyeongsangnam-doKR-483,333,05610,532 316.5ChangwonGyeongnam North JeollaJeonbuk State KR-451,802,7668,043224.1JeonjuJeollaHonamJeonbukJeju SpecialSelf-Governing ProvinceKR-49670,8581,849 362.8JejuJejuJeju
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 (). These provinces are based on the divisions of the Korean Empire era and are different from the present North Korean provinces. Historical provinceNameHangulHanjaArea (km2)CapitalCultural regionAbbreviationHamgyeong North Hamgyeong20,345CheongjinGwanbukHambuk South Hamgyeong31,977HamheungGwannamHamnamPyeongan North Pyeongan28,443SinuijuGwanseoPyeongbuk South Pyeongan14,944PyeongyangPyeongnamHwanghae Hwanghae16,744HaejuHaeseoHwanghae
See also Administrative divisions of South Korea Special cities of South Korea
References