Provinces are one of the first-level divisions within

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. There are 9 provinces in South Korea:

North Chungcheong North Chungcheong Province ( ko, 충청북도, ''Chungcheongbuk-do''), also known as Chungbuk, is a province of South Korea. North Chungcheong has a population of 1,578,934 (2014) and has a geographic area of located in the Hoseo region in the ...

South Chungcheong South Chungcheong Province ( ko, 충청남도, ''Chungcheongnam-do''), also known as Chungnam, is a province of South Korea. South Chungcheong has a population of 2,059,871 (2014) and has a geographic area of 8,204 km2 (3,168 sq mi) located i ...

, Gangwon,

Gyeonggi Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

North Gyeongsang North Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상북도, translit=Gyeongsangbuk-do, ) is a province in eastern South Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Gyeongsang province, and remained a province of Korea until the ...

, South Gyeongsang,

North Jeolla North Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollabuk-do''), also known as Jeonbuk, is a province of South Korea. North Jeolla has a population of 1,869,711 (2015) and has a geographic area of 8,067 km2 (3,115 sq mi) located in the Honam region in the southwes ...

South Jeolla South Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollanam-do''; ), also known as Jeonnam, is a province of South Korea. South Jeolla has a population of 1,902,324 (2014) and has a geographic area of located in the Honam region at the southwestern tip of the Korea ...

, 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 North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

Types

Provinces (, ) are the highest-ranked administrative divisions in South Korea, which follows the East Asian tradition name

Circuit (administrative division) A circuit ( or ) was a historical political division of China and is a historical and modern administrative unit in Japan. The primary level of administrative division of Korea under the Joseon and in modern North and South Korea employs the sam ...

. 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. A special self-governing province (, ) is a province with more autonomy over its economy and more powers are given to the provincial government. Jeju is the only special self-governing province, while

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

is the only special city and

Sejong Sejong of Joseon (15 May 1397 – 8 April 1450), personal name Yi Do (Korean: 이도; Hanja: 李祹), widely known as Sejong the Great (Korean: 세종대왕; Hanja: 世宗大王), was the fourth ruler of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. Initial ...

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 This is a list of current governors and mayors of the provincial level divisions of South Korea. {, class="sortable wikitable" , - ! Provincial level up ! CurrentGovernor (Mayor) , , Hangul ! Party ! Took office !class=unsortable, Term ends ...

List of provinces

Claimed provinces

claims five provinces on the territory controlled by

. These claimed provinces are managed by the

Committee for the Five Northern Korean Provinces The Committee for the Five Northern Korean Provinces (, literally "The North's Five Provinces Committee") is a South Korean government body under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. History Established in 1949, the committee is officially ...

(). These provinces are based on the divisions of the Japanese era and are different from the present North Korean provinces.

References