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South Korea is made up of 17 first-tier administrative divisions: 6 metropolitan cities (gwangyeoksi ), 1 special city (teukbyeolsi ), 1 special self-governing city (teukbyeoljachisi ), and 9 provinces (do ), including three special self-governing provinces (teukbyeoljachido ) and six claimed by the ROK government. These are further subdivided into a variety of smaller entities, including cities (si ), counties (gun ), districts (gu ), towns (eup ), townships (myeon ), neighborhoods (dong ) and villages (ri ).
Local government
Official Revised Romanization of Korean spellings are used
{|class=wikitable
!Level!!Group name!!Type!!Hangeul!!Hanja!!RR Romaja!!No.<br>
|-align=center
|rowspan=5|1||rowspan=5|Upper-level local autonomy<br><br>
|Province||||||do||6
|-align=center
|Special self-governing province||||||teukbyeol-jachido||3
|-align=center
|Special city||||||teukbyeolsi||1
|-align=center
|Special self-governing city||||||teukbyeol-jachisi||1
|-align=center
|Metropolitan city||||||gwangyeoksi||6
|-align=center
| rowspan="4" |2||rowspan=4|Lower-level local autonomy
!Capital!!Hangul!!Hanja
!Population <br>2020 Census
!Area <br>(km<sup>2</sup>)
!Population density <br> 2022 (per km<sup>2</sup>)
|-
|KR-11||center|20px||Seoul special city||Seoul
|Jung District||||
| align="right" |9,586,195
| align="right" |605.20
| align="right" |15,578.16
|-
|KR-26||center|20px||Busan metropolitan city||Busan
|Yeonje District||||
| align="right" |3,349,016
| align="right" |770.04
| align="right" |4,309.46
|-
|KR-27||center|20px||Daegu metropolitan city||Daegu
|Jung District, Buk District||||
| align="right" |2,410,700
| align="right" |883.49
| align="right" |2,675.25
|-
|KR-28||center|20px||Incheon metropolitan city||Incheon
|Namdong District||||Incheon|
| align="right" |2,945,454
| align="right" |1,062.63
| align="right" |2,782.40
|-
|KR-29||center|20px||Gwangju metropolitan city||Gwangju
|Seo District||||
| align="right" |1,477,573
| align="right" |501.24
| align="right" |2,855.02
|-
|KR-30||center|20px||Daejeon metropolitan city||Daejeon
|Seo District||||
| align="right" |1,488,435
| align="right" |539.85
| align="right" |2,681.14
|-
|KR-31||center|20px||Ulsan metropolitan city||Ulsan
|Nam District||||
| align="right" |1,135,423
| align="right" |1,057.14
| align="right" |1,047.01
|-
|KR-50||center|20px||Sejong special self-governing city||Sejong Special Self-Governing City
| ||||
| align="right" |346,275
| align="right" |465.23
| align="right" |824.93
|-
|KR-41||center|20px||Gyeonggi-do||Gyeonggi Province
|Suwon, Uijeongbu||||
| align="right" |13,511,676
| align="right" |10,184
| align="right" |1,336.10
|-
|KR-42||center|20px||Gangwon special self-governing province||Gangwon State
|Chuncheon||||
| align="right" |1,521,763
| align="right" |16,875
| align="right" |91.06
|-
|KR-43||center|20px||Chungcheongbuk-do||North Chungcheong Province
|Cheongju||||
| align="right" |1,632,088
| align="right" |7,433
| align="right" |215.34
|-
|KR-44||center|20px||Chungcheongnam-do||South Chungcheong Province
|Hongseong County||||
| align="right" |2,176,636
| align="right" |8,204
| align="right" |258.08
|-
|KR-45||center|20px||Jeonbuk special self-governing province||Jeonbuk State
|Jeonju||||
| align="right" |1,802,766
| align="right" |8,067
| align="right" |219.31
|-
|KR-46||center|20px||Jeollanam-do||South Jeolla Province
|Muan County||||
| align="right" |1,788,807
| align="right" |12,247
| align="right" |147.36
|-
|KR-47||center|20px||Gyeongsangbuk-do||North Gyeongsang Province
|Andong||||
| align="right" |2,644,757
| align="right" |19,030
| align="right" |136.64
|-
|KR-48||center|20px||Gyeongsangnam-do||South Gyeongsang Province
|Changwon||||
| align="right" |3,333,056
| align="right" |10,533
| align="right" |311.26
|-
|KR-49||center|20px||Jeju special self-governing province||Jeju Special Self-Governing Province
|Jeju City||||
| align="right" |670,858
| align="right" |1,849
| align="right" |366.74
|}
Municipal-level divisions
thumb|300px|A map of all South Korean metropolitan cities' districts (gu), municipal cities (si), and counties (gun)
Si (city)
A si (, pronounced ) is one of the divisions of a province, along with gun. A city must have a neighborhood (dong) and can have towns (eup), townships (myeon) if the city is combined with urban and rural areas. Once an eup of a county (gun) attains a population of 50,000, the county can become a city. A city with a population of over 500,000 (such as Suwon, Cheongju, Cheonan and Jeonju) is considered as a specific city, which can set non-autonomous districts (gu). City with a population of over 1,000,000, it can be promoted to a metropolitan city if the need is recognized. (Not as specified by law but customarily, such as Seoul (1946), Busan (1963), Incheon (1981), Daegu (1981), Gwangju (1986), Daejeon (1989) Ulsan (1997)) An administrative city does not have a city council and the mayor of the city is appointed by the provincial governor. (Jeju-si, Seogwipo-si)
Gun (county)
A gun () is one of the subdivisions of a provincial-level division. A gun has a population of less than 150,000 (more than that would make it a city or si), is less densely populated than a gu, and is more rural in character than either of the other 2 divisions. Gun are comparable to British non-metropolitan districts. Counties are divided into towns (eup) and townships (myeon). The metropolitan cities of Busan, Daegu, Incheon and Ulsan contain gun as well due to operating at a provincial level over local, non-urban areas.
Gu (district)
A gu (), or a district, is a possible division within cities which have more than 500,000 people. Gu are similar to boroughs in some Western countries, and a gu office handles many of the functions that would be handled by the city in other jurisdictions. Gu are divided into neighborhoods (dong).
Submunicipal level divisions
Eup (town)
An eup () is similar to the unit of town. Along with myeon, an eup is one of the divisions of a county (gun), and of some cities (si) with a population of less than 500,000. The main town or towns in a county—or the secondary town or towns within a city's territory—are designated as eup. Towns are subdivided into villages (ri). In order to form an eup, the minimum population required is 20,000.
Myeon (township)
A myeon () is one of the divisions – along with eup – of a county (gun) and some cities (si) of fewer than 500,000 population. Myeons have smaller populations than eups and represent the rural areas of a county or city. Myeons are subdivided into villages (ri). The minimum population limit is 6,000.
=== Dong (neighborhood) ===<!-- This section is linked from Seoul -->
A dong () is the primary division of districts (gu), and of those cities (si) which are not divided into districts. The dong is the smallest level of urban government to have its own office and staff. In some cases, a single legal dong is divided into several administrative dong. Administrative dong are usually distinguished from one another by number (as in the case of Myeongjang 1-dong and Myeongjang 2-dong). In such cases, each administrative dong has its own office and staff.
The primary division of a dong is the tong (), but divisions at this level and below are seldom used in daily life. Some populous dong are subdivided into ga (), which are not a separate level of government, but only exist for use in addresses. Many major thoroughfares in Seoul, Suwon, and other cities are also subdivided into ga.
Ri (village)
A ri () is the only division of towns (eup) and townships (myeon). The ri is the smallest level of rural government to contain any significant number of people.
History
Although the details of local administration have changed 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.
See also
- Administrative divisions of North Korea
- ISO 3166-2:KR, ISO codes for cities and provinces in South Korea
- List of cities in South Korea
- List of South Korean regions by GDP
- Provinces of Korea
- Special cities of South Korea