South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

is made up of 17 first-tier administrative divisions: 6 metropolitan cities (''gwangyeoksi'' ), 1 special city (''teukbyeolsi'' ), 1 special self-governing city (''teukbyeol-jachisi'' ), and 9 provinces ('' do'' ), including one special self-governing province (''teukbyeol jachido'' ). These are further subdivided into a variety of smaller entities, including

cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

(''si'' ),

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

(''

gun A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, p ...

'' ),

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

('' gu'' ),

towns A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

('' eup'' ),

townships A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

('' myeon'' ),

neighborhoods A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; American and British English spelling differences, see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community ...

('' dong'' ) and villages ('' ri'' ).

Local government

''Official

Revised Romanization of Korean Revised Romanization of Korean () is the official Korean language romanization system in South Korea. It was developed by the National Academy of the Korean Language from 1995 and was released to the public on 7 July 2000 by South Korea's Min ...

spellings are used''

Provincial-level divisions

The top tier of administrative divisions are the provincial-level divisions, of which there are several types: provinces (including special self-governing provinces), metropolitan cities, special cities, and special self-governing cities. The

governors A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the provincial-level divisions are elected every four years.

Municipal-level divisions

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 Suwon (, ) is the capital and largest city of Gyeonggi-do, South Korea's most populous province which surrounds Seoul, the national capital. Suwon lies about south of Seoul. It is traditionally known as "The City of Filial Piety". With a populati ...

Cheongju Cheongju () is the capital and largest city of North Chungcheong Province in South Korea. History Cheongju has been an important provincial town since ancient times. In the Cheongju Mountains, specifically in the one where Sangdang Sanseong is ...

, Cheonan and

Jeonju Jeonju () is the 16th largest city in South Korea and the capital of North Jeolla Province. It is both urban and rural due to the closeness of Wanju County which almost entirely surrounds Jeonju (Wanju County has many residents who work in Jeonju) ...

) is considered as a specific city, which can set non-autonomous districts(''gu''). An administrative city doesn't have a city council and the mayor of the city is appointed by the provincial governor.

Gun (county)

A ''gun'' () is one of the divisions of a province (along with ''si''), and of the metropolitan cities of

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

Daegu Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...

Incheon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

and

Ulsan Ulsan (), officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City is South Korea's seventh-largest metropolitan city and the eighth-largest city overall, with a population of over 1.1 million inhabitants. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighboring ...

(along with ''gu''). 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 Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non-m ...

. Counties are divided into towns (''eup'') and townships (''myeon''). Specially, the size of a "gun" is less than a US "county".

Gu (district)

A ''gu'' () is equivalent to ''

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

'' in the West. The metropolitan cities of Busan, Daegu, Incheon and Ulsan contain ''gun'' as well. ''Gu'' are similar to

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

s 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. ''Myeon''s have smaller populations than ''eup'' and represent the rural areas of a county or city. ''Myeon'' are subdivided into villages (''ri''). The minimum population limit is 6,000.

Dong (neighborhood)

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 districts (''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 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 Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

References

External links

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Korea, South South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Lists of subdivisions of South Korea