Administrative divisions of South Korea
is made up of 17 first-tier administrative divisions: 6 metropolitan cities, 1 special city, 1 special self-governing city, and 9 provinces, including one special self-governing province. These are further subdivided into a variety of smaller entities, including cities, counties, districts, towns, townships, neighborhoods and villages.
Local government
Official Revised Romanization of Korean spellings are used| Level | Group name | Type | Hangul | Hanja | RR Romaja | No. |
| 1 | Upper level local autonomy 광역지방자치단체 廣域地方自治團體 | Province | 도 | 道 | do | 8 |
| 1 | Upper level local autonomy 광역지방자치단체 廣域地方自治團體 | Special self-governing province | 특별자치도 | 特別自治道 | teukbyeol-jachido | 1 |
| 1 | Upper level local autonomy 광역지방자치단체 廣域地方自治團體 | Special city | 특별시 | 特別市 | teukbyeolsi | 1 |
| 1 | Upper level local autonomy 광역지방자치단체 廣域地方自治團體 | Special self-governing city | 특별자치시 | 特別自治市 | teukbyeol-jachisi | 1 |
| 1 | Upper level local autonomy 광역지방자치단체 廣域地方自治團體 | Metropolitan city | 광역시 | 廣域市 | gwangyeoksi | 6 |
| 2 | Lower level local autonomy 기초지방자치단체 基礎地方自治團體 | City | 시 | 市 | si | 60 |
| 2 | Lower level local autonomy 기초지방자치단체 基礎地方自治團體 | City | 시 | 市 | si | 15 |
| 2 | Lower level local autonomy 기초지방자치단체 基礎地方自治團體 | County | 군 | 郡 | gun | 82 |
| 2 | Lower level local autonomy 기초지방자치단체 基礎地方自治團體 | District | 구 | 區 | gu | 69 |
| 2 | N/A | City | 시 | 市 | si | 2 |
| 2 | N/A | District | 구 | 區 | gu | 35 |
| 3 | N/A | Town | 읍 | 邑 | eup | 216 |
| 3 | N/A | Township | 면 | 面 | myeon | 1198 |
| 3 | N/A | Neighborhood | 동 | 洞 | dong | 2073 |
| 3 | N/A | Neighborhood | 동 | 洞 | dong | 2073 |
| 4 | N/A | Urban Village | 통 | 統 | tong | |
| 4 | N/A | Rural Village | 리 | 里 | ri | |
| 5 | N/A | Hamlet | 반 | 班 | ban |
Provincial-level divisions
The top tier of administrative divisions are the provincial-level divisions, of which there are several types: provinces, metropolitan cities, special cities, and special self-governing cities. The governors of the provincial-level divisions are elected every four years.| Map | Code | Emblem | Name | Official English name | Hangul | Hanja |
| KR-11 | Seoul special city | Seoul | 서울특별시 | |||
| KR-26 | Busan metropolitan city | Busan | 부산광역시 | 釜山廣域市 | ||
| KR-27 | Daegu metropolitan city | Daegu | 대구광역시 | 大邱廣域市 | ||
| KR-28 | Incheon metropolitan city | Incheon | 인천광역시 | 仁川廣域市 | ||
| KR-29 | Gwangju metropolitan city | Gwangju | 광주광역시 | 光州廣域市 | ||
| KR-30 | Daejeon metropolitan city | Daejeon | 대전광역시 | 大田廣域市 | ||
| KR-31 | Ulsan metropolitan city | Ulsan | 울산광역시 | 蔚山廣域市 | ||
| KR-50 | Sejong special self-governing city | Sejong Special Self-Governing City | 세종특별자치시 | 世宗特別自治市 | ||
| KR-41 | Gyeonggi Province | Gyeonggi-do | 경기도 | 京畿道 | ||
| KR-42 | Gangwon Province | Gangwon-do | 강원도 | 江原道 | ||
| KR-43 | North Chungcheong Province | Chungcheongbuk-do | 충청북도 | 忠淸北道 | ||
| KR-44 | South Chungcheong Province | Chungcheongnam-do | 충청남도 | 忠淸南道 | ||
| KR-45 | North Jeolla Province | Jeollabuk-do | 전라북도 | 全羅北道 | ||
| KR-46 | South Jeolla Province | Jeollanam-do | 전라남도 | 全羅南道 | ||
| KR-47 | North Gyeongsang Province | Gyeongsangbuk-do | 경상북도 | 慶尙北道 | ||
| KR-48 | South Gyeongsang Province | Gyeongsangnam-do | 경상남도 | 慶尙南道 | ||
| KR-49 | Jeju special self-governing province | Jeju Special Self-Governing Province | 제주특별자치도 | 濟州特別自治道 |
Municipal-level divisions
Si (city)
A si is one of the divisions of a province, along with gun. Cities have a population of at least 150,000; once a county attains that population, it becomes a city. Cities with a population of over 500,000 are divided into districts ; Bucheon, Gimhae, Hwaseong and Namyangju are noticeable exceptions to this rule. Gus are then further divided into neighborhoods ; cities with a population of less than 500,000 do not have wards – these cities are directly divided into neighborhoods.Gun (county)
A gun is one of the divisions of a province, and of the metropolitan cities of Busan, Daegu, Incheon and Ulsan. A gun has a population of less than 150,000, 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 and townships. Specially, the size of a "gun" is less than a US "county".Gu (district)
A gu is equivalent to district in the West. Most cities are divided into gu, though the metropolitan cities of Busan, Daegu, Incheon and Ulsan contain gun as well. 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.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, and of some cities 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. 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 and some cities of fewer than 500,000 population. Myeons have smaller populations than eup and represent the rural areas of a county or city. Myeon are subdivided into villages. The minimum population limit is 6,000.Dong (neighborhood)
A dong is the primary division of districts, and of those cities 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. 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.