South Korea Administrative Divisions
What is the hierarchy of administrative divisions in South Korea?
Here’s a breakdown of the hierarchy:
1. First-level divisions: South Korea is divided into 17 first-level divisions, including metropolitan cities, a special city, a special self-governing city, and provinces.
2. Cities, counties, and districts: These are subdivisions of the first-level divisions.
3. Neighbourhoods, towns, and townships: These are the smallest administrative units, found within cities, counties, and districts.
List of South Korea's administrative divisions with their counts and names
These are the summarized administrative divisions. The full dataset is available in the Download Center.
| iso | country | admin level 1 | admin level 2 | admin level 3 | admin level 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KR | South Korea | Busan (Metropolitan city) | 14 Districts, 2 Counties | This level doesn’t exist for this country. | This level doesn’t exist for this country. |
| KR | South Korea | Chungcheongbuk (Province) | 6 Cities, 8 Counties | This level doesn’t exist for this country. | This level doesn’t exist for this country. |
| KR | South Korea | Chungcheongnam (Province) | 8 Cities, 8 Counties | This level doesn’t exist for this country. | This level doesn’t exist for this country. |
| KR | South Korea | Daegu (Metropolitan city) | 2 Counties, 7 Districts | This level doesn’t exist for this country. | This level doesn’t exist for this country. |
| KR | South Korea | Daejeon (Metropolitan city) | 5 Districts | This level doesn’t exist for this country. | This level doesn’t exist for this country. |
| KR | South Korea | Gangwon (Special autonomous province) | 11 Counties, 7 Cities | This level doesn’t exist for this country. | This level doesn’t exist for this country. |
| KR | South Korea | Gwangju (Metropolitan city) | 5 Districts | This level doesn’t exist for this country. | This level doesn’t exist for this country. |
| KR | South Korea | Gyeonggi (Province) | 2 Districts, 39 Cities, 3 Counties | This level doesn’t exist for this country. | This level doesn’t exist for this country. |
| KR | South Korea | Gyeongsangbuk (Province) | 11 Cities, 12 Counties | This level doesn’t exist for this country. | This level doesn’t exist for this country. |
| KR | South Korea | Gyeongsangnam (Province) | 10 Counties, 12 Cities | This level doesn’t exist for this country. | This level doesn’t exist for this country. |
| KR | South Korea | Incheon (Metropolitan city) | 2 Counties, 8 Districts | This level doesn’t exist for this country. | This level doesn’t exist for this country. |
| KR | South Korea | Jeju (Special autonomous province) | 2 Cities | This level doesn’t exist for this country. | This level doesn’t exist for this country. |
| KR | South Korea | Jeollanam (Province) | 17 Counties, 5 Cities | This level doesn’t exist for this country. | This level doesn’t exist for this country. |
| KR | South Korea | Jeonbuk (Province) | 7 Cities, 8 Counties | This level doesn’t exist for this country. | This level doesn’t exist for this country. |
| KR | South Korea | Sejong (Special autonomous city) | 1 County | This level doesn’t exist for this country. | This level doesn’t exist for this country. |
| KR | South Korea | Seoul (Special city) | 25 Districts | This level doesn’t exist for this country. | This level doesn’t exist for this country. |
| KR | South Korea | Ulsan (Metropolitan city) | 1 County, 4 Districts | This level doesn’t exist for this country. | This level doesn’t exist for this country. |
Why is building an Administrative Divisions Database complex?
The complexity arises from inconsistent global standards, frequent boundary changes, non-uniform naming conventions (e.g., “suburb” in Australia vs. “county” in the US), and variations in administrative levels across countries. Integrating and harmonizing data from multiple sources requires advanced normalization, versioning, and geospatial validation techniques.
How does GeoPostcodes solve the problem for you?
Our standardized database overcomes the complexity of different administrative division
systems worldwide. Our database follows a unified structure that you can integrate
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each country’s unique administrative hierarchy.
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Frequently Asked Questions
South Korea is divided into 1 special city (특별시), 1 special autonomous city (특별 자치도), 6 metropolitan cities (광역시), and 9 other units across 2 types, which form the top-level administrative units. These are further divided into 97 cities (시) and 153 counties (군). Major special city include Busan, Chungcheongbuk, and Chungcheongnam.
South Korea has 2 administrative levels. Level 1: 1 special city (특별시), 1 special autonomous city (특별 자치도), 6 metropolitan cities (광역시), and 9 other units across 2 types. Level 2: 97 cities (시) and 153 counties (군).
South Korea operates on a multi-level system starting with 17 first-level divisions (including metropolitan cities, a special city, a special self-governing city, and provinces), followed by cities, counties, and districts, with neighbourhoods, towns, and townships as the smallest administrative units.
In South Korea, special city and special autonomous city both sit at administrative level 1 but serve different functions. Special city (특별시) — there is 1 — is typically a larger city or urban area that governs itself independently. Special autonomous city (특별 자치도) — there is 1 — groups multiple smaller municipalities under a shared administration.
South Korean administrative divisions have specific local names at each level. In Korean, special city are called 특별시; special autonomous city are called 특별 자치도; metropolitan cities are called 광역시; provinces are called 도; special autonomous province are called 특별 자치도; cities are called 시; counties are called 군. These local-language terms appear in official documents, legal records, and government databases, so matching them correctly is important for data integration and compliance.
Administrative boundaries in South Korea change as governments reorganize regions, merge municipalities, or create new administrative units to reflect population shifts and political decisions. Changes most commonly affect the cities level, where South Korea currently has 250 units. Businesses that rely on South Korean administrative data should use a regularly updated reference dataset to avoid mismatches in geocoding, tax jurisdiction mapping, and compliance reporting.