Provinces of North Korea

Provinces (Korean: 도; Hanja: 道; RR: do; MR: to) are the first level of division within North Korea. There are nine provinces in North Korea: Chagang, North Hamgyong, South Hamgyong, North Hwanghae, South Hwanghae, Kangwon, North Pyongan, South Pyongan, and Ryanggang.^{[1][full citation needed]}

Provinces of The Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Category	Unitary state
Location	North Korea
Number	16 (8 controlled by DPRK, 7 controlled by ROK & 1 split between DPRK and ROK)
Populations	719,269 (Ryanggang Province) – 4,051,696 (South Pyongan)
Areas	11,255 km2 (4,346 sq mi) (Kangwon) – 18,970 km2 (7,320 sq mi) (South Hamgyong) – 28,955 km2 (11,180 sq mi) (Kangwon including ROK controlled-parts)
Government	Single-party government
Subdivisions	City, County

History

Main article: Provinces of Korea

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 South Korea.

Provinces (Korean: 도; Hancha: 道) are the highest-ranked administrative divisions in North Korea. Provinces have equal status to the special cities.

List of provinces

The populations listed for each province are from the 2008 North Korea Census. From this census, an additional 702,372 people are living in military camps.

Name	Chosŏn'gŭl	Hancha	ISO	Population	Area (km2)	Density (/km2)	Capital	Region
Chagang	자강도	慈江道	KP-04	1,299,830	16,765	77.5	Kanggye	Kwanso
North Hamgyong	함경북도	咸鏡北道	KP-09	2,327,362	15,980	145.6	Chongjin	Kwanbuk
South Hamgyong	함경남도	咸鏡南道	KP-08	3,066,013	18,534	165.4	Hamhung	Kwannam
North Hwanghae	황해북도	黃海北道	KP-06	2,113,672	8,153.7	259.2	Sariwon	Haeso
South Hwanghae	황해남도	黃海南道	KP-05	2,310,485	8,450.3	273.4	Haeju	Haeso
Kangwon	강원도	江原道	KP-07	1,477,582	11,091	133.2	Wonsan	Kwandong
North Pyongan	평안북도	平安北道	KP-03	2,728,662	12,680.3	215.2	Sinuiju	Kwanso
South Pyongan	평안남도	平安南道	KP-02	4,051,696	11,890.6	340.7	Pyongsong	Kwanso
Ryanggang	량강도	兩江道	KP-10	719,269	13,880	51.8	Hyesan	Kwannam

Claimed provinces

North Korea claims seven provinces on the territory controlled by South Korea. While people's committees for these claimed provinces were elected in 1950 during the Korean War, no government-in-exile for them exists as of 2025, unlike the South Korean counterpart. These provinces are based on the divisions of the Japanese era, but correspond somewhat to the present South Korean provinces and the special cities partitioned out of them, owing to the alterations in the provincial division affected by South Korea being more conservative relatively to those affected by the north.

Historical province	Name	Chosŏn'gŭl	Hancha	Capital	Equivalent South Korean provinces
Ch'ungch'ŏng	North Ch'ungch'ŏng	충청북도	忠淸北道	Ch'ŏngju	North Chungcheong Province
					Sejong Special Self-Governing City (part)
Ch'ungch'ŏng	South Ch'ungch'ŏng	충청남도	忠淸南道	Taejŏn	South Chungcheong Province
					Daejeon Metropolitan City
					Sejong Special Self-Governing City (part)
Kyŏnggi	Kyŏnggi	경기도	京畿道	Sŏul	Gyeonggi Province (except parts of Pocheon and Yeoncheon County)
					Seoul Special City
					Incheon Metropolitan City
Kyŏngsang	North Kyŏngsang	경상북도	慶尙北道	Taegu	North Gyeongsang (except Uljin County)
					Daegu Metropolitan City
Kyŏngsang	South Kyŏngsang	경상남도	慶尙南道	Pusan	South Gyeongsang Province
					Busan Metropolitan City
					Ulsan Metropolitan City
Chŏlla	North Chŏlla	전라북도	全羅北道	Chŏnju	North Jeolla Province
Chŏlla	South Chŏlla	전라남도	全羅南道	Kwangju	South Jeolla Province
					Jeju Special Self-Governing Province
					Gwangju Metropolitan City

See also

• Administrative divisions of North Korea
• Provinces of South Korea
• Special cities of North Korea