Special cities of South Korea

Special city
Hangul 특별시
Hanja 特別市
Revised Romanization teukbyeolsi
McCune–Reischauer t'ŭkpyŏlsi
Metropolitan city
Hangul 광역시
Hanja 廣域市
Revised Romanization gwangyeoksi
McCune–Reischauer kwangyŏksi
Special autonomous city
Hangul 특별자치시
Hanja 特別自治市
Revised Romanization teukbyeol-jachisi
McCune–Reischauer t’ŭkpyŏl-chach’isi

Special cities are one of the first-level administrative division within South Korea. There are 8 first-level cities in South Korea: Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju, Incheon, Sejong, Seoul and Ulsan.

Position in hierarchy and Types

Special cities are the highest-ranked administrative divisions in South Korea. These cities have equal status to the provinces. There are three kinds of first-level city in South Korea.

TypeHangulHanjaRRCity namesNo. of cities
Special cityteukbyeolsiSeoul1
Metropolitan citygwangyeoksiBusan, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju, Incheon, Ulsan6
Metropolitan autonomous cityteukbyeol-jachisiSejong1

Administration

In South Korean special city and metropolitan cities, the Mayor is the highest-ranking official in charge. The Mayor is directly elected by the people registered in the city for a duration of four years. e.g. Mayor of Seoul.

List of metropolitan cities

NameHangulHanjaTypeISO PopulationArea
(km²)
Density
(/km²)
City seat RegionProvince
split from
Year of
Split
Busan부산광역시釜山廣域市Metropolitan cityKR-26 3,574,3407664,666Yeonje YeongnamSouth Gyeongsang1963
Daegu대구광역시大邱廣域市Metropolitan cityKR-27 2,512,6048842,842Jung YeongnamNorth Gyeongsang1981
Daejeon대전광역시大田廣域市Metropolitan cityKR-30 1,442,8575402,673Seo HoseoSouth Chungcheong1989
Gwangju광주광역시光州廣域市Metropolitan cityKR-29 1,415,9535012,824Seo HonamSouth Jeolla1986
Incheon인천광역시仁川廣域市Metropolitan cityKR-28 2,710,5799652,810Namdong SudogwonGyeonggi1981
Sejong세종특별자치시世宗特別自治市Metropolitan autonomous cityKR-50 122,263465380Hansol-dong HoseoSouth Chungcheong2012
Seoul서울특별시서울特別市*Special cityKR-11 10,464,05160517,288Jung SudogwonGyeonggi1946
Ulsan울산광역시蔚山廣域市Metropolitan cityKR-31 1,126,8791,0561,030Nam YeongnamSouth Gyeongsang1997
  • Notes: There is no hanja for "Seoul," but in Chinese, it is written by its Joseon Dynasty name Hanseong (漢城). The new Chinese name, (首爾/首尔; pinyin: Shǒu'ěr), is a transcription based on the pronunciation of "Seoul". As a suffix, the character Gyeong (/) is used, which means "capital".

Specific cities that meet the minimum requirements for Metropolitan city status but have not yet been nominated

Specific cities with more than 900,000

See also

References

  1. 행정연혁 (in Korean). Seoul Metropolitan Government. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
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