Provinces of Korea

History

There had originally been eight provinces at the beginning in Joseon Dynasty[?], but five of which were divided in halves in 1895. The division of Korea in 1945 were not based on the boundary of the provinces, so the provinces at the 38th parallel were divided among North Korea and South Korea. In 1982, North Korea again divided three of its provinces into halves.

Equivalence

There are also special cities with equivalent status to provinces. The spelling for the southern provinces uses the new romanisation standard preferred by that country.

The equivalent of a do in China and Japan is a circuit.

Names

The name and concept of Do originated from the Chinese Dao.

Many divided provinces were suffixed "North" (북 Buk) or "South" (남 Nam). And in re-division of already divided provinces, they were given entirely new names.

North Korea

• Chagang[?] (자강도; 慈江道): originally a part of South P'yǒng'an
• North Hamgyǒng[?] (함경북도; 咸鏡北道)
• South Hamgyǒng[?] (함경남도; 咸鏡南道)
• North Hwanghae[?] (황해북도; 黃海北道)
• South Hwanghae[?] (황해남도; 黃海南道)
• Kang'won[?] (Northern section) (강원도; 江原道)
• North P'yǒng'an[?] (평안북도; 平安北道)
• South P'yǒng'an[?] (평안남도; 平安南道)
• Yanggang[?] (량강도; 兩江道): originally a part of South Hamgyǒng

South Korea

• North Chungcheong[?] (충청북도; 忠清北道)
• South Chungcheong[?] (충청남도; 忠清南道)
• Gangwon[?] (Southern section) (강원도; 江原道 ; Gang-won)
• Gyeonggi[?] (경기도; 京畿道)
• North Gyeongsang[?] (경상북도; 慶尚北道)
• South Gyeongsang[?] (경상남도; 慶尚南道)
• Jeju[?] (제주도; 濟州道): island-province
• North Jeolla[?] (전라북도; 全羅北道 ; Jeonla)
• South Jeolla[?] (전라남도; 全羅南道)

For other integral meanings of Do in East Asian cultures, see Do.