There are eight provinces, one special self-governing province, six metropolitan cities, and one special city in South Korea. The eight South Korea provinces are Gyeonggi-do, Gangwon-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, Jeollabuk-do, Jeollanam-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Chungcheongnam-do and Gyeongsangnam-do.
One of the most popular South Korea provinces, Gyeonggi-do is home to the national capital Seoul, though it has a separate administration. The provincial capital is Suwon. The most populous province of South Korea, it was established in 1413. It is located in the northwest of the country. To its west is the Yellow Sea. The major industries include shipbuilding, steel manufacturing, and plate-glass production. Many people in the region still earn their living through fishing. Gyeonggi-do has 27 cities and 4 counties.
Jeollabuk-do is among the South Korea Provinces to have the largest agricultural production. There is the large production of rice, cotton, barley, hemp, and paper mulberry. Jeonju is the provincial capital of the province. It has 6 cities and 8 counties. The Jeollanam-do with Gwangju as the provincial capital has around 2,000 islands along the 6,100 kilometers long coastline. Most of these islands are uninhabited. This island also produces a certain amount of gold.
The specialty of the Gyeongsangbuk-do is its apples. It produces some of the best apples in the country. The provincial capital is Daegu. Today it is metropolitan city and hence separately administered. Another one of the provinces of South Korea worth knowing about is Gyeongsangnam-do, located in the south-east of the country. The capital is Changwon. To the west of lies one of the most enriched South Korean provinces. It is the Chungcheongnam-do. The province has a large area under cultivation and around 220 kilometers of beach area for production of salt by solar evaporation.
The provincial capital of Gangwon-do is Chuncheon. The province was established in 1395. One of the northern South Korea provinces it shares a long border with North Korea which has remained unaltered since 1953. The dominating feature of this province, covering an area of 16,894 square kilometers, is the Taebaek Mountains. This province also produces hydroelectric as well as thermoelectric power.
Established in 1896, Chungcheongbuk-do is situated in the centre of South Korea. Cheongju is the provincial capital. of Chungcheongbuk-do. The Noryeong Mountains and the Sobaek Mountains are the two dominating topographical features of the land.