Administrative divisions of South Korea
South Korea is divided into 17 first-level administrative divisions:
Largest cities in South Korea
| # | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SeoulCapital | 9,796,000 |
| 2 | Busan | 3,480,000 |
| 3 | Incheon | 2,550,000 |
| 4 | Daegu | 2,460,000 |
| 5 | Daejeon | 1,468,000 |
| 6 | Gwangju | 1,440,000 |
| 7 | Changwon | 1,081,499 |
| 8 | Suwon | 1,078,000 |
| 9 | Ulsan | 1,061,000 |
| 10 | Songnam | 942,000 |
Seoul is the largest urban area in South Korea with about 9,796,000 people.
Terrain, rivers & lakes
Highest terrain in South Korea: ≈ 5,007 m — read from the global elevation model, so summit heights are approximate. The physical map paints elevation bands from green lowlands to brown highlands.
🌊 Rivers
- Namhan
- Han
- Nakdong
🏞️ Lakes
No major lakes at this scale.
Ethnic groups in South Korea
Korean
Regionally, Korean is the most common ethnic group across most of the 17 divisions.
Source: CIA World Factbook · regional dominance compiled by Glostats from censuses and surveys
Religions in South Korea
Protestant 17%, Buddhist 16%, Catholic 6%, none 60% (2021 est.)
Regionally, none is the most common religious group across most of the 17 divisions.
Source: CIA World Factbook (2021 est.) · regional dominance compiled by Glostats from censuses and surveys
Languages in South Korea
Korean, English
Regionally, Korean is the most common language group across most of the 17 divisions.
Source: CIA World Factbook · regional dominance compiled by Glostats from censuses and surveys
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VietnamSources: boundaries, cities, rivers and lakes from Natural Earth (public domain, 1:10m); elevation from the AWS Open Data terrain tiles (SRTM/GMTED); ethnic, religious and language shares from the CIA World Factbook; regional dominance compiled by Glostats from national censuses and surveys. Page generated 2026-10-19. More about our data.