 | Eight Provinces Korea: Encyclopedia II - Eight Provinces Korea - History
Eight Provinces Korea - History
Eight Provinces Korea - Provinces before 1895
In 1413 (the 13th year of the reign of King Taejong), the northeastern boundary of Korea was extended to the Tumen River. The country was reorganized into eight provinces: Chungcheong, Gangwon, Gyeonggi, Gyeongsang, Jeolla, P'unghae (renamed Hwanghae in 1417), P'yŏngan, and Y'ŏnggil (eventually renamed Hamgyŏng in 1509).
Eight Provinces Korea - Districts of 1895-96
For almost 500 years, the eight-province system remained virtually unchanged. In 1895 (the 32nd year of the reign of King Gojong), the five-century-old provincial system was abolished. On May 26 of that year—as part of the Gabo Reform—the country was redivided into 23 districts, each named for the city or county that was its capital.
(Each district name in the following list links to the article on the province from which the district was formed from, and where more detailed information on the district is provided):
Andong, Chuncheon, Chungju, Daegu, Dongnae, Gangneung, Gongju, Haeju, Hamhŭng, Hanseong, Hongju, Incheon, Jeju, Jeonju, Jinju, Kaesŏng, Kanggye, Kapsan, Kyŏngsŏng, Naju, Namwon, P'yŏngyang, Ŭiju
Eight Provinces Korea - Restored provinces of 1896
The new system of districts did not last long, however, as one year later, on August 4, 1896 (the 33rd year of King Gojong), the former eight provinces were restored, with five of them (Chungcheong, Gyeongsang, Jeolla, Hamgyŏng, and P'yŏngan), being divided into north and south halves, to form a total of 13 provinces.
The resulting 13 provinces—the eight traditional provinces, of which five had simply been divided in half—remained unchanged through the entire lifetime of the Korean Empire (1897-1910) and the Japanese Colonial Period (1910-1945). Since the end of World War II and the division of Korea in 1945, special cities and administrative regions and a handful of new provinces have been added in both the South and North.
(See Provinces of Korea and Special cities of Korea for more historical information. For modern-day administrative divisions, see Administrative divisions of South Korea and Administrative divisions of North Korea.)
Other related archives1413, 1417, 1509, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1910, 1945, 19th century, Administrative divisions of North Korea, Administrative divisions of South Korea, Andong, Arirang, August 4, Chuncheon, Chungcheong, Chungju, Daegu, Dialects of Korean, Dongnae, Gabo Reform, Gangneung, Gangwon, Gongju, Gyeonggi, Gyeongsang, Haeju, Hamgyŏng, Hamhŭng, Hangul, Hanja, Hanseong, Honam, Hongju, Hwanghae, Incheon, Japanese Colonial Period, Jeju, Jeolla, Jeonju, Jinju, Joseon Dynasty, Kaesŏng, Kanggye, Kapsan, King Gojong, King Taejong, Korea, Korean Empire, Korean Peninsula, Kyŏngsŏng, List of Korea-related topics, May 26, Naju, Namwon, North, P'yŏngan, P'yŏngyang, Provinces of France, Provinces of Ireland, Provinces of Japan, Provinces of Korea, Regions of Korea, Sino-Korean, South, Special cities of Korea, Tumen River, World War II, Yeongdong, Yeongnam, division of Korea, do, kimchi, provinces, regional names, romanized, Ŭiju
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
