Special cities of North Korea

Special city
Category	Unitary State
Location	Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Number	4 Special Cities
Populations	205,000 (Rason) – 3,255,388 (Pyongyang)
Areas	710 square miles (1,800 km^2) (Rason) – 400 square miles (1,000 km^2) (Pyongyang)
Government	Single-Party Government
Subdivisions	District, County

Special cities are one of the first-level administrative division within North Korea. There are 3 top-level cities in North Korea: Pyongyang, Rason and Nampo.

Position in hierarchy and types

Special cities are the higher-ranked administrative divisions in North Korea. There are three kinds of special cities in North Korea.

Type	Chosongul	Hanja	McCune–Reischauer	Level	City names	No. of cities
Direct-administered city	직할시	直轄市	Chikhalsi	First	Pyongyang	1
Special city	특별시	特別市	T'ŭkpyŏlsi	First	Rason, Nampo	2
Special-level city	특급시	特級市	T'ŭkkŭpsi	Second	Kaesong	1

The first level cities have equal status to the provinces.

List of special cities

Name	Chosongul	Hanja	Type	ISO	Population	Area (km²)	Density (/km²)	Capital	Region	Province related	Year of assignment
Pyongyang	평양직할시	平壤直轄市	Directly-administered city	KP-01	3,255,388	3,194	1,019	Chung-guyok	Kwanso	South Pyongan	1946
Rason	라선특별시	羅先特別市	Special city	KP-13	205,000	746	275	Rajin-guyok	Kwanbuk	North Hamgyong	2010
Nampo	남포특별시	南浦特別市	Special city	KP-??	366,815	829	442	Waudo-guyok	Kwanso	South Pyongan	2011
Kaesong	개성특급시	開城特級市	Special-level city	none	308,440	1,309	235		Haeso	North Hwanghae	2003

Notes

• Pyongyang is classified as a capital city (chikhalsi), not a special city as Seoul in South Korea. In fact, the North Korean national newspaper and broadcasting say "Pyongyang Chikhalsi". Some sources, most of them come from South Korea, refer the city as a special city; however these are the old sources. Moreover, South Korea has corrected the city as a directly governed city, according to a South Korean newspaper in 1994. Also note that the official name of Pyongyang would be "Pyongyang-si" in the Republic of Korea, which officially claims to represent the entire peninsula.
• Special-level city is the second level administrative division. Kaesong is still a part of North Hwanghae Province.
• Namp'o is officially part of South Pyongan province.

List of defunct special cities

Division name	Chosongul	Hancha	Province absorb into	Administered Years
Chongjin	청진시	淸津市	North Hamgyong	1960–1967, 1977–1985
Hamhung	함흥시	咸興市	South Hamgyong	1960–1967

See also

• Administrative divisions of North Korea
• List of cities in North Korea
• Special cities of South Korea

References

The sources for this section are Chosun Ilbo's pages 행정구역 현황 ("Haengjeong Guyeok Hyeonhwang") and 행정구역 개편 일지 ("Haengjeong Guyeok Gaepyeon Ilji") (in Korean only; updated 2004).

Further reading

• Dormels, Rainer. North Korea's Cities: Industrial facilities, internal structures and typification. Jimoondang, 2014. ISBN 978-89-6297-167-5