[1] Machŏnryŏng is a part of the greater Hamgyong mountain range that runs through northeast Korea.

Kwanbuk can further be divided into another subregion, Kwannam (關南/관남, gwannam), which demarcates South Hamgyong from the rest of the region.

In the latter half of the 11th Century during the reign of Sŏnjong of Koryŏ, the administrative divisions of medieval Korea were being reorganized.

In the early days of the Choson Dynasty, the province was referred to as Hamgil-do (咸吉道/함길도), then briefly Yeonggil-do (永吉道/영길도) and Yeongan-do (永安道/영안도), before receiving its current name, Hamgyŏng-do (咸鏡道/함경도), by taking the first syllable from the names of the provinces two principal cities: Hamhung (咸興/함흥) and Kyongsong (鏡城/경성).

Under the rule of the Choson monarchs, Koreans from the northern provinces, Pyŏngan and Hamgyŏng, faced extreme discrimination, such as being subject to heavier taxation, compared to the rest of the country, as well as being prohibited from taking the civil service examination (과거 kwagŏ).

The provisional republic remained a sovereign, independent state for several days, until the United States and Soviet Union devised a plan to temporary partition Korea into two occupied zones, then reunify the peninsula once it was determined that the Koreans were fit to govern themselves.

The entirety of the Korean northeast fell under the jurisdiction of the Soviet Civil Administration, the zone of Korea north of the 38th parallel.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) was established in 1948, and made changes to its internal borders shortly thereafter, such as demarcation of several counties in South Hamgyong Province to be conjoined with a majority of North Pyŏngan, to create Chagang Province.