[1][full citation needed] Although the details of local administration have changed dramatically over time, the basic outline of the current three-tiered system was implemented under the reign of Gojong in 1895.

Provinces (Korean: 도; Hancha: 道) are the highest-ranked administrative divisions in North Korea.

The populations listed for each province are from the 2008 North Korea Census.

From this census, an additional 702,372 people are living in military camps.

These provinces are based on the divisions of the Japanese era, but correspond somewhat to the present South Korean provinces and the special cities partitioned out of them, owing to the alterations in the provincial division effected by South Korea being more conservative relatively to those effected by the north.