Songkhla is one of the southern provinces

Provinces of Thailand

Thailand is divided into 76 provinces , which are geographically grouped into 6 regions. The capital Bangkok is not a province but a special administrative area and is included as the 77th province since it is administered at the same level as the other 76 provinces. The name of the provinces are...

 (changwat) of Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

. Neighboring provinces are (from east clockwise) Satun

Satun Province

Satun is one of the southern provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Trang, Phatthalung and Songkhla...

, Phatthalung

Phatthalung Province

Phatthalung is one of the southern provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Nakhon Si Thammarat, Songkhla, Satun and Trang.-Geography:...

, Nakhon Si Thammarat

Nakhon Si Thammarat Province

Nakhon Si Thammarat is one of the southern provinces of Thailand, at the eastern shore of the Gulf of Thailand...

, Pattani

Pattani Province

Pattani is one of the southern provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Narathiwat, Yala and Songkhla.-Geography:...

 and Yala

Yala Province

Yala is the southernmost province of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Songkhla, Pattani and Narathiwat. Yala is the only land-locked province in the south of Thailand...

. To the south it borders Kedah

Kedah

Kedah is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km², and it consists of the mainland and Langkawi. The mainland has a relatively flat terrain, which is used to grow rice...

 and Perlis

Perlis

Perlis is the smallest state in Malaysia. It lies at the northern part of the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and has Satun and Songkhla Provinces of Thailand on its northern border. It is bordered by the state of Kedah to the south...

 of Malaysia.

In contrast to most other provinces, the capital Songkhla is not the largest city in the province. The much newer city of Hat Yai

Hat Yai

Hat Yai is a city in southern Thailand near the Malaysian border. Located at , it has a population of 157,359 in the city itself and about 800,000 in the greater Hat Yai area. Hat Yai is the largest city of Songkhla Province, the largest metropolitan area in Southern, and third largest...

, with a population of 359,813, is considerably larger, with twice the population of Songkhla (163,072).