The present study evaluated the soil microbial communities by fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) in upland soils at 25 sites in Gyeongnam Province. The total bacteria content was 143 nmol g<sup>-1</sup> for in inclined piedmont, 75 nmol g<sup>-1</sup> for fan and valley, 49 nmol g<sup>-1</sup> for hill areas, and 44 nmol g<sup>-1</sup> for riversider plain. The fungi content was 2.4 times higher in sandy loam than 21 nmol g<sup>-1</sup> in silt loam (p<0.01). In addition, inclined piedmont soils had a significantly higher ratio of monounsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids compared with fan and valley soils (p<0.05). The communities of total bacteria and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the inclined piedmont soils were significantly higher than those in the fan and valley soils and in the riversider plain soils (p<0.05), whereas the community of fungi was significantly lower (p<0.05). In principal component analyses of soil microbial communities, our findings showed that inclined piedmont was positive relationship with total bacteria and actinomycetes in upland soils.