diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/antlr4/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/parser/SqlBase.g4 b/sql/catalyst/src/main/antlr4/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/parser/SqlBase.g4
index 1284681fe80b..94bc4ab82825 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/antlr4/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/parser/SqlBase.g4
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/antlr4/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/parser/SqlBase.g4
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ partitionSpec
     ;
 
 partitionVal
-    : identifier (EQ constant)?
+    : identifier (comparisonOperator constant)?
     ;
 
 describeFuncName
diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/catalog/interface.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/catalog/interface.scala
index 51326ca25e9c..91c4372fb177 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/catalog/interface.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/catalog/interface.scala
@@ -234,6 +234,7 @@ object CatalogTypes {
    * Specifications of a table partition. Mapping column name to column value.
    */
   type TablePartitionSpec = Map[String, String]
+  type TablePartitionRangeSpec = Map[String, (String, String)]
 }
 
 
diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/parser/AstBuilder.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/parser/AstBuilder.scala
index 12a70b7769ef..706eebbd77df 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/parser/AstBuilder.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/parser/AstBuilder.scala
@@ -187,12 +187,16 @@ class AstBuilder extends SqlBaseBaseVisitor[AnyRef] with Logging {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Create a partition specification map.
+   * Create a partition specification map: name -> value.
    */
   override def visitPartitionSpec(
       ctx: PartitionSpecContext): Map[String, Option[String]] = withOrigin(ctx) {
     val parts = ctx.partitionVal.asScala.map { pVal =>
       val name = pVal.identifier.getText.toLowerCase
+      val operator = Option(pVal.comparisonOperator).map(_.getText)
+      if (operator.isDefined && !operator.get.equals("=")) {
+        throw new ParseException("Only '=' partition specification is allowed", ctx)
+      }
       val value = Option(pVal.constant).map(visitStringConstant)
       name -> value
     }
@@ -201,6 +205,25 @@ class AstBuilder extends SqlBaseBaseVisitor[AnyRef] with Logging {
     parts.toMap
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Create a partition range specification map: name -> (operator, value).
+   */
+  def visitPartitionRangeSpec(
+      ctx: PartitionSpecContext): Map[String, (String, String)] = withOrigin(ctx) {
+    val parts = ctx.partitionVal.asScala.map { pVal =>
+      val name = pVal.identifier.getText.toLowerCase
+      val operator = Option(pVal.comparisonOperator).map(_.getText)
+      if (operator.isDefined) {
+        name -> (operator.get, visitStringConstant(pVal.constant))
+      } else {
+        throw new ParseException("Invalid partition specification", ctx)
+      }
+    }
+    // Check for duplicate partition columns in one spec.
+    checkDuplicateKeys(parts, ctx)
+    parts.toMap
+  }
+
   /**
    * Create a partition specification map without optional values.
    */
diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/SparkSqlParser.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/SparkSqlParser.scala
index 7f1e23e665eb..001fa9dc2780 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/SparkSqlParser.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/SparkSqlParser.scala
@@ -821,7 +821,7 @@ class SparkSqlAstBuilder(conf: SQLConf) extends AstBuilder {
     }
     AlterTableDropPartitionCommand(
       visitTableIdentifier(ctx.tableIdentifier),
-      ctx.partitionSpec.asScala.map(visitNonOptionalPartitionSpec),
+      ctx.partitionSpec.asScala.map(visitPartitionRangeSpec),
       ctx.EXISTS != null,
       ctx.PURGE != null)
   }
diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/command/ddl.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/command/ddl.scala
index 01ac89868d10..e0e95d48bd25 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/command/ddl.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/command/ddl.scala
@@ -28,8 +28,9 @@ import org.apache.hadoop.mapred.{FileInputFormat, JobConf}
 
 import org.apache.spark.sql.{AnalysisException, Row, SparkSession}
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.TableIdentifier
+import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.analysis.NoSuchPartitionException
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.catalog.{CatalogDatabase, CatalogTable, CatalogTablePartition, CatalogTableType, SessionCatalog}
-import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.catalog.CatalogTypes.TablePartitionSpec
+import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.catalog.CatalogTypes.{TablePartitionRangeSpec, TablePartitionSpec}
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.{Attribute, AttributeReference}
 import org.apache.spark.sql.execution.datasources.PartitioningUtils
 import org.apache.spark.sql.types._
@@ -402,11 +403,33 @@ case class AlterTableRenamePartitionCommand(
  */
 case class AlterTableDropPartitionCommand(
     tableName: TableIdentifier,
-    specs: Seq[TablePartitionSpec],
+    specs: Seq[TablePartitionRangeSpec],
     ifExists: Boolean,
     purge: Boolean)
   extends RunnableCommand {
 
+  private def isInRange(
+      table: CatalogTable,
+      rangeSpec: TablePartitionRangeSpec,
+      partition: CatalogTablePartition): Boolean = rangeSpec.forall {
+    case (key, (operator, value)) =>
+      if (!partition.spec.contains(key)) {
+        throw new AnalysisException(
+          s"Partition spec is invalid. The spec (${rangeSpec.keys.mkString(", ")}) must be " +
+            s"contained within the partition spec (${table.partitionColumnNames.mkString(", ")}) " +
+            s"defined in table '${table.identifier}'")
+      }
+      val result = partition.spec(key).compareTo(value)
+      operator match {
+        case "=" => result == 0
+        case "<" => result < 0
+        case "<=" => result <= 0
+        case ">" => result > 0
+        case ">=" => result >= 0
+        case _ => throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Unsupported operator: $operator")
+      }
+  }
+
   override def run(sparkSession: SparkSession): Seq[Row] = {
     val catalog = sparkSession.sessionState.catalog
     val table = catalog.getTableMetadata(tableName)
@@ -415,7 +438,13 @@ case class AlterTableDropPartitionCommand(
       throw new AnalysisException(
         "ALTER TABLE DROP PARTITIONS is not allowed for tables defined using the datasource API")
     }
-    catalog.dropPartitions(table.identifier, specs, ignoreIfNotExists = ifExists, purge = purge)
+    val partitions = catalog.listPartitions(table.identifier)
+    val targets = partitions.filter(p => specs.exists(isInRange(table, _, p))).map(p => p.spec)
+    if (targets.nonEmpty) {
+      catalog.dropPartitions(table.identifier, targets, ignoreIfNotExists = ifExists, purge = purge)
+    } else if (!ifExists) {
+      throw new AnalysisException(specs.toString)
+    }
     Seq.empty[Row]
   }
 
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/command/DDLCommandSuite.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/command/DDLCommandSuite.scala
index 547fb6381375..d246507f428f 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/command/DDLCommandSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/command/DDLCommandSuite.scala
@@ -610,8 +610,8 @@ class DDLCommandSuite extends PlanTest {
     val expected1_table = AlterTableDropPartitionCommand(
       tableIdent,
       Seq(
-        Map("dt" -> "2008-08-08", "country" -> "us"),
-        Map("dt" -> "2009-09-09", "country" -> "uk")),
+        Map("dt" -> ("=", "2008-08-08"), "country" -> ("=", "us")),
+        Map("dt" -> ("=", "2009-09-09"), "country" -> ("=", "uk"))),
       ifExists = true,
       purge = false)
     val expected2_table = expected1_table.copy(ifExists = false)
diff --git a/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/SQLQuerySuite.scala b/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/SQLQuerySuite.scala
index 6c77a0deb52a..304477a2a47b 100644
--- a/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/SQLQuerySuite.scala
+++ b/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/SQLQuerySuite.scala
@@ -1862,6 +1862,54 @@ class SQLQuerySuite extends QueryTest with SQLTestUtils with TestHiveSingleton {
     }
   }
 
+  test("PARTITION range in DROP PARTITION") {
+    withTable("sales") {
+      sql("CREATE TABLE sales(id INT) PARTITIONED BY (country STRING, quarter STRING)")
+
+      for (country <- Seq("US", "CA", "KR")) {
+        for (quarter <- 1 to 4) {
+          sql(s"ALTER TABLE sales ADD PARTITION (country='$country', quarter='$quarter')")
+        }
+      }
+
+      sql("ALTER TABLE sales DROP PARTITION (country < 'KR')")
+      checkAnswer(sql("SHOW PARTITIONS sales"),
+        Row("country=KR/quarter=1") ::
+        Row("country=KR/quarter=2") ::
+        Row("country=KR/quarter=3") ::
+        Row("country=KR/quarter=4") ::
+        Row("country=US/quarter=1") ::
+        Row("country=US/quarter=2") ::
+        Row("country=US/quarter=3") ::
+        Row("country=US/quarter=4") :: Nil)
+
+      sql("ALTER TABLE sales DROP PARTITION (quarter <= 2)")
+      checkAnswer(sql("SHOW PARTITIONS sales"),
+        Row("country=KR/quarter=3") ::
+        Row("country=KR/quarter=4") ::
+        Row("country=US/quarter=3") ::
+        Row("country=US/quarter=4") :: Nil)
+
+      sql("ALTER TABLE sales DROP PARTITION (country='KR', quarter='4')")
+      sql("ALTER TABLE sales DROP PARTITION (country='US', quarter='3')")
+      checkAnswer(sql("SHOW PARTITIONS sales"),
+        Row("country=KR/quarter=3") ::
+        Row("country=US/quarter=4") :: Nil)
+
+    }
+  }
+
+  test("PARTITION range is not allowed in ADD PARTITION") {
+    withTable("sales") {
+      sql("CREATE TABLE sales(id INT) PARTITIONED BY (country STRING, quarter STRING)")
+
+      val m = intercept[ParseException] {
+        sql("ALTER TABLE sales ADD PARTITION (country='US', quarter<'1')")
+      }.getMessage()
+      assert(m.contains("Only '=' partition specification is allowed"))
+    }
+  }
+
   test("SPARK-17354: Partitioning by dates/timestamps works with Parquet vectorized reader") {
     withSQLConf(SQLConf.PARQUET_VECTORIZED_READER_ENABLED.key -> "true") {
       sql(