Counties of Taiwan

County [upper-roman 1]
Counties are shown in green
Category	Special municipalities, counties, and cities
Location	Republic of China (Taiwan)
Number	13
Populations	13,089–1,272,939
Areas	29–4629 km2
Government	County government County council
Subdivisions	Townships/cities

Counties of Taiwan
Traditional Chinese	縣
Simplified Chinese	县
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin xiàn Wade–Giles hsien Southern Min Hokkien POJ koān Eastern Min Fuzhou BUC gâing Pu-Xian Min Hinghwa BUC gā̤ⁿ

A county, ^{[upper-roman 1]} constitutionally known as a hsien, ^[1] is a de jure second-level administrative division unit in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Under the administrative structure of Taiwan, it is with the same level of a provincial city.

The counties were formerly under the jurisdiction of provinces, but the provinces were streamlined and effectively downsized to non-self-governing bodies in 1998, in 2018 all provincial governmental organs were formally abolished. ^{[2] [3]} Counties along with former "provincial cities" which alternately designated as simply "Cities", are presently regarded as principal subdivisions directed by the central government of Taiwan.

History

Main articles: Taiwan Prefecture and Political divisions of Taiwan (1895–1945)

Hsien have existed since the Warring States period, and were set up nation-wide by the Qin dynasty. The number of counties in China proper gradually increased from dynasty to dynasty. As Qin Shi Huang reorganized the counties after his unification, there were about 1000. Under the Eastern Han dynasty, the number of counties increased to above 1,000. About 1400 existed when the Sui dynasty abolished the commandery level (郡 jùn), which was the level just above counties, and demoted some commanderies to counties. In Imperial China, the county was a significant administrative unit because it marked the lowest level of the imperial bureaucratic structure — in other words, it was the lowest level that the government reached. Government below the county level was often undertaken through informal non-bureaucratic means, varying between dynasties. The head of a county was the magistrate, who oversaw both the day-to-day operations of the county as well as civil and criminal cases. The current number of counties mostly resembled that of the later years of Qing dynasty.

The first administrative divisions named "county" (縣) was first established in 1661 by the Kingdom of Tungning. The later ruler Qing empire inherited this type of administrative divisions. With the increase of Han Chinese population in Taiwan, the number of counties also grew by time. By the end of Qing era, there were 11 counties in Taiwan. Protestant missions in China first romanized the term as hien. ^[4]

Taiwan was ceded to Japan by the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895. The hierarchy of divisions also incorporated into the Japanese system in the period when Taiwan under Japanese rule. By September 1945, Taiwan was divided into 8 prefectures (州 and 廳).

After the retrocession to the China on 25 October 1945, the prefectures were reformed into eight counties (縣) with the same name under Taiwan Province of the Republic of China. ^[5] Their roman spellings were also changed to reflect the official language shift from Japanese to Mandarin Chinese, but characters remained the same. Note that most of the Japanese prefectural cities were reformed to provincial cities and are not a part of counties.

Changes of location and names of counties in Chinese history have been a major field of research in Chinese historical geography, especially from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Changes of counties in 1945 and 1950

Japanese prefecture (before 1945)		County (1945–1950)		Counties in 1950
Kyūjitai	Rōmaji	Character	Wade–Giles
臺北州	Taihoku	臺北縣	Taipei	Taipei, Yilan
新竹州	Shinchiku	新竹縣	Hsinchu	Hsinchu, Miaoli, Taoyuan
臺中州	Taichū	臺中縣	Taichung	Changhua, Nantou, Taichung
臺南州	Tainan	臺南縣	Tainan	Chiayi, Tainan, Yunlin
高雄州	Takao	高雄縣	Kaohsiung	Kaohsiung, Pingtung
花蓮港廳	Karenkō	花蓮縣	Hualien	Hualien
臺東廳	Taitō	臺東縣	Taitung	Taitung
澎湖廳	Hōko	澎湖縣	Penghu	Penghu

In late 1949, the government of the Republic of China lost the Chinese Civil War and was relocated to Taipei, Taiwan. In 1950, the counties in Taiwan were reorganized. Counties in populous western Taiwan were split into two to three counties. This pushed the number of counties up to 16. After the war, the government only controlled a few offshore islands of mainland China. Among them are two of the 67 counties of the original Fujian Province: Kinmen and Lienchiang. The number of counties under jurisdiction, 16 in Taiwan and 2 in Fujian, remained stable until the early 1990s.

List of counties from 1955 to 2010

Name	Chinese		Name	Chinese		Name	Chinese
Changhua	彰化縣		Lienchiang	連江縣		Tainan	臺南縣
Chiayi	嘉義縣		Miaoli	苗栗縣		Taipei	臺北縣
Hsinchu	新竹縣		Nantou	南投縣		Taitung	臺東縣
Hualien	花蓮縣		Penghu	澎湖縣		Taoyuan	桃園縣
Kaohsiung	高雄縣		Pingtung	屏東縣		Yilan	宜蘭縣
Kinmen	金門縣		Taichung	臺中縣		Yunlin	雲林縣

Following the democratic reforms in the early 1990s, more proposals of administrative division reforms were widely discussed and ultimately caused some populous counties be reformed to special municipalities in the 2010 and 2014. These counties are:

• Kaohsiung County (1945–2010), now part of Kaohsiung special municipality; the county seat was at Fengshan City
• Taichung County (1945–2010), now part of Taichung special municipality; the county seat was at Fengyuan City
• Tainan County (1945–2010), now part of Tainan special municipality; the county seat was located at Xinying City
• Taipei County (1945–2010), now New Taipei special municipality; the county seat was located at Banqiao City
• Taoyuan County (1950–2014), now Taoyuan special municipality; the county seat was located at Taoyuan City (county-controlled)

Currently, the counties are established according to the Local Government Act under the supervision of the Ministry of the Interior. This act also endorses some special articles that grants counties with a population of over two million can grant some extra privileges in local autonomy that was designed for special municipalities. This type of counties are often called quasi-municipalities (準直轄市). This term applied to New Taipei and Taoyuan before they became special municipalities.

Current counties

Main articles: List of administrative divisions of Taiwan; List of administrative divisions of Fujian; and List of heads of governments of special municipalities, counties and provincial cities in Taiwan

There are currently 13 counties:

Name [6]	Chinese	Hànyǔ Pīnyīn	Wade–Giles	Tongyòng Pinyin	Hokkien Pe̍h-ōe-jī	Hakka Pha̍k-fa-sṳ	County seat		Province (nominal)
Changhua	彰化縣	Zhānghuà	Chang¹-hua⁴	Jhanghuà	Chiang-hòa or Chiong-hòa	Chông-fa	Changhua City	彰化市	Taiwan Province
Chiayi	嘉義縣	Jiāyì	Chia¹-i⁴	Jiayì	Ka-gī	Kâ-ngi	Taibao City	太保市	Taiwan Province
Hsinchu	新竹縣	Xīnzhú	Hsin¹-chu²	Sinjhú	Sin-tek	Sîn-chuk	Zhubei City	竹北市	Taiwan Province
Hualien	花蓮縣	Huālián	Hua¹-lien²	Hualián	Hoa-lian or Hoa-liân	Fâ-lièn	Hualien City	花蓮市	Taiwan Province
Kinmen	金門縣	Jīnmén	Chin¹-mên²	Jinmén	Kim-mn̂g	Kîm-mùn	Jincheng Township	金城鎮	Fujian Province
Lienchiang	連江縣	Liánjiāng	Lien²-chiang¹	Liánjiang	Liân-kang	Lièn-kông	Nangan Township	南竿鄉	Fujian Province
Miaoli	苗栗縣	Miáolì	Miao²-li⁴	Miáolì	Biâu-le̍k or Miâu-le̍k	Mèu-li̍t	Miaoli City	苗栗市	Taiwan Province
Nantou	南投縣	Nántóu	Nan²-tʻou²	Nántóu	Lâm-tâu	Nàm-thèu	Nantou City	南投市	Taiwan Province
Penghu	澎湖縣	Pénghú	Pʻêng²-hu²	Pénghú	Phîⁿ-ô͘  or Phêⁿ-ô͘	Phàng-fù	Magong City	馬公市	Taiwan Province
Pingtung	屏東縣	Píngdōng	Pʻing²-tung¹	Píngdong	Pîn-tong	Phìn-tûng	Pingtung City	屏東市	Taiwan Province
Taitung	臺東縣	Táidōng	Tʻai²-tung¹	Táidong	Tâi-tang	Thòi-tûng	Taitung City	臺東市	Taiwan Province
Yilan	宜蘭縣	Yílán	I²-lan²	Yílán	Gî-lân	Ngì-làn	Yilan City	宜蘭市	Taiwan Province
Yunlin	雲林縣	Yúnlín	Yün²-lin²	Yúnlín	Hûn-lîm	Yùn-lìm	Douliu City	斗六市	Taiwan Province

Under Article 9 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China, regulated by the Local Government Act, each county has a government headed by an elected county magistrate and an elected county council exercising legislative functions. ^[7] The governing bodies (executive and legislature) of the counties are:

Name	Executive			Legislature
	Government	Magistrates	Current Magistrate	County Council	No. of seats
Changhua	Changhua County Government	List of county magistrates of Changhua	Wang Huei-mei	Changhua County Council	54
Chiayi	Chiayi County Government	List of county magistrates of Chiayi	Weng Chang-liang	Chiayi County Council	36
Hsinchu	Hsinchu County Government	List of county magistrates of Hsinchu	Yang Wen-ke	Hsinchu County Council	34
Hualien	Hualien County Government	List of county magistrates of Hualien	Hsu Chen-wei	Hualien County Council	33
Kinmen	Kinmen County Government	List of county magistrates of Kinmen	Chen Fu-hai	Kinmen County Council	19
Lienchiang	Lienchiang County Government	List of county magistrates of Lienchiang	Wang Chung-ming	Lienchiang County Council	9
Miaoli	Miaoli County Government	List of county magistrates of Miaoli	Chung Tung-chin	Miaoli County Council	38
Nantou	Nantou County Government	List of county magistrates of Nantou	Hsu Shu-hua	Nantou County Council	37
Penghu	Penghu County Government	List of county magistrates of Penghu	Chen Kuang-fu	Penghu County Council	19
Pingtung	Pingtung County Government	List of county magistrates of Pingtung	Chou Chun-mi	Pingtung County Council	55
Taitung	Taitung County Government	List of county magistrates of Taitung	Rao Ching-ling	Taitung County Council	30
Yilan	Yilan County Government	List of county magistrates of Yilan	Lin Zi-miao	Yilan County Council	34
Yunlin	Yunlin County Government	List of county magistrates of Yunlin	Chang Li-shan	Yunlin County Council	43

See also

• Taiwan portal
• China portal

• Political divisions of Taiwan (1895–1945)
• Prefectures of Japan
• Counties of the People's Republic of China

Overview of administrative divisions of the Republic of China

Republic of China
Free area [lower-roman 1]					Mainland area [lower-roman 2]
Special municipalities [lower-greek 1] [lower-roman 3]		Provinces [lower-roman 4]			Not administered [lower-roman 5]
		Counties [lower-greek 1]		Autonomous municipalities [lower-greek 1] [lower-roman 6]
Districts [lower-greek 2]	Mountain indigenous districts [lower-greek 1]	County- administered cities [lower-greek 1]	Townships [lower-greek 1] [lower-greek 2] [lower-roman 7]	Districts [lower-greek 2]
Villages [lower-greek 3] [lower-roman 8]
Neighborhoods

Notes

1. Has an elected executive and an elected legislative council.
2. Has an appointed district administrator for managing local affairs and carrying out tasks commissioned by superior agency.
3. Has an elected village administrator for managing local affairs and carrying out tasks commissioned by superior agency.

References

1. "Laws & Regulations Database of The Republic of China". law.moj.gov.tw. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
2. "Local governments". Office of the President Republic of China (Taiwan). Retrieved 30 November 2020.
3. Sarah Shair-Rosenfield (November 2020). "Taiwan combined" (PDF). The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
4. Davidson, James W. (1903). The Island of Formosa, Past and Present: History, People, Resources, and Commercial Prospects: Tea, Camphor, Sugar, Gold, Coal, Sulphur, Economical Plants, and Other Productions. London and New York: Macmillan & Co. p.  93. OL   6931635M.
5. "Rezoning Taiwan". Taiwan Today. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
6. "Glossary of Names for Admin Divisions" (PDF). Taiwan Geographic Names Information Systems. The Ministry of Interior of ROC. Retrieved 6 June 2015.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
7. "ROC introduction: Government organizations: Local governments: County (City) Level". Office of the President (Taiwan) . Retrieved 2021-04-13.

Notes

1. Also known as the Taiwan area or Tai–Min area (Chinese :臺閩地區; lit.'Taiwan–Fujian area')
2. The mainland area consists of Mainland China, Tibet and (previously) Outer Mongolia
3. Special municipalities, cities, and county-administered cities are all called shi (Chinese :市; lit.'city')
4. Nominal; provincial governments have been abolished
5. Constitutionally having the same structure as the free area, these are currently under the Chinese Communist Party control with a different structure
6. Sometimes called cities (Chinese :市) or provincial cities (Chinese :省轄市) to distinguish them from special municipalities and county-administered cities
7. There are two types of townships: rural townships or xīang (Chinese :鄉) and urban townships or zhèn (Chinese :鎮)
8. Villages in rural townships are known as tsūn (Chinese :村), those in other jurisdictions are known as lǐ (Chinese :里)

Words in native languages

1. • Traditional Chinese script: 縣
   • Mandarin Pinyin: Xiàn
   • Hokkien: Koān
   • Sixian Hakka: Yen or Yan
   • Matsu: Gâing