Pingtung County 屏東縣 Pîn-tong County | |
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Coordinates: 22°40′31.78″N120°29′29.09″E / 22.6754944°N 120.4914139°E | |
Country | Republic of China (Taiwan) |
Province | Taiwan Province (de facto dissolved) |
Region | Southern Taiwan |
Seat | Pingtung City |
Largest city | Pingtung City |
Boroughs | 1 cities, 32 (3 urban, 29 rural) townships |
Government | |
• Body | |
• County Magistrate | Chou Chun-mi (DPP) |
Area | |
• Total | 2,775.6003 km2 (1,071.6653 sq mi) |
• Rank | 5 of 22 |
Population (February 2024) [1] | |
• Total | 793,959 |
• Rank | 10 of 22 |
• Density | 290/km2 (740/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+8 (National Standard Time) |
ISO 3166 code | TW-PIF |
Website | www.pthg.gov.tw |
Symbols | |
Flower | Hairy Bougainvillea (Bougainvillea brasiliensis) |
Tree | Coconut tree |
Pingtung County | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 屏東 縣 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 屏东 县 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pingtung County [2] is a county located in southern Taiwan. It has a warm tropical monsoon climate and is known for its agriculture and tourism. Kenting National Park,Taiwan's oldest national park,is located in the county. The county seat is Pingtung City.
The name Pingtung means "east of Banping mountain", [3] referring to a nearby mountain known as Banping mountain (Chinese : 半屏山 ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī : Pòaⁿ-pêng-soaⁿ ).
Aboriginal inhabitants of Liuqiu Island (13 km [8.1 mi] southwest of Taiwan,and now part of Pingtung County) killed Dutch sailors on two occasions. In response,in the spring of 1636,Dutch sailors carried out a punitive campaign that became known as the Lamey Island Massacre.
Modern-day Pingtung County and Kaohsiung City were part of Banlian-chiu (萬年州;Bān-liân-chiu) during the Kingdom of Tungning (1661–1683) and Fongshan Prefecture (鳳山縣;Hōng-soaⁿ-koān) during Qing dynasty rule (1683–1895).
Until the seventeenth century,this area of Taiwan was a place of exile for Chinese criminals and the occasional landing point for international mariners. Only the settlements near present-day Checheng Township existed. In 1664,the Hakka settlers arrived from mainland China and farmed under a homesteading system introduced by Zheng Jing.
Pingtung City,the biggest city in Pingtung County,also known as "A-Kau" (阿猴;A-kâu,English:the forest),was the home of Taiwanese Plains Aborigines.
In 1684,settlers from China's southern Fujian region created the first Han Chinese villages near Pingtung. By 1734,most of the Pingtung Plain was cultivated,and Pingtung was expanded in 1764. In 1836,the government and locals worked together to build the city's four walls (the North Gate,the East Gate,the West Gate,and the South gate),and the roads were completed.
In March 1867,fourteen American sailors were killed near Kenting by local aborigines in the Rover incident,which lead to the failed American Formosa Expedition three months later. In 1871,local aborigines killed 54 sailors from Ryukyu in the Mudan Incident. The Japanese carried out a punitive campaign against the local aborigines in the 1874 Japanese invasion of Taiwan.
Under Japanese rule (1895–1945), Hōzan Subprefecture (Japanese: 鳳山支廳); Pe̍h-ōe-jī :Hōng-soaⁿ Chi-thiaⁿ was initially under Tainan Ken (臺南縣); Pe̍h-ōe-jī :Tâi-lâm-koān, but political divisions frequently changed between 1895 and 1901. In 1901, Akō Chō (阿猴廳); Pe̍h-ōe-jī :A-kâu-thiaⁿ was established. In 1909, the name changed to Akō Chō (阿緱廳); Pe̍h-ōe-jī :A-kâu-thiaⁿ. In 1920, the name was changed to Heitō City (屏東市); Pe̍h-ōe-jī :Pîn-tong-chhī and was under Takao Prefecture administration, which consisted of modern-day Pingtung County and Kaohsiung.
Following the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China on 25 October 1945, the area of present-day Pingtung County was incorporated into Kaohsiung County on 25 December 1945. On 16 August 1950, Pingtung County was established after being separated from Kaohsiung County. [4] On 1 December 1951, Pingtung City was downgraded from provincial city to county-administered city and made the county seat of Pingtung County.
Pingtung was the site of a 7.1 magnitude earthquake on 26 December 2006. In 2009, due to Typhoon Morakot, Pingtung received over 2,500 millimetres (98 in) of rainfall, breaking records for any place in Taiwan struck by a single typhoon.
With a land area of over 2,775 km2 (1,071 sq mi), Pingtung is the fifth-largest county in Taiwan, and the second-largest of Southern Taiwan after Kaohsiung City. Geographically, it borders Kaohsiung City to the north, Taitung County to the east, the Taiwan Strait to the west and the Bashi Channel to the south. Islands administered by the county include Hsiao Liuchiu (Lamay Islet; 琉球嶼) and Qixingyan (Seven Star Reefs; 七星岩).
Located in the southernmost part of Taiwan, Pingtung County is known for one of the warmest climates within the country. It has a tropical monsoon climate bordering on a tropical wet and dry climate (Köppen climate classifications: Am bordering on Aw). The climate differs across the large county due to its varying geography.
Northern Pingtung, where Pingtung City is located, is characterized by high daytime temperatures year-round with average daytime highs of 30–40 °C (86–104 °F) from April to November, and 25–28 °C (77–82 °F) from December to March. The lowest nighttime temperatures are around 16 °C (61 °F), due to distance from the sea.
Central Pingtung, such as the coastal Fangliao Township, has a lower daytime temperatures and warmer nights due to the regulating effect of the ocean, which is especially noticeable during winter.
The mildest climate of Pingtung is at its southern tip, the Hengchun Peninsula , which is nearly surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. Daily highs reach 29–32 °C (84–90 °F) during summer and 23–26 °C (73–79 °F) during winter. Nighttime temperatures remain warm throughout the year with lows of around 25 °C (77 °F) during summer and 19 °C (66 °F) during the winter.
Climate data for Pingtung County (Hengchun Township) | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 32.2 (90.0) | 32.4 (90.3) | 34.2 (93.6) | 35.8 (96.4) | 37.1 (98.8) | 36.4 (97.5) | 35.6 (96.1) | 35.3 (95.5) | 36.0 (96.8) | 34.1 (93.4) | 33.8 (92.8) | 32.5 (90.5) | 37.1 (98.8) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 25.1 (77.2) | 26.6 (79.9) | 28.3 (82.9) | 29.6 (85.3) | 31.0 (87.8) | 31.5 (88.7) | 32.0 (89.6) | 31.7 (89.1) | 31.2 (88.2) | 29.8 (85.6) | 27.7 (81.9) | 26.2 (79.2) | 29.2 (84.6) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 21.2 (70.2) | 21.7 (71.1) | 23.3 (73.9) | 25.4 (77.7) | 27.1 (80.8) | 28.1 (82.6) | 28.5 (83.3) | 28.2 (82.8) | 27.6 (81.7) | 26.4 (79.5) | 24.5 (76.1) | 22.0 (71.6) | 25.3 (77.6) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 18.3 (64.9) | 19.0 (66.2) | 20.3 (68.5) | 22.5 (72.5) | 24.2 (75.6) | 25.5 (77.9) | 25.7 (78.3) | 25.4 (77.7) | 24.9 (76.8) | 24.0 (75.2) | 22.2 (72.0) | 19.6 (67.3) | 22.6 (72.7) |
Record low °C (°F) | 8.4 (47.1) | 9.8 (49.6) | 10.4 (50.7) | 14.7 (58.5) | 17.1 (62.8) | 18.6 (65.5) | 19.4 (66.9) | 19.5 (67.1) | 18.7 (65.7) | 16.0 (60.8) | 12.7 (54.9) | 9.5 (49.1) | 8.4 (47.1) |
Average rainfall mm (inches) | 25.7 (1.01) | 27.7 (1.09) | 19.9 (0.78) | 43.5 (1.71) | 163.9 (6.45) | 371.3 (14.62) | 396.3 (15.60) | 475.2 (18.71) | 288.3 (11.35) | 141.8 (5.58) | 43.2 (1.70) | 20.6 (0.81) | 2,017.4 (79.43) |
Average rainy days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 8.0 | 6.8 | 4.8 | 6.3 | 11.1 | 16.9 | 16.4 | 18.9 | 15.9 | 10.8 | 7.1 | 6.1 | 129.1 |
Average relative humidity (%) | 72.6 | 73.7 | 74.4 | 75.4 | 78.5 | 83.6 | 83.3 | 84.0 | 79.7 | 74.0 | 73.1 | 72.4 | 76.7 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 168.0 | 165.1 | 199.7 | 192.6 | 193.9 | 183.6 | 221.0 | 195.5 | 177.2 | 198.1 | 177.7 | 161.4 | 2,233.8 |
Source: Central Weather Bureau (normals 1994–2013) (extremes 1897–present) [5] [6] |
Pingtung County Administrative Divisions |
Pingtung County is divided into 1 city, 3 urban townships, 21 rural townships, and 8 indigenous mountain townships. Pingtung County has the largest number of rural townships and mountain indigenous townships among the counties of Taiwan. [7]
Colors indicate the statutory language status of Hakka and Formosan languages in the respective subdivisions.
Pingtung City is the county seat of Pingtung County which houses the Pingtung County Government and Pingtung County Council. The county head is Magistrate Pan Men-an of the Democratic Progressive Party. Pingtung County elected three Democratic Progressive Party legislators to the Legislative Yuan during the 2016 legislative election. [8] [9] [10]
Year | Pop. | ±% |
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1985 | 901,981 | — |
1990 | 893,282 | −1.0% |
1995 | 911,843 | +2.1% |
2000 | 907,590 | −0.5% |
2005 | 893,544 | −1.5% |
2010 | 873,509 | −2.2% |
2015 | 841,253 | −3.7% |
2016 | 835,792 | −0.6% |
2019 | 817,803 | −2.2% |
Source: "Populations by city and country in Taiwan". Ministry of the Interior Population Census. |
Pingtung is home to the indigenous Rukai and Paiwan tribes, which makes up 7% of the population. [11] As of January 2023, [update] the total population of Pingtung County was 798,940. The county has been experiencing population decline for 15 consecutive years due to emigration to other cities. [12] [13]
As of 2015, [update] Pingtung County had 1,101 registered temples, the third highest amongst Taiwan's counties after Tainan and Kaohsiung.[ citation needed ] Donglong Temple and Checheng Fu'an Temple are some of the most prominent temples in the county. Indigenous tribes like Makatao people also have their own places of worship like Jiaruipu Temple.
The agriculture and fishing industries dominate the county's economy. In recent years, the county has also promoted the tourism sector, which constituted 30% of Taiwan's tourism industry in 2015. [14]
In February 2014, the county government announced a plan to develop an industrial center that consists of a service center, workshop, and performance venue. The aim is to promote the development of industries that leverage the unique cultural attributes of the Linali tribe. [15] On 22 September 2015, the National Development Council revealed a three-year large-scale development plan to boost the economy of the county by transforming Dapeng Bay, Donggang Township, and Lamay Island into a fishery, recreational, and tourism hub. [16]
Pingtung County houses Taiwan's third nuclear power plant, the Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant. The power plant is located in Hengchun Township. It is Taiwan's second-largest nuclear power plant in terms of its capacity at 2 × 890 MW.
The Pingtung Line and South-Link Line of the Taiwan Railways Administration cross Pingtung County. These lines service Central Signal, Chaozhou, Donghai, Fangliao, Fangshan, Fangye Signal, Guilai, Jiadong, Jialu, Kanding, Linbian, Linluo, Liukuaicuo, Nanzhou, Neishi, Pingtung, Xishi, Zhen'an and Zhutian Station. The Pingtung Line links Pingtung County with Kaohsiung City, while the South-Link Line links Pingtung County with Taitung County.
Ferry service operates between Donggang Township and Baisha Port and Dafu Port on the offshore Lamay Island.
Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of 2,952 km2 (1,140 sq mi). Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.73 million people as of October 2023 and is Taiwan's third most populous city and largest city in southern Taiwan.
Taitung County is the third largest county in Taiwan, located primarily on the island's southeastern coast and also including Green Island, Orchid Island and Lesser Orchid Island. The seat is located in Taitung City.
Pingtung City is a county-administered city and the county seat of Pingtung County, Taiwan.
Fangliao Township is a rural township in Pingtung County, Taiwan.
Fongshan District is a district located in southern Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Fongshan is one of the administrative centers of Kaohsiung and is home to the Republic of China Military Academy. There are three military units currently located in Fongshan. Both the Republic of China Military Academy and R.O.C. Army Infantry School came to Taiwan from mainland China and were re-established here in 1950. Chung Cheng Armed Forces Preparatory School was established in 1976. These three units used to be the main economic driving force, but their importance diminished gradually as Fongshan has established itself as a conjunction between Pingtung City and Kaohsiung.
Linbian Township is a rural township in western Pingtung County, Taiwan. It lies at the mouth of the Linbian River, facing the Taiwan Strait. It is known for its year-round warm climate, seafood restaurants and its wax apples (lembus).
Zhuangwei Township or Jhuangwei Township is a rural township in eastern Yilan County, Taiwan Province, Republic of China, the smallest in the county.
Hengchun Township is a township located on the southern tip of the Hengchun Peninsula in Pingtung County, Taiwan. It is the southernmost township in Taiwan. Hengchun is also the only urban township in the southern part of Pingtung County. Hengchun has a land area of 136.76 km2 (52.80 sq mi) and has a population of 29,702 as of February 2024.
Donggang Township or Tungkang Township is an urban township in west-central Pingtung County, Taiwan. Located on Taiwan's western coastline, along the Taiwan Strait, it has one of Taiwan's largest fishing harbors. Dapeng Bay with its national scenic area is just south of Donggang.
Checheng Township is a rural township in Pingtung County, Taiwan.
Mudan Township (Chinese: 牡丹鄉; pinyin: Mǔdān Xiāng; Wade–Giles: Mu3-tan1 Hsiang1; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Bó͘-tan-hiong) is a mountain indigenous township in Pingtung County, Taiwan. The main population is the Paiwan people of the Taiwanese aborigines.
Liouguei District is a rural district of Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. It is the third largest district in Kaohsiung City after Tauyuan District and Namasia District. The place-name is derived from the name of a Taivoan community Lakuri or Lakkuli, which emigrated from Vogavon in Tainan, driven to Kaohsiung by the invasion of Han immigrants and Siraya in the late 17th century.
Sandimen Township is a mountain indigenous township in Pingtung County, Taiwan Province, Republic of China. The population of the township consists mainly of the Paiwan people with a substantial Rukai minority.
Jiadong Township is a rural township in Pingtung County, Taiwan.
Manzhou Township is a rural township in Pingtung County, Taiwan.
The Hengchun Line is a planned branch line of the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) South-link line which plans to connect Taiwan's southern capital Kaohsiung to Kenting, a popular tourist destination located in Hengchun. Express train service that connects Xinzuoying Station, the major hub for both Taiwan High Speed Rail and Taiwan Railways Administration trains, to Hengchun is also planned. Construction will start in 2017.
The Mudan Dam is a dam in Mudan Township, Pingtung County, Taiwan. It forms the largest reservoir in Pingtung County.
The Donglong Temple is one of the most prominent temple in Donggang Township, Pingtung County, Taiwan. The temple is dedicated to "Lord Wen".
Pingtung County legislative districts consist of 2 single-member constituencies, each represented by a member of the Republic of China Legislative Yuan. From the 2020 legislative election onwards, the number of Pingtung's seats was decreased from 3 to 2. The redistricting split the original Pingtung Constituency 2 among the two remaining constituencies.
屏東縣 Pingtung County屏東市 Pingtung City潮州鎮 Chaojhou Township東港鎮 Donggang Township恆春鎮 Hengchun Township萬丹鄉 Wandan Township長治鄉 Changjhih Township麟洛鄉 Linluo Township九如鄉 Jiouru Township里港鄉 Ligang Township鹽埔鄉 Yanpu Township高樹鄉 Gaoshu Township萬巒鄉 Wanluan Township內埔鄉 Neipu Township竹田鄉 Jhutian Township新埤鄉 Sinbi Township枋寮鄉 Fangliao Township新園鄉 Sinyuan Township崁頂鄉 Kanding Township林邊鄉 Linbian Township南州鄉 Nanjhou Township佳冬鄉 Jiadong Township琉球鄉 Liouciou Township車城鄉 Checheng Township滿州鄉 Manjhou Township枋山鄉 Fangshan Township三地門鄉 Sandimen Township霧臺鄉 Wutai Township瑪家鄉 Majia Township泰武鄉 Taiwu Township來義鄉 Laiyi Township春日鄉 Chunrih Township獅子鄉 Shihzih Township牡丹鄉 Mudan Township