A county-administered city is a third-level administrative division in the Republic of China (Taiwan), below a county, which is in turn below a province. Under the administrative structure of the ROC, it is at the same level as a township or a district. Such cities are under the jurisdiction of counties. It is also the lowest-level city in Taiwan, below a city and a special municipality. There are 14 county-administered cities currently under ROC control.
History
The first administrative divisions entitled "city" were established in the 1920s when Taiwan was under Japanese rule. At this time cities were under the jurisdiction of prefectures. After the World War II, nine (9) out of eleven (11) prefectural cities established by the Japanese government were reorganized into provincial cities based on the Laws on the City Formation ().
However, the populations of Hualien (Karenkō) and Yilan (Giran) were too low to become a provincial city, but they were of more importance than urban townships. Thus the Scheme on the Local Rules in Various Counties and Cities of Taiwan Province () provided for the creation of county-administered cities along with urban townships and rural townships. +Spelling changes of provincial cities in 1945County-administered cities formed in 1945County-administered cities formed in 1951CharacterJapanese(before 1945)Chinese(after 1945)CharacterJapanese(before 1945)Chinese(after 1945)宜蘭GiranYilan新竹ShinchikuHsinchu花蓮(港)KarenkōHualien彰化ShōkaChanghua 嘉義KagiChiayi屏東HeitōPingtung In 1951, a large scale administrative division reorganization took place in Taiwan. The size of counties shrink and the county-administered districts were abolished. This puts county-administered cities and townships into the same level in the hierarchy. Four provincial cities were also downgraded to county-administered cities after this reorganization. Since county-administered cities are based on the law for Taiwan Province, Kinmen and Lienchiang Counties of Fukien Province do not have any city under their jurisdiction.
The population criterion was originally 50,000 in the 1940s, but was raised to 100,000 in 1959, again in 1977 to 150,000, and in 2015 it was lower back to 100,000. Under the current. Currently, the Local Government Act regulates the creation of a county-administered city, in which a city needs to have a population between 100,000 and 500,000 and occupies major political, economical and cultural roles. Not all existing county-administered cities are qualified for the population test, they were built for historical reasons.
Current county-administered cities There are currently fourteen (14) county-administered cities, all in Taiwan Province: NameChineseHànyǔPīnyīnWade–GilesTongyòngPinyinHokkienPe̍h-ōe-jīHakkaPha̍k-fa-sṳCountyEstablishment Changhua Zhānghuà Chang¹-hua⁴ Jhanghuà Chiong-hòa orChiang-hòa Chông-fa Changhua 1951-12-01 Douliu Dǒuliù Tou³-liu⁴ Dǒuliòu Táu-la̍k Téu-liuk Yunlin 1981-12-25 Hualien Huālián Hua¹-lien² Hualián Hoa-lian orHoa-liân Fâ-lièn Hualien 1946-01-16 Magong Mǎgōng Ma³-kung¹ Mǎgong Má-keng Mâ-kûng Penghu 1981-12-25 Miaoli Miáolì Miao²-li⁴ Miáolì Biâu-le̍k orMiâu-le̍k Mèu-li̍t Miaoli 1981-12-25 Nantou Nántóu Nan²-tʻou² Nántóu Lâm-tâu Nàm-thèu Nantou 1981-12-25 Pingtung Píngdōng Pʻing²-tung¹ Píngdong Pîn-tong Phìn-tûng Pingtung 1951-12-01Puzi Púzǐ Pʻu²-tzŭ³ Púzǐh Phò-chú Phú-chṳ́ Chiayi 1992-09-10 Taibao Tàibǎo Tʻai⁴-pao³ Tàibǎo Thài-pó Thai-pó Chiayi 1991-07-01 Taitung Táidōng Tʻai²-tung¹ Táidong Tâi-tang Thòi-tûng Taitung 1976-01-01 Toufen Tóufèn Tʻou²-fên⁴ Tóufèn Thâu-hūn Thèu-fun Miaoli 2015-10-05 Yilan Yílán I²-lan² Yílán Gî-lân Ngì-làn Yilan 1946-01-16 Yuanlin Yuánlín Yüan²-lin² Yuánlín Oân-lîm Yèn-lìm Changhua 2015-08-08 Zhubei Zhúběi Chu²-pei³ Jhúběi Tek-pak Chuk-pet Hsinchu 1988-10-31
Each county-administered city has its own local self-government bodies as stipulated in the Local Government Act: a city office () and a city council (). The mayor () and members of the city council () are elected by the residents of the city. A county-administered city is further divided into urban villages ().
Timeline Below, unless noted otherwise in parentheses, the newly created cities were towns that exceeded the 150,000 criteria. Date Addition Removal No. Description1946-01 HualienYilan 2 Reorganized from the prefectural cities (; Zhōuxiá Shì) in the period under Japanese rule.1950-08-16 Chiayi 3 Downgraded from provincial city (; Shěngxiá Shì).1951-12-01 ChanghuaHsinchuPingtung 6 Downgraded from provincial cities (; Shěngxiá Shì). 1962-04-01 Sanchong 7 The population requirement of county-administered cities is set to 100,000.Originally urban township (; Zhèn). 1967-07-01Zhongli 8 Originally urban township (; Zhèn). 1971-04-21Taoyuan 9 Originally urban township (; Zhèn). 1972-07-01 BanqiaoFengshan 11 Originally urban townships (; Zhèn). 1976-01-01 Taitung 12 Originally urban township (; Zhèn). 1976-03-01 Fengyuan 13 Originally urban township (; Zhèn). 1979-01-01 YongheZhonghe 15 The population requirement of county-administered cities changed to 150,000.[Yonghe] Originally urban township (; Zhèn).[Zhonghe] Originally rural township (鄉; Xiāng). 1980-01-15 XindianXinzhuang 17 Originally urban townships (; Zhèn). 1981-12-25DouliuMagongMiaoliNantouXinying 22 All county seats in Taiwan Province were upgraded from urban township ( Zhèn) to county-administered cities. 1982-07-01 ChiayiHsinchu 20 Upgraded to provincial cities (; Shěngxiá Shì). 1988-10-31 Zhubei 21 Originally rural township (鄉; Xiāng), county seat. 1991-07-01 Taibao 22 Originally rural township (鄉; Xiāng), county seat. 1992-03-01 Pingzhen 23 Originally rural township (鄉; Xiāng).1992-09-10Puzi 24 Originally rural township (; Xiāng), county seat. 1993-05-01 Yongkang 25 Originally rural township (; Xiāng). 1993-06-26 Tucheng 26 Originally rural township (; Xiāng). 1993-11-01 Dali 27 Originally rural township (; Xiāng). 1995-01-01 Bade 28 Originally rural township (; Xiāng). 1996-08-01 Taiping 29 Originally rural township (; Xiāng). 1997-10-06 Luzhou 30 Originally rural township (; Xiāng). 1999-07-01 Xizhi 31 Originally urban township (; Zhèn). 1999-10-04 Shulin 32 Originally urban township (; Zhèn). 2010-08-01 Yangmei 33 Originally urban township (; Zhèn). 2010-12-25 BanqiaoDaliFengshanFengyuanLuzhouSanchongShulinTaipingTuchengXindianXinyingXinzhuangXizhiYongheYongkangZhonghe 17 New special municipalities established in Taipei County, Taichung, Tainan, andKaohsiung; all county-administered cities in such places were upgraded into districts (; Qū). 2014-06-03 Luzhu 18 Originally rural township (; Xiāng). 2014-12-25 BadeLuzhuPingzhenTaoyuanYangmeiZhongli 12 New special municipality established in Taoyuan County; all county-administered citiesin such places were upgraded into districts (; Qū). 2015-08-08 Yuanlin 13 The population requirement of county-administered cities changed to 100,000.Originally urban township (; Zhèn). 2015-10-05 Toufen 14 Originally urban township (; Zhèn).
Populous Townships Townships with population more than 90,000, close to the upgrading criterion (as of March 2017) Caotun (草屯鎮; 98,330) Zhudong (竹東鎮; 96,877) Hemei (和美鎮; 91,159)
See also Administrative divisions of Taiwan Political divisions of Taiwan (1895–1945) Cities of Japan County (Taiwan) Township (Taiwan) County-level city (Mainland China)
Notes
Words in native languages
References
External links