# County-administered city

A county-administered city is a third-level administrative division in the Republic of China (Taiwan) below a county, which in turn is below of 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 (市組織法).
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 (臺灣省各縣市實施地方自治綱要) provided for the creation of county-administered cities along with urban townships and rural townships.
Spelling changes of provincial cities in 1945 :
| County-administered cities formed in 1945 | County-administered cities formed in 1945 | County-administered cities formed in 1945 | County-administered cities formed in 1951 | County-administered cities formed in 1951 | County-administered cities formed in 1951 |
| Character | Japanese (before 1945) | Chinese (after 1945) | Character | Japanese (before 1945) | Chinese (after 1945) |
| 宜蘭 | Giran | Yilan | 新竹 | Shinchiku | Hsinchu |
| 花蓮(港) | Karenkō | Hualien | 彰化 | Shōka | Changhua |
| | | | 嘉義 | Kagi | Chiayi |
| | | | 屏東 | Heitō | Pingtung |
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:
| Name | Chinese | Hànyǔ Pīnyīn | Wade–Giles | Tongyòng Pinyin | Hokkien Pe̍h-ōe-jī | Hakka Pha̍k-fa-sṳ | County | Establishment |
| Changhua | 彰化市 | Zhānghuà | Chang¹-hua⁴ | Jhanghuà | Chiong-hòa or Chiang-hòa | Chông-fa | Changhua | 1951-12-01 |
| Douliu | 斗六市 | Dǒuliù | Tou³-liu⁴ | Dǒuliòu | Táu-la̍k | Téu-liuk | Yunlin | 1981-12-25 |
| Hualien | 花蓮市 | Huālián | Hua¹-lien² | Hualián | Hoa-lian or Hoa-liân | Fâ-lièn | Hualien | 1946-01-16 |
| Magong | 馬公市 | Mǎgōng | Ma³-kung¹ | Mǎgong | Má-keng | Mâ-kûng | Penghu | 1981-12-25 |
| Miaoli | 苗栗市 | Miáolì | Miao²-li⁴ | Miáolì | Biâu-le̍k or Miâu-le̍k | Mèu-li̍t | Miaoli | 1981-12-25 |
| Nantou | 南投市 | Nántóu | Nan²-tʻou² | Nántóu | Lâm-tâu | Nàm-thèu | Nantou | 1981-12-25 |
| Pingtung | 屏東市 | Píngdōng | Pʻing²-tung¹ | Píngdong | Pîn-tong | Phìn-tûng | Pingtung | 1951-12-01 |
| Puzi | 朴子市 | Púzǐ | Pʻu²-tzŭ³ | Púzǐh | Phò-chú | Phú-chṳ́ | Chiayi | 1992-09-10 |
| Taibao | 太保市 | Tàibǎo | Tʻai⁴-pao³ | Tàibǎo | Thài-pó | Thai-pó | Chiayi | 1991-07-01 |
| Taitung | 臺東市 | Táidōng | Tʻai²-tung¹ | Táidong | Tâi-tang | Thòi-tûng | Taitung | 1976-01-01 |
| Toufen | 頭份市 | Tóufèn | Tʻou²-fên⁴ | Tóufèn | Thâu-hūn | Thèu-fun | Miaoli | 2015-10-05 |
| Yilan | 宜蘭市 | Yílán | I²-lan² | Yílán | Gî-lân | Ngì-làn | Yilan | 1946-01-16 |
| Yuanlin | 員林市 | Yuánlín | Yüan²-lin² | Yuánlín | Oân-lîm | Yèn-lìm | Changhua | 2015-08-08 |
| Zhubei | 竹北市 | 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 (市公所) and a city council (市民代表大會). The mayor (市長) and members of the city council (市民代表) are elected by the residents of the city. A county-administered city is further divided into urban villages (里).

## Timeline

Below, unless noted otherwise in parentheses, the newly created cities were towns that exceeded the 150,000 criteria.
| Date | Addition | Removal | No. | Description |
| 1946-01 | Hualien Yilan | | 2 | Reorganized from the prefectural cities (州轄市; Zhōuxiá Shì) in the period under Japanese rule. |
| 1950-08-16 | Chiayi | | 3 | Downgraded from provincial city (省轄市; Shěngxiá Shì). |
| 1951-12-01 | Changhua Hsinchu Pingtung | | 6 | Downgraded from provincial cities (省轄市; Shěngxiá Shì). |
| 1962-04-01 | Sanchong | | 7 | The population requirement of county-administered cities is set to 100,000. Originally urban township (鎮; Zhèn). |
| 1967-07-01 | Zhongli | | 8 | Originally urban township (鎮; Zhèn). |
| 1971-04-21 | Taoyuan | | 9 | Originally urban township (鎮; Zhèn). |
| 1972-07-01 | Banqiao Fengshan | | 11 | Originally urban townships (鎮; Zhèn). |
| 1976-01-01 | Taitung | | 12 | Originally urban township (鎮; Zhèn). |
| 1976-03-01 | Fengyuan | | 13 | Originally urban township (鎮; Zhèn). |
| 1979-01-01 | Yonghe Zhonghe | | 15 | The population requirement of county-administered cities changed to 150,000. [Yonghe] Originally urban township (鎮; Zhèn). [Zhonghe] Originally rural township (鄉; Xiāng). |
| 1980-01-15 | Xindian Xinzhuang | | 17 | Originally urban townships (鎮; Zhèn). |
| 1981-12-25 | Douliu Magong Miaoli Nantou Xinying | | 22 | All county seats in Taiwan Province were upgraded from urban township (鎮 Zhèn) to county-administered cities. |
| 1982-07-01 | | Chiayi Hsinchu | 20 | Upgraded to provincial cities (省轄市; 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). |
| 1992-09-10 | Puzi | | 24 | Originally rural township (鄉; Xiāng), county seat. |
| 1993-05-01 | Yongkang | | 25 | Originally rural township (鄉; Xiāng). |
| 1993-06-26 | Tucheng | | 26 | Originally rural township (鄉; Xiāng). |
| 1993-11-01 | Dali | | 27 | Originally rural township (鄉; Xiāng). |
| 1995-01-01 | Bade | | 28 | Originally rural township (鄉; Xiāng). |
| 1996-08-01 | Taiping | | 29 | Originally rural township (鄉; Xiāng). |
| 1997-10-06 | Luzhou | | 30 | Originally rural township (鄉; Xiāng). |
| 1999-07-01 | Xizhi | | 31 | Originally urban township (鎮; Zhèn). |
| 1999-10-04 | Shulin | | 32 | Originally urban township (鎮; Zhèn). |
| 2010-08-01 | Yangmei | | 33 | Originally urban township (鎮; Zhèn). |
| 2010-12-25 | | Banqiao Dali Fengshan Fengyuan Luzhou Sanchong Shulin Taiping Tucheng Xindian Xinying Xinzhuang Xizhi Yonghe Yongkang Zhonghe | 17 | New special municipalities established in Taipei County, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung; all county-administered cities in such places were upgraded into districts (區; Qū). |
| 2014-06-03 | Luzhu | | 18 | Originally rural township (鄉; Xiāng). |
| 2014-12-25 | | Bade Luzhu Pingzhen Taoyuan Yangmei Zhongli | 12 | New special municipality established in Taoyuan County; all county-administered cities in such places were upgraded into districts (區; Qū). |
| 2015-08-08 | Yuanlin | | 13 | The population requirement of county-administered cities changed to 100,000. Originally urban township (鎮; Zhèn). |
| 2015-10-05 | Toufen | | 14 | Originally urban township (鎮; 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)