County-administered city

A county-administered city is a third-level administrative [divisions of Taiwan|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 out of eleven 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 and Yilan 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.
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 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		Zhānghuà	Chang¹-hua⁴	Jhanghuà	Chiong-hòa or Chiang-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 or Hoa-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 or Miâu-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	1951-12-01
Puzi		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.	Description
1946-01	Hualien Yilan		2	Reorganized from the prefectural cities in the period under Japanese rule.
1950-08-16	Chiayi		3	Downgraded from provincial city.
1951-12-01	Changhua Hsinchu Pingtung		6	Downgraded from provincial cities.
1962-04-01	Sanchong		7	The population requirement of county-administered cities is set to 100,000. Originally urban township.
1967-07-01	Zhongli		8	Originally urban township.
1971-04-21	Taoyuan		9	Originally urban township.
1972-07-01	Banqiao Fengshan		11	Originally urban townships.
1976-01-01	Taitung		12	Originally urban township.
1976-03-01	Fengyuan		13	Originally urban township.
1979-01-01	Yonghe Zhonghe		15	The population requirement of county-administered cities changed to 150,000. Originally urban township. Originally rural township.
1980-01-15	Xindian Xinzhuang		17	Originally urban townships.
1981-12-25	Douliu Magong Miaoli Nantou Xinying		22	All county seats in Taiwan Province were upgraded from urban township to county-administered cities.
1982-07-01		Chiayi Hsinchu	20	Upgraded to provincial cities.
1988-10-31	Zhubei		21	Originally rural township, county seat.
1991-07-01	Taibao		22	Originally rural township, county seat.
1992-03-01	Pingzhen		23	Originally rural township.
1992-09-10	Puzi		24	Originally rural township, county seat.
1993-05-01	Yongkang		25	Originally rural township.
1993-06-26	Tucheng		26	Originally rural township.
1993-11-01	Dali		27	Originally rural township.
1995-01-01	Bade		28	Originally rural township.
1996-08-01	Taiping		29	Originally rural township.
1997-10-06	Luzhou		30	Originally rural township.
1999-07-01	Xizhi		31	Originally urban township.
1999-10-04	Shulin		32	Originally urban township.
2010-08-01	Yangmei		33	Originally urban township.
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.
2014-06-03	Luzhu		18	Originally rural township.
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.
2015-08-08	Yuanlin		13	The population requirement of county-administered cities changed to 100,000. Originally urban township.
2015-10-05	Toufen		14	Originally urban township.

Populous Townships

Townships with population more than 90,000, close to the upgrading criterion