Taiwan (; PFS: Thòi-vàn-sén or Thòi-vân-sén) is a de jure province of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Provinces remain a nominal division as a part of the Constitution of the Republic of China, but are no longer considered to have any administrative function practically.

Taiwan Province constitutionally covers approximately 69% of the island of Taiwan, and comprises around 31% of the total population. It initially covered the entire island of Taiwan (Formosa), Penghu (the Pescadores), Orchid Island, Green Island, Xiaoliuqiu Island, and their surrounding islands. Between 1967 and 2014, six special municipalities (Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei and Taoyuan) were split off from it, all in the most populous regions.

Taiwan was initially made a prefecture of Fujian Province by the Qing dynasty of China after its conquest of the Kingdom of Tungning in 1683. Following the French offensive in northern Taiwan during the Sino-French War, the island's strategic position in maritime security and defence was re-evaluated and given prominence by the Qing. Under the auspices of Liu Ming-chuan, a plan was commenced to develop Taiwan into a stand-alone division. In 1887, Taiwan was designated as a distinct province (namely "Fujian-Taiwan"; ), with Liu as the first governor, but the island was then ceded to the Empire of Japan in 1895, following China's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War. After the surrender of Japan in World War II, the province was re-established on Taiwan by the Kuomintang (KMT)-led Nationalist Government on 25 October 1945, and it became the last stronghold of the KMT government after their defeat in the Chinese Civil War. The provincial capital of Taipei has correspondingly become the provisional capital of the central government since 1949.

During the constitutional reform initiated in 1996, the Taiwanese government decided to downsize the provincial structure to streamline overlapping personnel and administrative resources between the provincial and central governments, and cut excessive public spending. The provinces ceased to be self-governing bodies in December 1998, with their administrative functions transferred to the Executive Yuan's subsidiary National Development Council, as well as second-tier local governments such as counties. In July 2018, all provincial governmental organs were formally abolished, with their budget and personnel removed.

History

Qing dynasty

In 1683, Zheng Keshuang (third ruler of the Kingdom of Tungning and a grandson of Koxinga), surrendered to the Qing Empire following a naval engagement with Admiral Shi Lang. The Qing then ruled the Taiwanese archipelago (including Penghu) as Taiwan Prefecture of Fujian Province. In 1875, Taipeh Prefecture was separated from Taiwan Prefecture. In 1885, work commenced under the auspices of Liu Ming-chuan to develop Taiwan into a province. In 1887, the island was designated as a province (officially "Fujian-Taiwan"; ), with Liu as the first governor. "During the French war, Liu Ming-chuan had been placed in sole command, responsible only to the central authorities. Under his superintendence, Formosa had been carried safely through the war, and it was now apparent that the exigencies of the times required that the island should be made an independent province, and that officials of high rank and undoubted ability should be henceforth placed in charge of it. Therefore, in 1887, the island was declared by Imperial decree an independent province, and the Imperial Commissioner Liu Ming-chuan was appointed the first governor." The province was also reorganized into four prefectures, eleven districts, and three sub-prefectures. The provincial capital, or "Taiwan-fu", was intended to be moved from the south (modern-day Tainan) to the more central area of Toatun (modern-day Taichung) in the revamped Taiwan Prefecture. As the new central Taiwan-fu was still under construction, the capital was temporarily moved north to Taipeh (modern-day Taipei), which eventually was designated the provincial capital.

In 1895, the entire province was ceded to Japan following the First Sino-Japanese War through the Treaty of Shimonoseki. +Divisions of Taiwan (Formosa) as a provinceadapted from CircuitPrefecturesDistrictsSub-PrefecturesTaiwanTaipehTamsui KelungGilan Hsinchu TaiwanTaiwan () Changwha PuliYunlin Miaoli TainanAnping PenghuKagi Fengshan Hengchun Taitung

Republic of China

After the surrender of Japan in 1945, Taiwan was handed over to the Republic of China (ROC). The ROC government immediately established the Taiwan Provincial Government under first Chief Executive and government-general Chen Yi in September 1945. Chen was extremely unpopular and his rule led to an uprising: the February 28 Incident of 1947. Chen was recalled in May 1947 and the government-general position was abolished.

In 1949, Chinese Communist Party forces defeated the Kuomintang (KMT) in the Chinese Civil War, and the Republic of China government moved to Taipei. The provincial administration remained in place under the claim that the ROC was still the government of all of China even though the opposition argued that it overlapped inefficiently with the national government. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China claims that Taiwan is a sacred and inseparable part of China's territory, despite its separation from the mainland since 1949.

The seat of the provincial government was moved from Taipei to Zhongxing New Village in 1956. Historically, Taiwan province covers the entire island of Taiwan and all its associated islands. The city of Taipei was split off to become a province-level special municipality in 1967, and the city of Kaohsiung was split off in 1979 to become another special municipality. In December 2010, Kaohsiung County left the province and merged with the original Kaohsiung City to become an expanded Kaohsiung City, Taipei County became the special municipality named New Taipei City. The cities and counties of Taichung and Tainan were also merged, respectively, and elevated to special municipality. On 25 December 2014, Taoyuan County was upgraded into a special municipality and split off from Taiwan province.

Until 1992, the governor of Taiwan province was appointed by the ROC central government. The office was often a stepping stone to higher office.

In 1992, the post of the governor of the province was opened to election. The then-opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) agreed to retain the province with an elected governor in the hopes of creating a "Yeltsin effect" in which a popular local leader could overwhelm the national government. These hopes proved unfulfilled as then-Kuomintang member James Soong was elected governor of Taiwan province, defeating the DPP candidate Chen Ding-nan.

In 1997, as the result of an agreement between the KMT and the DPP, the powers of the provincial government were curtailed by constitutional amendments. The post of provincial governor was abolished. In addition, the provincial council was also replaced by the Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council. Although the stated purpose was administrative efficiency, Soong and his supporters claim that it was actually intended to impede James Soong's political life, though it did not have this effect.

The provincial administration was downscaled in 1998, most of its power handed to the central government. The counties and provincial cities under the province became the primary administrative divisions of the country.

Government

The position of the Chairperson of the Provincial Government, appointed by the central government, is retained to comply with the Constitution.

The major operations of the provincial government, such as managing provincial highways and the Bank of Taiwan, have been transferred to the Executive Yuan since 1998. In July 2018, all remaining duties were transferred to the National Development Council and other ministries of the Executive Yuan.

The Taiwan Provincial Government was located in Zhongxing New Village, Nantou City, Nantou County between 1957 and 2018.

Divisions

History of divisions

In October 1945, The Government of the Republic of China reformed the eight(8) Japanese prefectures under the Government-General of Taiwan into 8 counties and 9 cities.

YearDateDivision No.NotesCountiesCitiesBureaus194525 October89 Counties: Hsinchu, Hualien, Kaohsiung, Penghu, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei, and Taitung. Cities: Changhua, Chiayi, Hsinchu, Kaohsiung, Keelung, Pingtung, Taichung, Tainan, and Taipei. (with 2 county-controlled cities: Hualien and Yilan)194926 August891Ts'ao-shan Administrative Bureau established from Taipei County19501 April891Ts'ao-shan Administrative Bureau renamed to Yangmingshan Administrative Bureau16 August1651 Counties: Changhua, Chiayi, Hsinchu, Hualien, Kaohsiung, Miaoli, Nantou, Penghu, Pingtung, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei, Taitung, Taoyuan, Yilan, and Yunlin Cities: Kaohsiung, Keelung, Taichung, Tainan, and Taipei. (Chiayi, Changhua, Hsinchu, and Pingtung downgraded to county-administered cities) Bureau: Yangmingshan Administrative Bureau19671 July1641Taipei became the first Taiwanese special municipality19681 July164 Yangmingshan Administrative Bureau merged into Taipei19731 July1641Li-shan Administrative Bureau established from Taichung County19791 July1631Kaohsiung became the second Taiwanese special municipality19811 March163 Li-shan Administrative Bureau merged back to Taichung County25 December163 All county seats (originally urban townships) upgraded to county-administered cities.19821 July165 Upgrade Chiayi and Hsinchu to provincial cities (approved on 23 April 1981)199821 December165 Provincial government streamlined, all counties and cities are directly led by the Executive Yuan201025 December123 Upgrade Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan to special municipalities,which covers 4 counties (Kaohsiung, Taipei, Taichung, Tainan) and 2 cities (Taichung and Tainan).201425 December113 Upgrade Taoyuan to a special municipality.20181 July113 Provincial government defunct, all counties and cities are directly led by the Executive Yuan

Current divisions Taiwan province is nominally divided into 11 counties and 3 cities . All divisions are directly administered by the central government in practice.

MapNo.NameMandarin(Pinyin)Taiwanese(Pe̍h-ōe-jī)Hakka(Pha̍k-fa-sṳ)1Changhua CountyZhānghuà xiànChiong-hoà koānChông-fa yen2Chiayi CityJiāyì shìKa-gī chhīKâ-ngi sṳ3Chiayi CountyJiāyì xiànKa-gī koānKâ-ngi yen4Hsinchu CityXīnzhú shìSin-tek chhīSîn-tsuk sṳ5Hsinchu CountyXīnzhú xiànSin-tek koānSîn-tsuk yen6Hualien CountyHuālián xiànHoa-liân koānFâ-lièn yen7Keelung CityJīlóng shìKe-lâng chhīKî-lùng sṳ8Miaoli CountyMiáolì xiànBiâu-le̍k koānMèu-li̍t yen9Nantou CountyNántóu xiànLâm-tâu koānNàm-thèu yen10Penghu CountyPénghú xiànPhêⁿ-ô͘ koānPhàng-fù yen11Pingtung CountyPíngdōng xiànPîn-tong koānPhìn-tûng yen12Taitung CountyTáidōng xiànTâi-tang koānThòi-tûng yen13Yilan CountyYílán xiànGî-lân koānNgì-làn yen 14Yunlin CountyYúnlín xiànHûn-lîm koānYùn-lìm yen

Note that the special municipalities of Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei, and Taoyuan are both nominally under and directly administered by the central government. They are not parts of any province.

Sister states/provinces Taiwan province was twinned with 42 U.S. states:

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Territorial disputes