The Republic of China (Taiwan) is divided into multi-layered statutory subdivisions. Due to the complex political status of Taiwan, there is a significant difference in the de jure system set out in the original constitution and the de facto system in use today.

The Republic of China (ROC) government defines the Taiwan Area (Free Area) as its actual controlled territories, which is constitutionally divided into two provinces and six special municipalities, with each province subdivided into cities and counties. After a constitutional amendment in 1997, the provinces became non-self-governing bodies and remained as nominal divisions under the constitution, with no governing powers. The provincial governments were abolished in 2018. Provincial borders remained for statistical purposes.Demographic Quarterly Winter 2022

With provinces non-functional in practice, Taiwan is divided into 22 subnational divisions (6 special municipalities, 3 cities, and 13 counties), each with a local government led by an elected head and a local council. Special municipalities and cities are further divided into districts for local administration. Counties are further divided into townships and county-administered cities; these divisions have a degree of autonomy with elected leaders and local councils, which share responsibilities with the county governments. Matters for which local governments are responsible or partially responsible include social services, education, urban planning, public construction, water management, environmental protection, transport and public safety.

When the ROC retreated to Taiwan in 1949, its claimed territory consisted of 35 provinces, 12 special municipalities, 1 special administrative region (Hainan) and several autonomous regions (Tibet, reclaimed Mongolia in 1953). However, since its retreat, the ROC has controlled only Taiwan Province and some islands of Fujian Province. The ROC also controls the Pratas Island and Taiping Island in the Spratly Islands, which are part of the disputed South China Sea Islands. They were placed under Kaohsiung administration after the retreat to Taiwan.

Since 1949, the government has made some changes in the area under its control. Taipei became a special municipality in 1967 and Kaohsiung in 1979. The two provincial governments were "streamlined", with their functions transferred to the central government (Fujian in 1956 and Taiwan in 1998). In 2010, New Taipei, Taichung, and Tainan were upgraded to special municipalities. And in 2014, Taoyuan County was also upgraded to Taoyuan special municipality. This brought the top-level divisions to their current state:

According to Article 4 of the Local Government Act, laws pertaining to special municipalities also apply to counties with a population exceeding 2 million. This provision does not currently apply to any county, although it previously applied to Taipei County (now New Taipei City) and Taoyuan County (now Taoyuan City).

History

Territory After the end of World War II in 1945, the Republic of China (1912–1949) received Taiwan (Formosa) and Penghu (the Pescadores) from the Empire of Japan. After the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the ROC was reduced to mainly the island of Taiwan and some offshore islands, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) controlling the mainland. However, it continued to formally claim all 35 provinces (including those that no longer form part of the area of the People's Republic of China) in official maps by the ROC government and ignored the changes imposed by the PRC. After 1953, the authorities in Taiwan once claimed that Mongolia was ROC territory, but this claim was abolished under the Chen Shui-bian administration in 2002. By 1967 and 1979, the ROC set up Taipei and Kaohsiung as its special municipalities, with three more added in 2010 and one in 2014. As of , the ROC has not officially renounced claims in mainland China ruled by the CCP, though the ROC has also not recently published official maps depicting mainland China as part of its territory.

This history gives two different sources of the current Taiwanese administrative divisions on the free area of the Republic of China or Taiwan Area. Taiwan Province: The island of Taiwan (Formosa) and Penghu (the Pescadores): inherited from the divisions of Taiwan under the Empire of Japan. Fuchien Province: Kinmen (Quemoy) and the Matsu Islands – offshore islands inherited from the ROC's Fuchien divisions. The original province was partitioned between the PRC and the ROC following the Battle of Guningtou in 1949. In addition, the ROC still controls over Pratas Island and part of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. These were originally part of the Hainan Special Administrative Region, but were transferred to the special municipality of Kaohsiung in 1996. These provinces were streamlined in 1998 and their governments became non-functional in 2019.

Changes to divisions See also:

In 1945, the ROC replaced the Japanese prefectures with eight counties (Hsinchu, Hualien, Kaohsiung, Penghu, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei, and Taitung) and nine cities (Changhwa, Chiayi, Hsinchu, Kaohsiung, Keelung, Pingtung, Taichung, Tainan, and Taipei). These changes were not recognized by the Allies as they viewed the territory remained under Japanese sovereignty.

On 16 August 1950, a law reorganizing Taiwan Province was passed by the Executive Yuan. In September 1950, the Taiwan Province County and Municipal Administrative District Modification Proposal reorganized Taiwan Province into 16 counties (Changhwa, Chiayi, Hsinchu, Hualien, Ilan, Kaohsiung, Miaoli, Nantou, Penghu, Pingtung, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei, Taitung, Taoyuan, Yunlin) and five cities (Kaohsiung, Keelung, Taichung, Tainan, and Taipei). The ROC also retained control of Kinmen County and Lienchiang County, bringing the total number of administrative divisions to 23.

In 1967, Taipei became a special municipality, separate from Taiwan Province, which gave the central government more direct control of the city. Taipei was followed by Kaohsiung in 1979. In 1982, Hsinchu and Chiayi were separated from their counties to become provincial cities.

Since 1949, the government has made some changes in the area under its control. The two provincial governments were downscaled and much of their functions transferred to the central or county governments. Six special municipalities have been created.

Since 1949, the most controversial part of the political division system has been the existence of Taiwan Province, as its existence was part of a larger controversy over the political status of Taiwan. Since 1998, most of the duties and powers of Taiwan Provincial Government have been transferred to the central government, through amendments to the constitution. The much smaller Fukien province, Fujian Provincial Government has been downsized since 1956.

There has been some criticism of the current administrative scheme as being inefficient and not conducive to regional planning. In particular, most of the administrative cities are much smaller than the actual metropolitan areas, and there are no formal means for coordinating policy between an administrative city and its surrounding areas. The 1980s and 1990s saw proposals to merge Kaohsiung and Taipei cities with their counties of the same name, although these proposals did not end up being implemented.

Before 2008, the likelihood of consolidation was low. Many of the cities had political demographics which were very different from their surrounding counties, making the prospect of consolidation highly politically charged. For example, while the Kuomintang argued that combining Taipei City, Taipei County, and Keelung City into a metropolitan Taipei region would allow for better regional planning, the Democratic Progressive Party argued that this was merely an excuse to eliminate the government of Taipei County, which it had at times controlled, by swamping it with votes from Taipei City and Keelung City, which tended to vote Kuomintang.

On 1 October 2007, Taipei County was upgraded to a quasi-municipality () on the same level as Kaohsiung City and Taipei City. This allowed the county to have the organizational and budgetary framework of a de jure municipality, but it was still formally styled as a county. Taichung County and Tainan City lobbied the central government for similar status. Taoyuan County was also upgraded to a quasi-municipality on 1 January 2011, as its population was above 2 million on the date of elevation.

Under President Ma Ying-jeou's administration, the central government has reorganized more counties and cities. Four mergers and promotions were approved in 2009 and became effective on 25 December 2010 and one more became effective on 25 December 2014.

The summary of changes on administrative divisions are shown below.

NameNotesFuchien ProvinceThe provincial capital was moved from Foochow (Fuzhou) to Jincheng, Kinmen in 1949. The provincial government was downscaled in 1956 and dissolved in 2019.Taiwan ProvinceThe provincial capital was moved from Taipei to Zhongxing New Village in 1956. The provincial government was downscaled in 1998 and dissolved in 2018.Kaohsiung CityFormerly a provincial city, elevated to a special municipality in 1979. In 2010, a new Kaohsiung special municipality was established by merging former Kaohsiung County with the existing Kaohsiung City.New Taipei CityFormerly Taipei County, elevated to a special municipality in 2010.Taichung CityElevated to a special municipality by merging Taichung City and Taichung County in 2010.Tainan CityElevated to a special municipality by merging Tainan City and Tainan County in 2010.Taipei CityFormerly a provincial city, elevated to a special municipality in 1967.Taoyuan CityFormerly Taoyuan County, elevated to a special municipality in 2014.

This brought the top-level divisions of Taiwan (ROC) to its current state: 2 nominal provinces without administrative function and 6 special municipalities; and under the provinces, 13 counties and three cities.中華民國國情簡介 政府組織

Current system

Special municipalities, counties, and cities

Currently there are three types and in total 22 administrative divisions are directly governed by the central government (Executive Yuan). According to the Local Government Act of Taiwan, a place with population more than 1.25 million may become a special municipality, a place with population between 0.5 and 1.25 million may become a city. Counties with population more than 2 million may grant some extra privileges in local autonomy that was designed for special municipalities.

NameChinesePinyinPe̍h-ōe-jīCount   Special municipalityzhíxiáshìti̍t-hat-chhī6   Countyxiànkoān13   Cityshìchhī3

These 22 divisions are also regulated by the Local Government Act as local self-governance bodies. Each division has its own executive called "city/county government" and own legislature called "city/county council". The city mayors, county magistrates and all legislators are elected by the people under its jurisdiction every four years. Geographically, Six special municipalities, three provincial cities, and ten counties are on the main island of Taiwan

{|class=wikitable !Special municipalities!!colspan=2|Counties!!Cities |- |valign=top|Kaohsiung CityNew Taipei CityTaichung CityTainan CityTaipei CityTaoyuan City |valign=top|Changhua CountyChiayi CountyHsinchu CountyHualien CountyMiaoli County |valign=top|Nantou CountyPingtung CountyTaitung CountyYilan CountyYunlin County |valign=top|Chiayi CityHsinchu CityKeelung City

Penghu County administers the Penghu Islands. Kinmen County administers the Kinmen Islands and the Wuqiu Islands. Lienchiang County administers the Matsu Islands. Kaohsiung also administers Pratas Island (Tungsha Island or Dongsha Island) and Taiping Island of the South China Sea Islands.

Townships, county-administered cities and districts