Taiwan Province

Taiwan Province
臺灣省
Name transcription(s)
 • Chinese臺灣省 (Táiwān Shěng)
 • AbbreviationTW / (pinyin: Tái; Hokkien: Tâi; Hakka: Thòi)
 • Hokkien POJTâi-oân-séng
 • Hakka PFSThòi-vàn-sén or Thòi-vân-sén
Flag of Taiwan Province
Official seal of Taiwan Province
Map depicting subdivisions nominally part of the province (red)
Map depicting subdivisions nominally part of the province (red)
Coordinates: 23°48′N 121°00′E / 23.8°N 121.0°E / 23.8; 121.0
Country Republic of China
Established from Fujian1887
Secession to Japan17 April 1895
Placed under the control of the ROC25 October 1945
Streamlined21 December 1998
Governmental functions removed1 July 2018[1]
Provincial capitalZhongxing New Village (1956-2018)
Taipei (1945–1956)
Largest cityHsinchu
Divisions11 counties, 3 cities
Government
 • TypeProvince (nominal)
 • BodyNational Development Council[a]
Area
 • Total25,110.0037 km2 (9,695.0266 sq mi)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total7,060,473
 • Density280/km2 (730/sq mi)
DemonymTaiwanese
Time zoneUTC+08:00 (NST)
Taiwan
"Taiwan" in Traditional (top) and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters
Traditional Chinese臺灣 or 台灣
Simplified Chinese台湾
PostalTaiwan
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinTáiwān
Bopomofoㄊㄞˊ   ㄨㄢ
Gwoyeu RomatzyhTair'uan
Wade–GilesTʻai²-wan¹
Tongyong PinyinTáiwan
MPS2Táiwān
IPA[tʰǎɪ.wán]
other Mandarin
DunganТэван
Wu
RomanizationThe-uae
[d̥e uɛ]
Xiang
IPAdwɛ13 ua44
Hakka
Pha̍k-fa-sṳThòi-vàn or
Thòi-vân
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationTòihwāan
JyutpingToi4waan1
IPA[tʰɔj˩.wan˥]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJTâi-oân
Tâi-lôTâi-uân
Eastern Min
Fuzhou BUCDài-uăng
Abbreviation
Traditional Chinese or
Simplified Chinese
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinTái
Bopomofoㄊㄞˊ
Gwoyeu RomatzyhTair
Wade–GilesTʻai²
Tongyong PinyinTái
MPS2Tái
IPA[tʰǎɪ]
Wu
RomanizationThe
[d̥e]
Xiang
IPAdwɛ13
Hakka
Pha̍k-fa-sṳThòi
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationTòih
JyutpingToi4
IPA[tʰɔj˩]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJTâi
Tâi-lôTâi
Eastern Min
Fuzhou BUCDài
Taiwan Province
Traditional Chinese臺灣 or 台灣
Simplified Chinese台湾
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinTáiwān Shěng
Bopomofoㄊㄞˊ   ㄨㄢ   ㄕㄥˇ
Gwoyeu RomatzyhTair'uan Sheeng
Wade–GilesTʻai²-wan¹ Shêng³
Tongyong PinyinTáiwan Shěng
MPS2Táiwān Shěng
IPA[tʰǎɪ.wán ʂə̀ŋ]
Hakka
Pha̍k-fa-sṳThòi-vàn-sén or
Thòi-vân-sén
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationTòihwāan Sáang
JyutpingToi4waan1 Saang2
IPA[tʰɔj˩.wan˥ saŋ˧˥]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJTâi-oân-séng
Tâi-lôTâi-uân-síng
Eastern Min
Fuzhou BUCDài-uăng sēng

Taiwan Province (Chinese: 臺灣省; pinyin: Táiwān Shěng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tâi-oân-séng; PFS: Thòi-vàn-sén or Thòi-vân-sén) is a de jure administrative division of the Republic of China (ROC). Provinces remain a titular division as a part of the Constitution of the Republic of China, but are no longer considered to have any administrative function practically.[2][3]

Taiwan Province covers approximately 69% of the island of Taiwan, and comprises around 31% of the total population. The province 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 the province, 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.[4] 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 Province"; Chinese: 福建臺灣省), 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 in September 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 ROC central government since 1949.

During the constitutional reform initiated in 1996, the ROC authorities decided to downsize the provincial structure to solve the problem of overlapping personnel and administrative resources between the provincial and central governments, and cut excessive public spending.[5] The provinces were streamlined and 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.[3][6]

  1. ^ 賴清德拍板!省政府7月1日解散、省級機關預算將歸零. ettoday.net (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 28 June 2018.
  2. ^ "Local governments". Office of the President Republic of China (Taiwan). Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  3. ^ a b Sarah Shair-Rosenfield (November 2020). "Taiwan combined" (PDF). The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  4. ^ Davidson, James W. (1903). The Island of Formosa, Past and Present: History, People, Resources, and Commercial Prospects: Tea, Camphor, Sugar, Gold, Coal, Sulphur, Economical Plants, and Other Productions. London and New York: Macmillan & Co. OL 6931635M.
  5. ^ Bi-yu Chang (24 March 2015), "The rise and fall of Sanminzhuyi Utopia", Place, Identity, and National Imagination in Post-war Taiwan, Routledge, pp. 136–138, ISBN 9781317658122.
  6. ^ Sherry Hsiao (29 June 2018). "Provincial-level agencies to be defunded next year". Taipei Times. Retrieved 29 May 2021.


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