Counties of China

For other uses, see County.

In the context of Political divisions of China, county is the standard English translation of Xiàn (Simplified Chinese: 县). In the People's Republic of China (PRC, commonly known as China or Mainland China), counties are found in the third level of the administrative hierarchy in Provinces and Autonomous regions, and the 2nd level in municipalities and Hainan province, a level that is known as "county-level" and also contains autonomous counties, county-level cities, banners, autonomous banners, and City districts. There are 1,467 counties in mainland China out of a total of 2,861 county-level divisions.

Xian have existed since the Warring States Period, and were established nationwide during the Qin Dynasty. The term xian is usually translated as "districts" or "prefectures" when put in the context of Chinese history. This article, however, will try to keep the terminology consistent with the modern translation, and use the term "county" throughout. Note that this is not conventional practice in Sinology literature.

History

Xian have existed since the Warring States Period, and were set up nation-wide by the Qin Dynasty. The number of counties in China proper gradually increased from dynasty to dynasty. As Qin Shi Huang reorganized the counties after his unification, there were about 1000. Under the Eastern Han Dynasty, the number of counties increased to above 1,000. About 1400 existed when the Sui dynasty abolished the commandery level (郡 jùn), which was the level just above counties, and demoted some commanderies to counties. The current number of counties mostly resembled that of the later years of Qing Dynasty. Changes of location and names of counties in Chinese history have been a major field of research in Chinese historical geography, especially from the 1960s to the 1980s.

In Imperial China, the county was a significant administrative unit because it marked the lowest level of the imperial bureaucratic structure — in other words, it was the lowest level that the government reached. Government below the county level was often undertaken through informal non-bureaucratic means, varying between dynasties. The head of a county was the magistrate, who oversaw both the day-to-day operations of the county as well as civil and criminal cases.

People's Republic of China

Main article: List of county-level divisions of China

See Political divisions of China for how counties fit into the PRC administrative hierarchy.

Autonomous counties

Main article: Autonomous county

Autonomous counties (自治县 Pinyin: zìzhìxiàn) are a special class of counties in mainland China reserved for non-Han Chinese ethnic minorities. Autonomous counties are found all over China, and are given, by law, more legislative power than regular counties.

There are 117 autonomous counties in mainland China.

Government

As the CPC is the central governmental institution in all of Mainland China, every level of administrative division has a local CPC Committee. A county's is called the CPC County Committee (中共县委) and the head called the Secretary (中共县委书记), the real first-in-charge of the county. Further, there is the People's government of the county, and its head is called the County Governor (县长). The governor is sometimes also one of the Deputy Secretaries in the CPC Committee.

Republic of China (Taiwan)

See Administrative divisions of the Republic of China for how counties fit into the ROC administrative hierarchy.

In ROC's administrative divisions counties, or Sian or Hsian, (Traditional Chinese: 縣) are officially found in the second level; however, the streamlining of Taiwan Province has effectively made the county the first level below the Republic of China central government's rule. Within Fujian Province the county is still the second level. There are 18 counties administered by the Republic of China, including 16 in Taiwan Province and two in Fujian Province.

In Taiwan Province:

Romanization	Chinese	Tongyong Pinyin	Hanyu Pinyin	Wade-Giles	POJ	Capital	Capital in Chinese
	彰化縣	Jhanghuà	Zhānghuà	Chang1-hua4	Chiong-hòa-koān	Changhua City	彰化市
Chiayi County	嘉義縣	Jiayì	Jiāyì	Chia1-i4	Ka-gī-koān	Taibao City	太保市
Hsinchu County	新竹縣	Sinjhú	Xīnzhú	Hsin1-chu2		Zhubei City	竹北市
Hualien County	花蓮縣	Hualián	Huālián	Hua1-lien2	Hoa-liân-koān	Hualien City	花蓮市
Kaohsiung County	高雄縣	Gaosyóng	Gāoxióng	Kao1-hsiung2		Fengshan City	鳳山市
Miaoli County	苗栗縣	Miáolì	Miáolì	Miao2-li4		Miaoli City	苗栗市
Nantou County	南投縣	Nántóu	Nántóu	Nan2-t'ou2		Nantou City	南投市
Penghu County (Pescadores)	澎湖縣	Pénghú	Pénghú	P'eng2-hu2		Magong City	馬公市
Pingtung County	屏東縣	Píngdong	Píngdōng	P'ing2-tung1		Pingtung City	屏東市
Taichung County	臺中縣, 台中縣	Táijhong	Táizhōng	T'ai2-chung1		Fengyuan City	豐原市
Tainan County	臺南縣, 台南縣	Táinán	Táinán	T'ai2-nan2		Xingying City	新營市
Taipei County	臺北縣, 台北縣	Táiběi	Táiběi	T'ai2-pei3		Banqiao City	板橋市
Taitung County	臺東縣, 台東縣	Táidong	Táidōng	T'ai2-tung1		Taitung City	台東市
Taoyuan County	桃園縣	Táoyuán	Táoyuán	T'ao2-yüan2		Taoyuan City	桃園市
Yilan County	宜蘭縣	Yílán	Yílán	I2-lan2	Gî-lân-koān	Yilan City	宜蘭市
Yunlin County	雲林縣	Yúnlín	Yúnlín	Yün2-lin2		Douliu City	斗六市

In Fujian Province (Wade-Giles: Fuchien):

Romanization	Chinese	Tongyong Pinyin	Hanyu Pinyin	Wade-Giles	Capital	Capital in Chinese
Lienchiang County (Matsu)	連江縣	Liánjiang	Liánjiāng	Lien2-chiang1	Nangan Township	南竿鄉
Kinmen County	金門縣	Jinmén	Jīnmén	Chin1-men2	Jincheng Township	金城鎮

See also

• County