Special municipality (Taiwan)

Special municipalities (Chinese: 直轄市; pinyin: zhíxiáshì) are one of top-level divisions in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Five special municipalities in Taiwan were created after the Republic of China government took control following World War II. Taipei was made a Yuan-controlled municipality in 1967; Kaohsiung was elevated in 1979; New Taipei, Taichung, and Tainan also elevated to special municipality in 2010. Since 1994, Yuan-controlled municipalities (院轄市 yuànxiáshì) have been officially called special municipality (直轄市 zhíxiáshì) to emphasize their autonomy. Besides significant political, economic, and cultural development, the ROC law dictates that a municipality must have population of over 1,250,000.

Position in hierarchy

Special municipalities are the highest-ranked cities in the ROC. Some cities of lower levels may also refer to themselves as municipalities , however, refers to them using the following conventional terms:

Three levels of cities in the Republic of China (Taiwan):

1. Special municipalities (直轄市 zhíxiáshì)
2. Provincial cities (市 shì or 省轄市 shěngxiáshì)
3. County-controlled cities (縣轄市 xiànxiáshì)

History

Before 1949

The first municipalities were the 11 cities of Nanking, Shanghai, Peiping (Peking), Tientsin, Tsingtao, Chungking, Sian, Canton, Hankow (now part of Wuhan), Shenyang, and Harbin when the Republic of China (ROC) government ruled mainland China. They were established in 1927 soon after they were designated as "cities" during the 1920s. Nominally Dalien was a municipality as well, although it was under Japanese Occupation. These cities were first called special municipalities/cities (Chinese: 特別市; pinyin: tébíeshì), but were later renamed Yuan-controlled municipalities (simplified Chinese: 院辖市; traditional Chinese: 院轄市; pinyin: yùanxíashì), then direct-controlled municipalities (simplified Chinese: 直辖市; traditional Chinese: 直轄市; pinyin: zhíxiáshì) by the Central Government.

Administration

In Taiwanese municipalities, the mayor is the highest ranking official in charge. The mayor is directly elected by the people registered in the municipality for a duration of four years.

Current ROC special municipalities

Special municipalities of the Republic of China

No.	Name	Trad.	Simp.	Hanyu Pinyin	Abbr.	Seal	Population	Area (km²)	Date of establishment	Map
1	Kaohsiung City	高雄市	高雄市	Gāoxióng Shì	高 gāo		2,769,072	2,946.2527	Jul. 1, 1979	1 2 3 4 5
2	New Taipei City	新北市	新北市	Xīnběi Shì	新 xīn		3,849,492	2,052.5667	Dec. 25, 2010
3	Taichung City	臺中市	台中市	Táizhōng Shì	中 zhōng	File:Taichung City Sea new.svg	2,629,323	2,214.8968	Dec. 25, 2010
4	Tainan City	臺南市	台南市	Táinán Shì	南 nán	File:Tainanciry seal.svg	1,873,681	2,191.6531	Dec. 25, 2010
5	Taipei City	臺北市	台北市	Táiběi Shì	北 běi		2,622,933	271.7997	Jul. 1, 1967

2014 Proposals for ROC municipalities

Changes	June 2009 Combined population	Combined area (km²)	Map (before)			Map (after)
Taipei City + New Taipei City + Keelung City → Taipei City (臺北市 + 新北市 + 基隆市 → 臺北市)	6,854,715	2,457.1244