Taipei City

Taipei, officially known as Taipei City, is the capital city and a special municipality of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei. It is about 25 km southwest of the northern port city Keelung. The city is mostly located on the Taipei Basin, an ancient lakebed bounded by the two relatively narrow valleys of the Keelung and Xindian rivers, which join to form the Tamsui River along the city's western border. The city proper is home to an estimated population of 2,693,672 in 2009, forming the core part of the Taipei-Keelung metropolitan area which includes the nearby cities of New Taipei and Keelung with a population of 6,900,273, the 40th most-populous urban area in the world. The name "Taipei" can refer either to the whole metropolitan area or the city proper. Taipei is the political, economic, educational, and cultural center of Taiwan, and one of the major hubs of the Chinese-speaking world. Considered to be a global city, Taipei is part of a major high-tech industrial area. Railways, high-speed rail, highways, airports, and bus lines connect Taipei with all parts of the island. The city is served by two airports Taipei Songshan and Taiwan Taoyuan. Taipei is home to various world-famous architectural or cultural landmarks which include Taipei 101, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Dalongdong Baoan Temple, Hsing Tian Kong, Mengjia Longshan Temple, National Palace Museum, Presidential Office Building, Taipei Guest House, Ximending, and several Night markets dispersing over the city. Its natural features such as Maokong, Yangmingshan, and hot springs are also well known to international visitors. Due to politics, "Taipei" can occasionally be used as a synecdoche regarding the sovereignty of Taiwan. Due to the ongoing controversy over the political status of Taiwan, the name Chinese Taipei is designated for use officially when Taiwanese governmental representatives or national teams participate in some international organizations or international sporting events in order to avoid extensive political controversy by using other names.

New Taipei City

New Taipei, officially known as New Taipei City , is a special municipality and the most populous city in Taiwan. Located in northern Taiwan, the city includes a substantial stretch of the island's northern coastline and surrounds the Taipei Basin, making it the second largest special municipality by area, behind Kaohsiung. New Taipei City is bordered by Keelung to the northeast, Yilan County to the southeast, and Taoyuan to the southwest. It completely surrounds Taipei. Banqiao District is its municipal seat and biggest commercial area.

Kaohsiung City

Kaohsiung City is a special municipality in Taiwan. Located in southern-western Taiwan and facing the Taiwan Strait, it is by area the largest municipality, at 2,951.85 km2 , and second most populous with a population of approximately 2.77 million. Since its start in the 17th century, Kaohsiung has grown from a small trading village, into the political, economic, transportation, manufacturing, refining, shipbuilding, and industrial center of southern Taiwan. It is a global city with sufficiency as categorized by Globalization and World Cities Research Network in 2012. The Kaohsiung International Airport is the third largest airport in Taiwan. The Port of Kaohsiung is the largest harbor in Taiwan, but not officially part of Kaohsiung City. The southern terminal of the Freeway 1 is in Kaohsiung. For north-south travel on railway, the city is served by the Taiwan Railways Administration stations of TRA Western Line and Pingtung Line. The Taiwan High Speed Rail also provides fast and frequent railway connection to Taipei. The Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit, the city's subway system, launched in early 2008. Kaohsiung was the host city of the World Games 2009, a multi-sport event primarily composed of sports not featured in the Olympic Games. The city is also home to the Republic of China Navy fleet headquarters and academy.

Tainan City

Tainan (臺南 or 台南; literally "Taiwan South"), officially Tainan City, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait in the west and south. Tainan is the oldest city in Taiwan and also commonly known as the "Capital City" for its over 200 years of history as the capital of Taiwan under Koxinga and later Qing dynasty rule. Tainan's complex history of comebacks, redefinitions and renewals inspired its popular nickname "the Phoenix City". Tainan was initially established by the Dutch East India Company as a ruling and trading base called Fort Zeelandia during the period of Dutch rule on Taiwan. After Dutch colonists were defeated by Koxinga in 1661, Tainan remained as the capital of the Tungning Kingdom until 1683 and afterwards the capital of Taiwan Prefecture under the rule of Qing Dynasty until 1887, when the new provincial capital was moved to Taipei. Tainan has been historically regarded as one of the oldest cities in Taiwan, and its former name, Tayouan (大員), has been claimed to be the origin of the name "Taiwan". It is also one of Taiwan's cultural capitals, for its rich folk cultures including the famous local snack food, extensively preserved Taoist rites and other living local traditions covering everything from child birth to funerals. The city houses the first Confucian school-temple, built in 1665, the remains of the Eastern and Southern gates of the old city, and countless other historical monuments. Tainan claims more Buddhist and Taoist temples than any other city in Taiwan.

Taichung City

Taichung ("臺中" or "台中"; literally "Central Taiwan"), officially known as Taichung City, is a special municipality located in center-western Taiwan. Taichung has a population of over 2.7 million people, making it the third largest city on the island after New Taipei City and Kaohsiung. On 25 December 2010, Taichung County merged with the original provincial Taichung City to form the special municipality. The city's motto is "economic, cultural and international city."

Taoyuan City

Taoyuan , is a special municipality in northwestern Taiwan, neighboring New Taipei, Hsinchu County, and Yilan County. Taoyuan District is the seat of the municipal government and that which, along with Zhongli District, forms a large metropolitan area, home to many industrial parks and tech company headquarters. Taoyuan developed from a satellite city of Taipei metropolitan area to be the fourth-largest metropolitan area, and fifth-largest populated city in Taiwan. Since commuting to the Taipei metropolitan area is easy, Taoyuan has seen the fastest population growth of all cities in Taiwan. "Taoyuan" means "peach garden," since the area used to have many peach blossom trees. Taoyuan is the native home to the Pingpu tribe of aborigines. It is also one of Taiwan's important industrial regions. Taipei Taoyuan International Airport, which serves the capital, Taipei and the rest of northern Taiwan, is located in this city. The current city of Taoyuan achieved its current form in 2014 when the former Taoyuan County was elevated to special municipality status. At the same time, the original county-controlled city of Taoyuan became Taoyuan District within the new municipality.

Kinmen County

Kinmen or Quemoy (; see also "Names" section below), officially Kinmen County (Chinese: 金門縣; pinyin: Jīnmén Xiàn), is a group of islands, governed by Taiwan, which is located just off the southeastern coast of mainland China, including Great Kinmen, Lesser Kinmen, Wuqiu and several surrounding islets. It is one of two counties under the streamlined Fujian Province of the Republic of China. Only about two kilometres (1.2 mi) east of the Chinese city of Xiamen, its strategic position has reflected the significant change of Cross-Strait relations from a battlefront to a trading point between China and Taiwan. Due to the ongoing issue of the political status of Taiwan, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has continuously claimed Kinmen as part of its own Fujian Province's Quanzhou prefecture-level city.

Keelung City

Keelung, officially known as Keelung City , is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. It borders New Taipei with which it forms the Taipei-Keelung metropolitan area, along with Taipei itself. Nicknamed the Rainy Port for its frequent rain and maritime role, the city is Taiwan's second largest seaport .

Lienchiang County

The Matsu Islands are a minor archipelago of 36 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait administered as Lienchiang County under streamlined Fujian Province, Republic of China . It is the smallest county in Taiwan. Only a small area of what is historically Lienchiang County is under the control of the ROC. The People's Republic of China administers the part of the historical county on mainland China as Lianjiang County, which claims the entire archipelago to be its Mazu Township . Kinmen is the other archipelago along the coast of Fujian that is controlled by the ROC.

Chiayi City

Chiayi (also romanized as Jiayi), officially known as Chiayi City (Chinese: 嘉義市), is a provincial city located in the plains of southwestern Taiwan. Formerly called Kagee during the late Qing Dynasty and Kagi during the Japanese era (all using the same characters 嘉義), its historical name is Tirosen.

Taitung County

Taitung County is the third largest county in Taiwan, located in the eastern coast.

Chiayi County

Chiayi County is a county in southwestern Taiwan surrounding but not including Chiayi City. It is the sixth largest county in Taiwan.

Yunlin County

Yunlin County is a county in western Taiwan. It is located east of the Taiwan Strait, west of Nantou County, and is separated from Changhua County by the Zhuoshui River and from Chiayi County by the Beigang River. Yunlin is part of the Chianan Plain, a flat land known for its agriculture. Agricultural products of Yunlin County include pomelo, tea leaves, suan cai, papaya and muskmelon. Yunlin's rivers give it potential for hydroelectricity. Douliu is the largest and capital city of Yunlin. Yunlin is one of the least developed counties on the West coast, and suffers from emigration.

Hsinchu City

Hsinchu (also romanized as Xinzhu), officially known as Hsinchu City (Chinese: 新竹市), is a city in northern Taiwan. Hsinchu is popularly nicknamed "The Windy City" for its windy climate. Hsinchu is administered as a provincial city within Taiwan.

Nantou County

Nantou County is the second largest county of Taiwan. It is also the only landlocked county in Taiwan. Its name derives from the Hoanya Taiwanese aboriginal word Ramtau. Nantou County is officially administered as a county of Taiwan Province. Its mountainous area makes it a tourist destination; Sun Moon Lake is located in this county. Other well-known areas of the county are Hehuanshan and Sitou. Notable cities in Nantou are Nantou City and Puli Town. Nantou County butterfly is Broad-tailed swallowtail butterfly . Nantou's tung-ting tea is one of the most famous and high-quality oolong teas grown in Taiwan.

Hsinchu County

Hsinchu County is a county in north-western Taiwan. The population of the county is mainly Hakka; there is a Taiwanese aboriginal minority in the southeastern part of the county. Zhubei is the county capital, where the government office and county office is located. Hsinchu County is where most of the industrial factory and office of computer related companies are located, and is often called the Hsinchu Technology Zone (新竹科學園區; Xīnzhú kēxuéyuán qū; Hsin1-chu2 K'o1-hsüeh2-yüan2 Ch'ü1).

Hualien County

Hualien County has the largest area of all counties in Taiwan, and is located on the country's mountainous eastern coast. It is the northern terminus of the Hualien-Taitung Line and the southern terminus of the North-Link Line of the Taiwan Railway Administration. In the Provincial Highway System, Hualien County is connected to other counties via the Suhua Highway, Huatung Highway, Hualien-Taitung Coast Highway and the Central Cross-Island Highway. Hualien County is famous for tourism. Tourism spots include the Taroko National Park and Yushan National Park and its coastline is well suited for biking purposes. Hualien City is the county seat of Hualien County and has the largest population.

Pingtung County

Pingtung County is a county in Southern Taiwan known for its agriculture and tourism. In recent years, it promotes specialties such as tuna and wax apples. Pingtung is where Kenting National Park, the oldest and the largest national park in Taiwan established in 1984, located. The capital of the county is Pingtung City.

Yilan County

Yilan County is a county in northeastern Taiwan. Yilan is officially administered as a county of the Republic of China.

Chiai

Chiayi (also romanized as Jiayi), officially known as Chiayi City (Chinese: 嘉義市), is a provincial city located in the plains of southwestern Taiwan. Formerly called Kagee during the late Qing Dynasty and Kagi during the Japanese era (all using the same characters 嘉義), its historical name is Tirosen.

Changhua County

Changhua County is the smallest county on the main island of Taiwan by area, and the fourth smallest in the country. With a total population of 1.3 million, Changhua County is the most populous county in Taiwan.

Penghu County

The Penghu or Pescadores Islands are an archipelago of 64 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait. The largest city is Magong, located on the largest island, which is also named Penghu. Covering an area of 141 square kilometers , the archipelago collectively forms Penghu County of Republic of China, and is the second smallest county, after Lienchiang.

Miaoli County

Miaoli County is a county in western Taiwan. Miaoli is contiguous with Hsinchu county and Hsinchu City to the north, Taichung City to the south, and borders the Taiwan Strait to the west. The Council for Economic Planning and Development of Taiwan classifies Miaoli as a county of Central Taiwan, while the Taiwan Central Weather Bureau classifies Miaoli as a county of the North. Miaoli City is the capital of the county, and is also known as "Mountain Town", owing to the number of mountains nearby, making it a destination for hiking.

Fukien