County-controlled city

This article is part of a series on the Administrative divisions of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
In effect
1st	Provinces (省 shěng) (streamlined)
	Special municipalities (直轄市 zhíxiáshì)
2nd	Counties (縣 xiàn)
	Provincial cities (市 shì)
3rd	Districts (區 qū)
	County-controlled cities (縣轄市 xiànxiáshì)
	Urban townships (鎮 zhèn)
	Rural townships (鄉 xiāng)
4th	Urban villages (里 lǐ)
	Rural villages (村 cūn)
5th	Neighborhoods (鄰 lín)
Suspended 1st Regions (地方 Dìfāng) (also known as "Areas") Special administrative regions (SARs) (特別行政區 tèbié xíngzhèngqū) Leagues (盟、部 méng, bù) Special banners (特別旗 tèbiéqí) 2nd Bureaus (設治局 shèzhìjú) Management bureaus (管理局 guǎnlǐjú) Banners (旗 qí) See also History of the administrative divisions of China v · d · e

A county-controlled city (縣轄市 xiànxiáshì) is a third level administrative division of the Republic of China (Taiwan).On the same level as a ROC township, it is the lowest-level city of ROC, below provincial city and special municipality. There are 17 County-controlled cities under Taiwan Province. A county-controlled city has urban villages (里) directly under it.

The two criteria of gaining county-controlled city status:

• population between 150,000 and 500,000
• advanced industry and commerce, sufficient funds, and advanced infrastructure

The population criterion was originally 50,000 in the 1940s, but was raised to 100,000 in 1959, and again in 1977 to the present level.

At first, in late January 1946, there were only two county-controlled cities: Hualien and Yilan, which were both prefecture-controlled cities (州轄市) under Japanese Rule. (The Kuomintang did not create such cities on the Mainland before they relocated to Taiwan.) Currently Taoyuan County has the most county-controlled cities (5). For current county-controlled cities, see the table below:

County-controlled cities in Taiwan

No.	Romanization	Chinese	Wade-Giles	Tongyong Pinyin	Hanyu Pinyin	Pe̍h-ōe-jī	Pha̍k-fa-sṳ	County located
1	Bade City	八德市	Pa-teh	Bade	Bādé	Pat-tek	Pat-tet	Taoyuan County
2	Changhua City	彰化市	Chang-hua	Jhanghua	Zhānghuà	Chiong-hòa	Chông-fa	Changhua County
3	Douliu City	斗六市	Tou-liu	Douliou	Dǒuliù	Táu-la̍k	Téu-liuk	Yunlin County
4	Hualien City	花蓮市	Hua-lien	Hualian	Huālián	Hoa-liân	Fâ-lièn	Hualien County
5	Magong City	馬公市	Ma-kung	Magong	Mǎgōng	Má-keng	Mâ-kûng	Penghu County
6	Miaoli City	苗栗市	Miao-li	Miaoli	Miáolì	Biâu-le̍k	Mèu-li̍t	Miaoli County
7	Nantou City	南投市	Nan-t'ou	Nantou	Nántóu	Lâm-tâu	Nàm-thèu	Nantou County
8	Pingtung City	屏東市	P'ing-tung	Pingdong	Píngdōng	Pîn-tong	Phìn-tûng	Pingtung County
9	Pingzhen City	平鎮市	P'ing-chen	Pingjhen	Píngzhèn	Pêng-tìn	Phìn-tsṳ́n	Taoyuan County
10	Puzi City	朴子市	P'u-tzu	Puzih	Pūzǐ	Phò-chú	Phú-chṳ́	Chiayi County
11	Taibao City	太保市	T'ai-pao	Taibao	Tàibǎo	Thài-pó	Thai-pó	Chiayi County
12	Taitung City	臺東市	T'ai-tung	Taidong	Táidōng	Tâi-tang	Thòi-tûng	Taitung County
13	Taoyuan City	桃園市	T'ao-yüan	Taoyuan	Táoyuán	Thô-hng	Thò-yèn	Taoyuan County
14	Yangmei City	楊梅市	Yang-mei	Yangmei	Yángméi	Iûⁿ-mûi	Yông-muì	Taoyuan County
15	Yilan City	宜蘭市	I-lan	Yilan	Yílán	Gî-lân	Ngì-làn	Yilan County
16	Zhongli City	中壢市	Chung-li	Jhongli	Zhōnglì	Tiong-lek	Chûng-la̍k	Taoyuan County
17	Zhubei	竹北市	Chu-pei	Jhubei	Zhúběi	Tek-pak	Tsuk-pet	Hsinchu County

Timeline

Below, unless noted otherwise in parenthesis, the newly created cities were towns that exceeded the 150,000 criteria.

Date	Addition	Removal	No.	Description
January , 1946	Yilan City, Hualien City		2	Reform from the prefectural cities in the period under Japanese rule.
August 16, 1950	Chiayi City		3	Downgraded from provincial city
December 1, 1951	Changhua City Hsinchu City Pingtung City		6	Downgraded from provincial cities
April 1, 1962	Sanchong City, Taipei County		7	The population requirement of county-controlled cities is setted to 100,000.
July 1, 1962	Zhongli City, Taoyuan County		8
January 25, 1971	Taoyuan City, Taoyuan County		9
July 1, 1972	Banqiao City, Taipei County Fengshan City, Kaohsiung County		11
January 1, 1976	Taitung City, Taitung County		12
March 1, 1976	Fengyuan, Taichung County		13
January 1, 1979	Yonghe City, Taipei County Zhonghe City, Taipei County		15	The population requirement of county-controlled cities changed to 150,000.
January 15, 1980	Xindian City, Taipei County Xinzhuang City		17
December 25, 1981	Douliou City, Yunlin County Magong City, Penghu County Miaoli City, Miaoli County Nantou City, Nantou County Xinying City, Tainan County		22	All county seats upgraded from urban township (鎮Zhèn) to county-controlled cities.
July 1, 1982		Hsinchu City and Chiayi City	20	Upgraded to provincial cities
October 31, 1988	Zhubei City, Hsinchu County		21	County seat
July 1, 1991	Taibao City, Chiayi County		22	County seat
March 1, 1992	Pingzhen City, Taoyuan County		23
September 10, 1992	Puzi City, Chiayi County		24	Originally rural township (鄉Xiāng), county seat.
May 1, 1993	Yongkang City, Tainan County		25	Originally rural township (鄉Xiāng).
June 26, 1993	Tucheng City, Taipei County		26
November 1, 1993	Dali City, Taichung County		27
January 1, 1995	Bade City, Taoyuan County		28
August 1, 1996	Taiping City, Taichung County		29
October 6, 1997	Luzhou City, Taipei County		30
July 1, 1999	Xizhi City, Taipei County		31
October 4, 1999	Shulin City, Taipei County		32
August 1, 2010	Yangmei City, Taoyuan County		33
December 25, 2010		Banqiao City, Taipei County Dali City, Taichung County Fongshan City, Kaohsiung County Fengyuan City, Taichung County Luzhou City, Taipei County Sanchong City, Taipei County Shulin City, Taipei County Taiping City, Taichung County Tucheng City, Taipei County Xindian City, Taipei County Xinying City, Tainan County Xinzhuang City, Taipei County Xizhi City, Taipei County Yonghe City, Taipei County Yongkang City, Tainan County Zhonghe City, Taipei County	17	New special municipalities established in Taipei County, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung; all county-controlled cities in such places were renamed districts (區Qū).

Lienchiang and Kinmen Counties do not have any cities.