Special municipality (Republic of China)

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

Special municipalities (Chinese: 直轄市; pinyin: zhíxiáshì) are one of first-level divisions in the Republic of China (ROC). As of now there are five special municipalities in Taiwan, namely Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei.

Position in hierarchy

Special municipalities are the highest level cities in Taiwan. Some cities of lower levels may also refer to themselves as municipalities ^[1] , 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

Mainland Era

The first municipalities were the 11 cities when the Republic of China government ruled mainland China. They are

Nanking (Nanjing) Shanghai Peiping (Beijing) Tientsin (Tianjin)

Tsingtao (Qingdao) Chungking (Chongqing) Sian (Xi'an) Canton/Kwangchow (Guangzhou)[2]

Hankow (now part of Wuhan) Mukden (Shenyang) Haerbin (Harbin)

They were established in 1927 soon after they were designated as "cities" during the 1920s. Nominally Dalien (Dalian) 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 (Chinese: 院轄市; pinyin: yùanxíashì), by the Central Government.

Taiwan Era

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.

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 special municipalities

No.	Name	Chinese	Hanyu Pinyin	Abbr.	Seal	Population	Area (km²)	Date of establishment	Map
1	Kaohsiung City	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	Xīnběi shì	新北 xīnběi		3,849,492	2,052.5667	Dec. 25, 2010
3	Taichung City	臺中市 台中市	Táizhōng shì	中 zhōng		2,629,323	2,214.8968	Dec. 25, 2010
4	Tainan City	臺南市 台南市	Táinán shì	南 nán		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

Proposals for special municipalities in 2014^[3]

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

References

1. ^ Amendment to Statute For Judicial Mediation In Prefectures, Towns And Cities. http://www.glin.gov/view.action?searchDetails.queryType=BOOLEAN&searchDetails.subjectTerms=&searchDetails.queryString=subterm%3Aequals%28%22en+Judicial+review%22%29&searchDetails.searchLaws=false&searchDetails.showSummary=true&searchDetails.searchLegislativeRecord=false&searchDetails.includeNumberFields=false&searchDetails.offset=0&searchDetails.offset=2670&refineQuery=provincial+taiwan+&searchDetails.publicationDateTo=&refineQueryType=ALL&searchDetails.includeAbstractFields=false&searchDetails.sortOrder=default&searchDetails.issuanceDateFrom=&refine=Refine+Search&fromSearch=true&searchDetails.includeTitleFields=false&searchDetails.andSubjectTerms=false&searchDetails.publicationDateFrom=&searchDetails.publicationLanguage=&glinID=78247&searchDetails.searchLegalLiterature=false&searchDetails.publicationJurisdictionExclude=false&searchDetails.includeAllFields=false&searchDetails.searchJudicialDecisions=false&searchDetails.includeNameFields=false&searchDetails.summaryLanguage=&searchDetails.searchAll=true&searchDetails.issuanceDateTo=&searchDetails.activeDrills=&searchDetails.hitsPerPage=10. 
2. ^ "Guangzhou (China)". Encyclopædia Britannica. Accessed 20 June 2010.
3. ^ http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/06/25/2003447086