Provincial city (Taiwan)

Provincial cities (Chinese: 市; pinyin: shì; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chhī), sometimes translated provincial municipalities, are cities lesser in rank than special municipalities of the Republic of China (Taiwan). They are governed by provinces directly and are one level above the most basic county-controlled cities.

In the early 20th century, the criteria of being a provincial municipality, as stated in Laws on the City Formation (市組織法) of the Republic of China, included being the provincial capital as well as having a population of over 200,000, or over 100,000 if the city had particular significance in politics, economics, and culture.

After relocating the government to Taiwan, where many cities considered to be insignificant had large populations, the Republic of China government raised the limit to 500,000 in 1981 in the Scheme on the Local Rules in Various Counties and Cities of Taiwan Province (臺灣省各縣市實施地方自治綱要). It was later raised again to 600,000.

Currently, the Local Government Act of the Ministry of the Interior applies for the creation of a provincial city, in which a city needs to have a population between 500,000 and 1,250,000 and occupies major political, economical and cultural roles.

Provincial cities in Taiwan

There are currently three provincial municipalities, administered by the Republic of China:

English	Chinese	Pinyin	Wade–Giles	Pe̍h-ōe-jī	Pha̍k-fa-sṳ	Area	City Seat		Establishment	Mayor
Chiayi City	嘉義市	Jiāyì	Chia¹-i⁴	Ka-gī	Kâ-ngi	60.03 km²	East District	東區	1982-07-01	Huang Min-hui
Hsinchu City	新竹市	Xīnzhú	Hsin¹-chu²	Sin-tek	Sîn-tsuk	104.10 km²	North District	北區	1982-07-01	Hsu Ming-tsai
Keelung City	基隆市	Jīlóng	Chi¹-lung²	Ke-lâng	Kî-lùng	132.76 km²	Zhongzheng District	中正區	1945-10-	Chang Tong-rong

• 
  Chiayi
• 
  Hsinchu
• 
  Keelung

Timeline

Date	Addition	Removal	No.	Description
October, 1945	Changhua, Chiayi, Hsinchu, Kaohsiung, Keelung, Pingtung, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei		9	Reform from the prefecture-controlled cities in the period under Japanese rule.
August 16, 1950		Chiayi	8	merged into Chiayi County and became a county-controlled city
December 1, 1951		Changhua, Hsinchu, Pingtung	5	downgraded to county-controlled cities
July 1, 1967		Taipei	4	upgraded to a special municipality
July 1, 1979		Kaohsiung	3	upgraded to a special municipality
July 1, 1982	Chiayi, Hsinchu		5	upgraded from county-controlled cities
December 25, 2010		Taichung, Tainan	3	merge with Taichung County and Tainan County, and upgraded to special municipalities
Provincial cities in existence: Chiayi, Hsinchu, Keelung (3).

See also

• the term "provincial cities" is used to refer to prefecture-level cities in the People's Republic of China, see Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China#Prefecture level.