Regions of Taiwan

The regions of Taiwan are based on historical administrative divisions. However, most of the definitions are not precise.

Division into two regions

• Eastern and Western Taiwan: the Central Mountain Range separates Taiwan into east and west.

• Eastern Taiwan: Yilan, Hualien and Taitung.
• Western Taiwan: other divisions from Taipei to Pingtung.

• Northern and Southern Taiwan: Zhuoshui River, the longest river of Taiwan, flows through about the middle of the island.

• Northern Taiwan: Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung, Taoyuan, Hsinchu (City/County), Miaoli, Taichung, Changhua, and Nantou.
• Southern Taiwan: Yunlin, Chiayi (City/County), Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung.

Division into four regions

The most widely used definition is from the Council for Economic Planning and Development (經濟けいざい建設けんせつ委員いいん會かい), Executive Yuan. This division into four regions (tetrachotomy) scheme corresponds to the prefectures under Qing dynasty rule.

No.	1	2	3	4	–
Name	Northern Taiwan	Central Taiwan	Southern Taiwan	Eastern Taiwan	Outlying Islands
	北きた臺灣たいわん	中ちゅう臺灣たいわん	南みなみ臺灣たいわん	東ひがし臺灣たいわん	外島としま
Province	Taiwan & 6 Special municipalities				Fujian Kaohsiung City
Map
Present divisions	Taipei New Taipei Keelung Taoyuan Hsinchu City/County Yilan	Miaoli Taichung Changhua Nantou Yunlin	Chiayi City/County Tainan Kaohsiung Pingtung Penghu	Hualien Taitung	Kinmen Matsu (Lienchiang) South China Sea Islands (governed by Cijin of Kaohsiung)
Historical Prefectures	Taipeh (臺北たいぺい府ふ)	Taiwan (臺灣たいわん府ふ)	Tainan (臺たい南みなみ府ふ)	Taitung (臺東たいとう直ちょく隸州)

Division into five regions

The scheme of division into five regions (pentachotomy) is a fusion of the tetrachotomy and hexachotomy schemes. Although no specific names are given in each division, it is the most commonly used scheme among the highest divisions of the central government. This scheme is used by the Joint Service Centers (JSC, 區域くいき聯合れんごう服務ふくむ中心ちゅうしん) under Executive Yuan (行政ぎょうせい院いん) and the jurisdiction of High Court Branches (高等法院こうとうほういん分ぶん院いん) under Judicial Yuan (司法しほう院いん).

No.	Present divisions	Joint Service Center	High Court Branch
1	Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City/County, Yilan	(Headquarter)	Taiwan HC (Headquarter)
2	Miaoli, Taichung, Changhua, Nantou	Central Taiwan JSC	Taiwan HC Taichung BC
3	Yunlin, Chiayi City/County, Tainan	Yunlin-Chiayi-Tainan JSC	Taiwan HC Tainan BC
4	Kaohsiung, Pingtung, Penghu	Southern Taiwan JSC	Taiwan HC Kaohsiung BC
5	Hualien, Taitung	Eastern Taiwan JSC	Taiwan HC Hualien BC
–	Kinmen, Matsu (Lienchiang)	Kinmen-Matsu JSC	Fuchien HC Kinmen BC

Division into six regions

Political division of Taiwan in 1945

The division into six regions (hexachotomy) scheme corresponds to the prefectures under Japanese rule. This scheme was used for national electoral districts in the legislative elections in 1972, 1975, 1980, 1983, and 1986. The discussion of this scheme became popular after the elections of five new municipalities in 2010.

No.	Name		Present divisions	Historical Prefectures
1	Pei–Pei–Kee–(Yi)	北きた北きた基もと(宜むべ)	Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung, (Yilan)	Taihoku	臺北たいぺい州しゅう
2	Tao-Chu-Miao	桃もも竹ちく苗なえ	Taoyuan, Hsinchu City/County, Miaoli	Shinchiku	新しん竹たけ州しゅう
3	Chung–Chang–Tou	中なか彰あきら投とう	Taichung, Changhua, Nantou	Taichū	臺たい中州なかす
4	Yun–Chia–Nan	雲くも嘉よしみ南みなみ	Yunlin, Chiayi City/County, Tainan	Tainan	臺たい南みなみ州しゅう
5	Kao–Ping(–Peng)	高こう屏へい(澎)	Kaohsiung, Pingtung, (Penghu)	Takao, Hōko	高雄たかお州しゅう、澎湖廳ちょう
6	(Yi–)Hua–Tung	(宜むべ)花はな東ひがし	(Yilan), Hualien, Taitung	Karenkō, Taitō	花はな蓮はちす港こう廳ちょう、臺東たいとう廳ちょう
–	(Peng–)Kin–Ma	(澎)金きむ馬うま	(Penghu), Kinmen, Matsu (Lienchiang)	None

See also

• Administrative divisions of Taiwan
• Geography of Taiwan
• North–South divide in Taiwan
• Political divisions of Taiwan (1895–1945)