Nantou County


Nantou County南投縣 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.
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. The official butterfly of Nantou County is the broad-tailed swallowtail butterfly. Nantou's tung-ting tea is one of the most famous and high-quality oolong teas grown in Taiwan.

History

Early history

Before the arrival of Han Chinese to Nantou, the Atayal, Bunun and Tsou tribes were distributed throughout the northern and central Nantou. These groups pioneered the early development of mountain regions in Nantou.

Kingdom of Tungning

In 1677, Lin Yi, a general under the command of Koxinga, led soldiers to establish residence in . The Han Chinese began to enter Nantou via two main routes, the Zhuoshui River and Maoluo River.

Japanese rule

In 1901, during Japanese rule, was one of twenty local administrative offices established. In 1909, part of was merged into Nanto Cho. A major reorganization occurred in 1920, in which the area was administered under Taichū Prefecture together with modern-day Changhua County and Taichung City.

Republic of China

After the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China on 25 October 1945, the present day area of Nantou County was administered under Taichung County of Taiwan Province. On 16 August 1950, Nantou County was established by its separation from Taichung County, and Nantou Township was designed as the county seat. On 1 July 1957, the Zhongxing New Village in Nantou Township was designed to be the capital of Taiwan Province from the former Taipei City. In 1981, the county seat was upgraded from Nantou Township to Nantou City. The Chi-Chi earthquake occurred in 1999.

Geography

Nantou County has an area of with a width of and length of. It is the second largest county in Taiwan after Hualien County.
There are 41 mountains with peaks over 3,000 meters high, with Mount Yu in Xinyi Township is the highest peak in Nantou County and in Taiwan with a height of 3,952 meters. Around 83% of Nantou County area is covered by hills and mountains.
Rain that falls into the mountains area converge into the Dadu River and Zhuoshui River. There are inland ponds and lakes throughout the mountains in the county, such as the Sun Moon Lake, Bi Pond, Liyu Pond and Cilin Pond.

Climate

The annual average temperature in Nantou County is 23 °C on level ground and 20 °C on mountains. The annual average rainfall is less than 1,750 mm on level ground and 2,800 mm on mountains. The rainy season lasts from April to September and the dry season lasts from October to March.

Government

Nantou County consists of 1 city, 4 urban townships, 6 rural townships, 2 mountain indigenous townships, 128 villages and 133 neighborhoods. Nantou City is the seat of the county which houses the Nantou County Government and Nantou County Council. The incumbent Magistrate of Nantou County is Lin Ming-chen of the Kuomintang.

Administrative divisions

Colors indicate statutory language status of Hakka and Formosan languages in the respective subdivisions.

Politics

南投縣 Nantou County voted two Kuomintang legislators out of two seats to be in the Legislative Yuan during the 2016 Republic of China legislative election.

Demographics and culture

Population

Nantou County has a population of 492,733 people as of January 2020.
City Nameacreage
下轄村
--數		下轄
鄰數		Population人口
消長		The population density
PostcodeGeographical division
Nantou City南投市71.60213481499,263-211,386540烏溪
Puli埔里鎮162.22273356979,556-51490545烏溪
Caotun草屯鎮104.03272760897,659+35939542烏溪
Jhushan 竹山鎮247.33392848253,684-49217557濁水溪
Jiji集集鎮49.72681112710,554-4212552濁水溪
Mingjian名間鄉83.09552337237,728-19454551濁水溪
Lugu鹿谷鄉141.89811317417,329-10122558濁水溪
Jhongliao 中寮鄉146.65411825814,460+2598541烏溪
Yuchih 魚池鄉121.37351319215,544-9128555烏溪
Guosing 國姓鄉175.70421315918,056-11103544烏溪
水--鄉106.84241921017,177-29161553濁水溪
Sinyi 信義鄉1,422.41881411915,899+611556濁水溪
Ren-ai 仁愛鄉1,273.53121619515,824-712546烏溪
Nantou County南投縣4,106.43602624,279492,733-144120

The official language of the county is 中文Mandarin. 台语 Taiwanese, Hakka, English and aboriginal languages are also spoken.

Education

There are 2 colleges, 13 senior high and vocational schools, 30 junior high schools, 149 elementary schools, 106 kindergartens and 84 day care centers in the county. Notable universities in the county are National Chi Nan University and Nan Kai University of Technology.

Energy

Nantou County houses Taiwan's first pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant, the Takuan Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant commissioned in 1985 with an installed capacity of 1,008 MW. It also houses Taiwan's largest pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant, the Mingtan Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant with an installed capacity of 1,602 MW. Both power plants are located in Shueili Township along the Shuili River.

Tourist attractions

Rail

Nantou County is served by the Jiji Line of Taiwan Railways which consists of Checheng, Jiji, Longquan, Shuili and Zhuoshui Station