Taiwan 22 cities & counties reference. 6 special municipalities + 3 provincial cities + 13 counties. Includes ID letter codes, region, population, area. Shares data with tw-id-format-validator.
Taiwan 22 Counties Reference (台灣 22 縣市)
How to use
Search by name
Either Chinese (臺北) or English (Taipei) works.
Search by ID letter
The first letter of a Taiwan National ID encodes the original household registration county/city (A=Taipei, E=Kaohsiung, F=New Taipei).
Browse by region
Below the search, all 22 are grouped into North / Central / South / East / Outlying Islands.
Cross-reference with ID validator
This tool shares the letter → county mapping with tw-id-format-validator — the region resolved from an ID will match this tool's output exactly.
Taiwan's 22 cities and counties
Taiwan (Republic of China) has 22 top-level administrative divisions: 6 special municipalities (Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung), 3 provincial cities (Keelung, Hsinchu City, Chiayi City), and 13 counties. Together they cover 36,000 km² and ~24 million people.
Letter codes = ID "origin"
The first letter of a Taiwan National ID encodes the county/city of first issuance. E.g. A = Taipei City, F = New Taipei, E = Kaohsiung. This mapping has been fixed since the 1947 ID system was established — and does not change if you later relocate.
"The letter codes for the 22 counties/cities (A, B, C... Z) are the bedrock of Taiwan's ID system — unchanged since 1947."
Geographic regions
Five regions: North (7) — Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Keelung, Hsinchu City, Hsinchu County, Yilan; Central (5) — Taichung, Miaoli, Nantou, Changhua, Yunlin; South (5) — Tainan, Kaohsiung, Chiayi City, Chiayi County, Pingtung; East (2) — Hualien, Taitung; Outlying islands (3) — Kinmen, Penghu, Lienchiang (Matsu).
Practical use cases
The 22 divisions are used for: elections, ID origin lookup, local government documents, statistics, postal sorting (Taiwan uses 3+2 ZIP but routes roughly by county).
10 facts about Taiwan's 22 divisions
The 22 letter codes (A-Z) have been unchanged since the 1947 ID system began.
The 6 special municipalities contain 69% of Taiwan's population (~16.6M).
New Taipei (F) is the most populous (4.03M) — became a special municipality in 2010.
Lienchiang County (Z) has the smallest population (~13k) — comprises only the Matsu Islands.
Hualien County (U) is the largest by area (4,629 km²) — 13% of Taiwan's land.
Chiayi City (I) is the smallest by area (60 km²) — but reasonably populated (264k).
Letters I, L, O, R, S, Y correspond to merged former counties (e.g. R = old Tainan County). IDs remain valid.
Taipei (A) + Kaohsiung (E) combined produce ~40% of Taiwan's GDP (2024).
Kinmen (W) + Lienchiang (Z) are the ROC-controlled territories closest to mainland China (Kinmen is only 2 km from Xiamen).
This tool shares its letter ↔ county mapping with tw-id-format-validator — 100% data consistency.
Frequently Asked Questions
22 total: 6 special municipalities + 3 provincial cities + 13 counties.
Yes — the county/city of first issuance, unchanged since 1947. Doesn't change if you later relocate (it's "origin", not "current address").
Merged former counties (I=old Chiayi City, O=old Hsinchu City, R=old Tainan County). Old IDs remain valid; no new issuance.
Special municipalities (6) report directly to central government — most fiscal/admin power. Provincial cities (3) are "cities" but nominally under Taiwan Province. Counties (13) are the lower tier.
By area: largest Hualien (U) 4,629 km²; smallest Chiayi City (I) 60 km². By population: most New Taipei (F) 4.03M; least Lienchiang (Z) ~13k.
Only nominally. "Taiwan Province" was streamlined in 1998 — actual administrative power devolved to the 22 counties/cities. The province exists in name only.
Kinmen (W) is 2 km from Xiamen, China. Matsu / Lienchiang County (Z) is 13 km from Fujian, China. They're ROC's front-line territories.
No. Taiwan has 370+ townships/districts — a separate tool is planned.
No. The 22-county data is inline JS — copy into your own code.
Yes. All RECATOOLS tools are 100% free, ad-supported.
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