Fujian Province
福建省 | |
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Name transcription(s) | |
• Chinese | 福建省 (Fújiàn Shěng) |
• Abbreviation | FJ / 閩 (pinyin: Mǐn, POJ: Bân) |
• Foochow | Hók-gióng |
• Hokkien POJ | Hok-kiàn |
Map showing subdivisions under de facto administration of the nominal province in 2019 | |
Coordinates: 24°25′N 118°19′E / 24.417°N 118.317°ECoordinates: 24°25′N 118°19′E / 24.417°N 118.317°E | |
Country | ![]() |
Streamlined | 16 July 1956 |
Demilitarised | 7 November 1992 |
Dissolved | 31 December 2018 |
Named for | |
Provincial capital | Fuzhou (claimed, de jure)[note 1] |
Largest city | Fuzhou (claimed, de jure) Jincheng, Kinmen (de facto) |
Government | |
• Body | Kinmen-Matsu Joint Services Center[note 2] |
Area | |
• 1948 | 121,580 km2 (46,940 sq mi) |
• 2018 | 180.4560 km2 (69.6745 sq mi) |
Population (2014) | |
• Total | 133,456 |
Demonym(s) | Fujianese, Fukienese, Kinmenese, Matsunese |
Time zone | UTC+8 (Asia/Taipei) |
Postal code | 209–212, 890–896 |
Area code(s) | (0)82, (0)826, (0)836 |
ISO 3166 code | TW |
Counties | 2 |
Website | www.fkpg.gov.tw |
Fujian Province ([fǔ.tɕjɛ̂n] (listen); Hokkien POJ: Hok-kiàn; Fuzhou BUC: Hók-gióng; Pu-Xian Min BUC: Ho̤h-ge̤̍ng); also romanized as Fuchien or Fukien is a nominal province of the Republic of China without formal administrative function. It includes three small archipelagos off the coast of the Fujian Province of the People's Republic of China, namely the Matsu Islands, which make up Lienchiang County, and the Wuqiu Islands and Kinmen Islands, which make up Kinmen County. Its claimed de jure capital is Fuzhou, while its claimed largest city by population is Quanzhou, both located near the coast of the Taiwan Strait in the east of the province. The seat of the provincial government is Jincheng Township of Kinmen County serves as its de facto capital.[note 3]
Min Chinese is most commonly spoken within the province, including the Fuzhou dialect of northeastern Fujian and various dialects of Hokkien locally called Kinmenese. Following constitutional reforms launched in 1996, the ROC authorities decided to downsize the provincial structure to solve the problem of overlapping personnel and administrative resources between the provincial and central governments, and cut excessive public spending.[1] The provinces were streamlined and ceased to be self-governing bodies in December 1998, with their administrative functions transferred to the Executive Yuan's subsidiary National Development Council, as well as second-tier local governments such as counties. The Kinmen-Matsu Joint Services Center was founded in 2017 and all provincial governmental organs were de facto formally abolished by July 2018, with the remaining functions transferred to the ministries of the Executive Yuan and the NDC.[2][3][4]
See also: Fujian |
Back then the ancient Min people and other Austronesians resided throughout Kinmen and Wuqiu islands now under the jurisdiction of Fujian Province, Republic of China.
The Tang dynasty oversaw the next golden age for Fujian. As the Tang dynasty ended another major wave of immigration arrived in the safe haven of Fujian, King Zhongyi established the Min Kingdom. After the death of the founding king, however, the kingdom suffered from internal strife, and was soon swallowed up by other kingdoms, another southern kingdom.[5]
Quanzhou was blooming into a seaport under the reign of the Min Kingdom, and is the largest seaport in the world. Its population is also greater than Fuzhou.[6][7][8] Just
It came under Japanese sea blockade during WW2. After Communist victory over much of Republican China, the Nationalists relocate to Taiwan. ROC continues to control a number of offshore islands of Fujian, and has continued to maintain a separate Fujian Provincial Government to govern these islands, parallel to Fujian province of PRC.
In 1956, due to heightened potential for military conflict with the PRC, the ROC central government moved the Fujian provincial government out of Fujian to within Taiwan Province in Xindian (now part of New Taipei), and the islands were placed under an extraordinarily tight military administration due to their extreme proximity to mainland China. This was an unusual situation where the government of a province was located and operating in a different province. With the easing of cross-strait relations between the PRC and ROC and the democratization of the ROC in the 1990s, the islands were returned to civilian government in 1992. On 15 January 1996, the provincial government moved back to Kinmen, on Fujian soil.[9]
Beginning in 2010, the ROC significantly diluted the powers of the two provinces it governs, namely Taiwan and Fujian. Most of the authority at the Fujian province level has been delegated to the two county governments of Kinmen and Lienchiang.
Main article: Fujian Provincial Government |
The Governor of Fujian Province was the head of the Fujian Provincial Government, the governor was also titled the "Chairperson of the Fujian Provincial Government". According to the Additional Articles of the Constitution, the governor is appointed by the central government.
The Fujian Provincial Government was located in Jincheng, Kinmen between January 1996 and 2018. In July 2018, the Executive Yuan decided to transfer the duties and functionalities of the provincial government to other branches under the Executive Yuan, including Kinmen-Matsu Joint Services Center[10] and National Development Council[11] The transformations were scheduled to be done by the end of year 2018.
Fujian Provincial Government building between January 1996 to 2018. Currently the Kinmen-Matsu Joint Services Center, Executive Yuan building.
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Main article: List of administrative divisions of Fujian |
Fujian province nominally comprises two counties: Kinmen County and Lienchiang County. These islands have a total area of 182.66 km2 (70.53 sq mi) and a total population of 71,000 (2001).
The following are the islands of Fujian under the administration of the ROC, given by county:
Name | Kinmen County | Lienchiang County |
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Chinese | 金門縣 | 連江縣 |
Hokkien | Kim-mn̂g-koān | Liân-kang-koān |
Hakka | Kîm-mùn-yen | Lièn-kông-yen |
Matsunese | Gĭng-muòng-gâing | Lièng-gŏng-gâing |
Wuqiunese | Ging-meóng-gā̤ⁿ | Léng-gang-gā̤ⁿ |
Map | ||
Islands | numerous islands & islets[12][13][14] | 36 islands |
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Administrative divisions | 6 townships | 4 townships |
The PRC claims Kinmen as a county of Quanzhou, Fujian and the Matsu Islands as a township of Lianjiang County, Fuzhou, Fujian (with some islands claimed as parts of other areas).