| Taitung County | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 台東縣 or 臺東縣 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 台东县 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Taitung County 台東縣 Abbreviation(s): Taitung (台東) |
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| County seat | Taitung City |
| Region | Eastern Taiwan |
| County Magistrate | K'uang Li-chen (Kuang Lijhen) (鄺麗貞) |
| Cities | 1 |
| Townships | 15 |
| Area | |
| - Total | 3,515.2526 km² (3 of 25) |
| - % water | n/a % |
| Population | |
| - Total | 231,863 (Jan. 2009) (22 of 25) |
| - Density | 65.96/km² |
| Symbols | |
| - County flower | Moth orchid (Phalaenopsis) |
| - County tree | Camphor tree (Cinnamomum camphora) |
| - County bird | n/a |
| Official websites | [1] |
Taitung County is a county in eastern Taiwan. While its name means "Eastern Taiwan", it is also known as "Houshan" (Chinese: 後山; pinyin: hòushān; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: āu-soaⁿ) by many of the locals, meaning behind the mountains or the back mountains. Taitung is officially administered as a county of Taiwan, Republic of China.
Taitung runs along the south east coast of Taiwan. Taitung county, possessing 3,515 sq. km is the 3rd largest county in Taiwan. Taitung County's coastline is 231 km long. Taitung currently has a population of 231,863. The country possess only one registered city, Taitung City. The rest of the county is composed of two towns and thirteen villages.[1]
Due in part to its remote location and isolation by mountains from Taiwan's main population centers, Taitung was the last part of the island to be colonized by Han Chinese immigrants (late 19th century). Throughout the 20th century Taitung remained an economic backwater. Sparsely populated even today, this isolation may have been a blessing in disguise, as Taitung mostly escaped the urbanization and pollution that have come to plague much of the island's lowland areas.
In addition to the area on Taiwan proper, the county includes two major islands, Green Island and Orchid Island. Green Island was home to an infamous penal colony used for political prisoners during the "White Terror" period of Chinese Nationalist (KMT) rule (from 1947 until the end of martial law in 1987). Orchid Island, home of the Tao people (Taiwanese aborigines closely related to the people of the northern Philippines), has become a major tourist attraction despite the government-operated Taiwan Power Company's controversial use of part of the island as a nuclear waste dump.
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Taitung County possesses a very diverse collection of aboriginal cultures.[2] Bunun, Paiwan, Rukai, Amis, Beinan, Yamis and Gamalan are the seven aboriginal cultures prevalent in the county today.[3] Because Taitung is probably one of the least affected counties by the colonization of the Han Chinese, most of the aboriginal cultures are still very much a part of everyday society.
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