Nantou County

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.[4]

In 1677, Lin Yi (Chinese: 林圯), a general under the command of Koxinga, led soldiers to establish residence in Shalianbao (modern-day Zhushan). The Han Chinese began to enter Nantou via two main routes, the Zhuoshui River and Maoluo River.[4]

In 1901, during Japanese rule, Nanto Chō (Japanese: 南投廳) was one of twenty local administrative offices established. In 1909, part of Toroku Chō (斗六廳) 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.

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.[5] 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.

The annual average temperature in Nantou County is 23 °C (73 °F) on level ground and 20 °C (68 °F) on mountains. The annual average rainfall is less than 1,750 mm (68.9 in) on level ground and 2,800 mm (110.2 in) on mountains. The rainy season lasts from April to September and the dry season lasts from October to March.[6]

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

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.[10]

Nantou County has a population of 492,733 people as of January 2020.

• The following information is as of June 2020資料

• The population growth and decline is calculated by subtracting the population of the previous month from the current month’s population. Negative values are represented by red letters, positive values are represented by blue letters, and no growth is represented by green letters.

• The population density of each district is calculated by rounding 4 to 5 to 1 decimal place
• Population growth：
  • 高度成長 High growth （年成長率高於1%） ：NA（updated 2020）
  • 穩定成長 Steady growth （年成長率0.1%~1%） ：草屯 Caotun
  • 成長停滯 Stagnant growth（年成長率±0.1%） ：NA（updated 2020）
  • 輕度流失 Mild loss （年成長率-0.5%~-0.1%）：南投、仁愛
  • 中度流失 Moderate Churn （年成長率-1%~-0.5%） ：埔里Puli、名間、魚池
  • 高度流失 High churn （年成長率-2%~-1%） ：鹿谷、竹山、中寮、信義、水-{里}-、集集
  • 嚴重流失 Severe drain （年成長率低於-2%） ：國姓

The official language of the county is Mandarin. Taiwanese, Hakka, English and aboriginal languages are also spoken.[11]

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