Early history

Yilan Plain farms and rice paddy Panorama in Taiwan

Since early ages, many people have traveled from far places to Yilan. Indigenous tribes that have settled in Yilan are Kavalan people and Atayal people.

The Kavalan people came by the sea and lived by the river at Yilan Plain since around 1,000 years ago. They mostly speak the Austronesian languages. Their settlements consisted of small villages along rivers with around 40–50 communities scattered around the area with a total population of approximately 10,000 people. The Atayal people came by crossing the Xiyuan Pass and settled in the mountain areas.

The Atayal people arrived in Yilan around 250 years ago and settled along the upper Dazhuoshui River. Later, the tribes crossed the Siyuan Pass to reach the valley upstream of the Zhuoshui River. These people are the current residents of Datong Township. Other parts of the Atayal people headed east to enter and settle along the Nan'ao North River and Heping North River. These groups are now settled in Nan-ao Township.

Around 200 years ago, at the end of the 18th century, the Han Chinese traversed the mountain range and settled in Yilan. Large populations began taming the wilderness, cultivating the fields and building irrigation channels. They used various means to seize lands from the Kavalans. Some Kavalans left their homes while some others migrated southwards to Hualien and Taitung coastlines and established settlements.^[4]

Spanish Formosa

The Spaniards began arriving in Taiwan in the 17th century. In 1626, the Spaniards led an invasion under the pretext of ship crews having been slain by Taiwanese barbarians. They then torched harbors and surrounding villages, and even went as far as taking over Su'ao Town and established a city called Saint Lorenzo.

Dutch Formosa

The Spaniards were subsequently ousted by the Dutch who had taken over the southern part of Taiwan and established Dutch Formosa. In 1640, the Dutch began contacting Han Chinese merchants for trade and levying taxes on various commercial goods. The merchants had to pay all company taxes but also enjoyed the right to monopolize trade.

Kingdom of Tungning

During the Kingdom of Tungning era, the previous economy monopoly system developed during the Dutch Formosa continued to be practiced.

Qing dynasty

When the Qing dynasty annexed Taiwan, they established the Kavalan sub-prefecture in Yilan. In 1806, armed conflicts broke out among various ethnic immigrants, followed by pillaging by pirates. The Qing dynasty government subsequently realized that if they continued to disregard the Kavalan people and did not establish rule of law and a system of defense, Yilan would become a haven for criminals and outlaws, a thorn in the side for Taiwan. In 1809, Jiaqing Emperor incorporated Kavalan into the domain of the empire. Troops were dispatched to quell pirate attacks and chart local territory.

Local government systems in Taiwan underwent many changes during the Qing dynasty period. But with regards to administrative levels lower than the county, including local villages, there were no major changes. The earliest organization and planning of Yilan consisted of seven citadels. In 1835, the seven citadels were further divided into 12 citadels based on the needs of the changing population and environment. This arrangement remained unchanged until the end of Qing dynasty rule.^[5]

After the Mudan Incident in 1874, Qing rulers changed their passive attitude and took a more ambitious approach in ruling Taiwan. The original aboriginal term Kavalan district was renamed with a more Han-centric Yilan name and the administrative system was also changed accordingly from the original temporary "district" to a formally governed "county".^[6] In 1875, the newly created Taipeh Prefecture included modern-day Yilan County.

Empire of Japan

After the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894, the Qing government handed over Taiwan to Japan in accordance with the Treaty of Shimonoseki. Modern-day Yilan County covers Giran District (宜蘭郡), Ratō District (羅東郡), Suō District (蘇澳郡) and Giran City (宜蘭市) as they existed from 1920 to 1945, all under Taihoku Prefecture, during Japanese rule.

Republic of China

After the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China in October 1945, the present-day area of Yilan County was incorporated under Taipei County. On 10 October 1950, Yilan County was established as a county of Taiwan Province with Yilan City as the county seat.^[7] In 1998, the government streamlined Taiwan Province and Yilan County became administered by the Executive Yuan while the remaining institutions of this province have been dissolved in 2018.

Elected magistrates

• Chen Ding-nan (1981–1989)
• Yu Shyi-kun (1989–1997)
• Liu Shou-cheng (1997–2005)
• Lu Kuo-hua (2005–2009)
• Lin Tsung-hsien (2009–2017)
  • Wu Tze-cheng (2017)
  • Chen Chin-te (2017–2018)
• Lin Zi-miao (2018)

Administrative divisions

Yilan County is divided into 1 city, 3 urban townships, 6 rural townships and 2 mountain indigenous townships.^[10]

Yilan County administrative divisions map (on Taiwan Island) Yilan City Luodong Su'ao Toucheng Dongshan Jiaoxi Sanxing Wujie Yuanshan Zhuangwei Datong Nan'ao

Colors indicate the common language status of Formosan languages within each division.

Politics

Yilan County voted one Democratic Progressive Party legislator out of one seat to be in the Legislative Yuan during the 2016 Republic of China legislative election.^[11]

Population

Today Han Chinese comprises the majority of the population in Yilan County.^[4]

Festivals

• Yilan International Children's Folklore and Folkgame Festival, “A dreamland for the children of Taiwan, a magnet for art from around the world, a garden of culture for the people of Ilan.” Seven years ago, these were the concepts that launched the first ICFFF, and over the years the people of Yilan have been making it happen step by step. Of all Taiwan’s folk festivals, the ICFFF is probably the best known internationally.
• Each summer, Dongshan River Water Park attracts countless children and the themes of the various years have become for many part of the collective memory. The number of people attending has grown each year since the festival was first held in 1996, surpassing one million visits for the first time in 2002. Not only does the event enrich Yilan's cultural soil and create business opportunities, it offers a highly successful example which other cities and counties across Taiwan can draw on as they also attempt to bring more culture and art into the life of their communities.
• Started from 2004, Yilan Green International Film Festival (GIFT; Chinese: 宜蘭國際綠色影展) is a non-competition film festival which launched its 3rd edition from 28/4 to 06/5, 2006. GIFT also aims to build up an archive collecting the selected works for the purposes of relevant research as well as education.
• Yilan International Collegiate Invitational Regatta^[18]
• Yilan Green Expo started from 2000. The Expo hold in spring every year and always locate on Wulaokeng, Su'ao. The spindle of Expo normally has three parts and there are agricultural life, ecological conservation, sustainable future. It attracts 300~400 thousand people every year in average.^[19]

Rail

The Yilan Line and North-Link Line of Taiwan Railways Administration pass the county. Train stations within the two lines in the county are Shicheng, Dali, Daxi, Guishan, Wai-ao, Toucheng, Dingpu, Jiaoxi, Sicheng, Yilan, Erjie, Zhongli, Luodong, Dongshan, Xinma, Su'aoxin, Su'ao, Yongle, Dong-ao, Wuta and Hanben Station.

On 21 October 2018, it was the site of a train derailment that killed 18 passengers and injured 178.^[20]

Water

Harbors in the county include Wushi Harbor.

Words in native languages