The Pescadores Islands (Chinese: 澎湖群島; Wade-Giles: P'eng-hu; Pinyin: Pénghú, from Portuguese, "fishermen") are an archipelago in the Taiwan Strait. They are administered by Republic of China (Taiwan) as Penghu County of Taiwan Province.
The county flower is a chrysanthemum called "The Immortals" (天人菊).
History
"P'eng-hu" was first recorded in unofficial historical records and regional logs in Southern Song Dynasty. From the middle of the 17th century to 1895, Formosa (Taiwan) and the Pescadores (Penghu) were ruled by pirates, the colonial Dutch Empire , the Koxinga kingdom, and the Manchu Empire, successively.
The Manchu Empire then ceded these islands to Japan in 1895 in the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Shimonoseki.
In the Cairo Declaration of 1943, the United States, United Kingdom, and China stated it to be their purpose that "all the territories that Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Formosa and the Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of China."
On July 26, 1945, the three governments issued the Potsdam Declaration, declaring that "the terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out," but did not formally do so in the Treaty of San Francisco. In the Treaty of San Francisco, Japan gave up the sovereignty over Formosa and the Pescadores but did not state to whom it ceded these islands.
Sub-county divisions
Penghu County comprises of one city and five townships: (in Tongyong Pinyin)
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Magong City (馬公市 pinyin: Mǎgōng): 34 municipal villages (里 li)
- Husi Township (湖西鄉 Húxī): 22 town villages (村 ts'un)
- Baisha Township (白沙鄉 Báishā): 15
- Siyu Township (西嶼鄉 Xīyǔ): 11
- Cimei Township (七美鄉 Qīměi): 6
- Wang-an Township (望安鄉 Wàng'ān): 9
Pescadores Islands from 1896 map
Altogether, there are 97 villages.
See also: Political divisions of Taiwan
External links
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Official website http://www.phhg.gov.tw/ | (English) http://www.phhg.gov.tw/english/intro/intro.htm
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Complete list of villages' names http://www.phhg.gov.tw/chinese/intro/intro6-1.htm (in Traditional Chinese)
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Township-division map http://www.mkcity.gov.tw/B/B1-1.html (in Traditional Chinese)
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Township-division map II http://www.moiland.gov.tw/translation/Penghu.htm (in Tongyong Pinyin with English and Traditional Chinese)
Last updated: 02-09-2005 20:19:22
