Matsu Islands
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| Lienchiang County 連江縣 Abbreviation(s): Matsu (馬祖) |
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| County seat | Nangan Township |
| Region | Eastern Fujian |
| County Magistrate | Chen Hsueh-sheng (陳雪生) |
| Cities | 0 |
| Townships | 4 |
| Area | |
| - Total | 29.6055 km² (25 of 25) |
| - % water | n/a % |
| Population | |
| - Total | 9,986 (April 2008) (25 of 25) |
| - Density | 337.30/km² |
| Symbols | |
| - County flower | Hairy Bougainvillea (Bougainvillea glabra) |
| - County tree | none |
| - County bird | Chinese Crested Tern (Sterna bernsteini) |
| Official websites | wwww.matsu.gov.tw |
The Matsu Islands (also Mazu Islands) (traditional Chinese: 馬祖列島 or less frequently, 馬祖群島; pinyin: Mǎzǔ Lièdǎo or Mǎzǔ Qúndǎo) are a minor archipelago of 19 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait administered as Lienchiang County (or Lianjiang) (連江 Pinyin: Liánjiāng), Fujian Province of the Republic of China (ROC). Not all of what is historically part of Lienchiang county is under the control of the ROC. The People's Republic of China controls the part of the county adjoining the mainland and has a separate administration for that jurisdiction, Lianjiang County, which claims the entire archipelago to be its Matsu Township (媽祖鄉).
They are named after the goddess Mazu. Kinmen is the other archipelago on the Fujian coast controlled by the ROC.
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[edit] History
Fujianese Mainlanders started migrating to the islands in the Yuan Dynasty. Most people on Matsu came from Houguan (侯官) (today Changle County (長樂縣), Fujian).
Some crewmen of Zheng He temporarily stayed on the islands. In early Qing Dynasty, pirates gathered here and residents temporarily left.
As part of Fukien, Matsu Islands were not colonised by Japan, as the island of Taiwan and the Pescadores were.
After the Nationalists retreated to Taiwan in 1949, the ROC retained the part of Lienchiang County offshore (and the entire Kinmen County as well). The common Romanization used in the ROC is Wade-Giles (Lienchiang) while the PRC uses pinyin (Lianjiang). However, the name is the same in Chinese.
The phrase "Quemoy and Matsu" became part of U.S. political language in the 1960 U.S. presidential election. During the debates, both candidates, Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy, pledged to use U.S. forces if necessary to protect the Republic of China from invasion by the People's Republic of China, the mainland, which the U.S. did not at that time recognize as a legitimate government. Vice President Nixon charged that Senator Kennedy would not use U.S. forces to protect Taiwan's forward positions, Quemoy and Matsu.
In April 2003, the county government started considering changing the name to Matsu County to avoid confusion with the county of the same name on the mainland. This is the first example of a local government officially wishing to change its name.
[edit] Townships
Lienchiang County (of the Taiwan) is currently divided into four townships:
- Nankan Township (南竿鄉; Nángān; literally "Southern Fishing Pole")
- Beigan Township (北竿鄉; Běigān; literally "Northern Fishing Pole")
- Chukuang Township (莒光鄉; Jǔguāng; literally "Brilliance of the Ju Kingdom")
- Dongyin Township (東引鄉; Dōngyǐn; literally "Welcoming the East")
Altogether, there are 22 Lienchiang villages, which are further divided into 137 neighborhoods (鄰 lín).
All townships, except Chukuang, are named after the largest island in its jurisdictional area, but most townships also include other islets.
[edit] Geography
The Matsu Islands include five major islands: Nangan, Dongjyu and Sijyu (both in Jyuguang Township), Beigan, and Dongyin. Minor islands include Liang (亮島), Gaodeng (高登), Daciou (大坵), and Siaociou (小坵) -- all belong to the Peikan Township.
- North: 26º18' N
- South: 25º56' N
- East: 120º1'20" E
- West: 119º51' E
Another set of coordinates: 119°51'-120°31' E, 25°55'-26°44' N.
Dongyin is the northernmost and Dongjyu is the southernmost.
- Dongyin is 100 nautical miles (190 km) from Keelung, Taiwan, 180 to the Pescadores Islands, and slightly over 10 nautical miles (19 km) from the Asia mainland.
- The soils are not ideal for farming.
- The highest point is on Peikan, 298 metres.
Areas:
- Nangan: 10.43 km²
- Beigan: 8.86 km²
- Dongyin: 4.35 km²
- Jyuguang islands: see Jyuguang
Average annual temperature is 8.9°C, with the lowest point being 1.3°.
The total number of islands and islets is 19. [1]
[edit] Demographics
The language spoken by Matsu residents is Fuzhou dialect (福州話), a dialect of Min Dong Language.
Chen (陳) is the most common surname, then Lin (林), Wang (王), Tsao (曹), and Liu (劉).
Several islands are not inhabited permanently, some of which are stationed by Taiwan soldiers.
[edit] Economy
Farm products include rice, sugar cane, tea plant, orange. Sea animals, such as fish, clams, and jellyfish, are also popular exports.
[edit] Natural reserves
Since 1990, the county controls the Matsu Islands Bird Sanctuary (馬祖列島燕鷗保護區), which spreads across eight islands and islets in Nangan, Beigan and Tongyin Townships. It contains 30 species in 15 orders, mostly gulls and terns. In 2000, four pairs of the critically endangered Chinese Crested Tern, previously thought to be extinct, were discovered nesting on the Matsu Islands, giving them global conservation importance.
There are also mosses and ferns rare or absent on PROC and Taiwan.
[edit] Connection to the goddess
Matsu, though named after the goddess Matsu, is written with a different character that has a different tone. But the Matsu Islands are not the birthplace of the goddess as the human Lin Muoniang -- Meizhou Island is -- but her death place (on a seaport named after her on Nangan Island).
The Matsu Nangan Heavenly Empress Palace (馬祖南竿天后宮), a temple dedicated to the goddess, contains the sarcophagus of Lin Muoniang. It is, however, not as popular as the Meizhou temple.
Most Taiwanese pilgrims to Meizhou start off their journey in the Matsu Islands because they are the closest Taiwan-controlled base to Meizhou, which is controlled by the PRC.
[edit] See also
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This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters. |
- Kinmen
- Administrative divisions of the Republic of China
- Township (Taiwan)
- List of cities in the Republic of China (Taiwan)
- List of islands of the Republic of China
- Republic of China
[edit] External links
| Find more about Matsu on Wikipedia's sister projects: | |
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Dictionary definitions |
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Textbooks |
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Quotations |
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Source texts |
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Images and media |
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News stories |
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Learning resources |
- Matsu travel guide from Wikitravel
- Lienchiang County Government Official Website
- Military importance from www.globalsecurity.org
- Smaller map (from CNN)
- Name change: Taipei Times article
- Matzu Scenic Area
- Satellite image of the Nangan and Beigan islands by Google Maps
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| Type | Territory | Currently Administered by | Claimants |
| Land: | Aksai Chin |  |
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| Arunachal Pradesh | |
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| Baekdu Mountain |  |
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| East Turkestan | |
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| Heixiazi / Bolshoy Ussuriyskiy (Eastern part)2 |  |
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| Indo-Bangladesh enclaves3 |  |
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| Kashmir3 |  |
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| Kachin State |  |
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| Kayin State | |
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| Korean Peninsula and its adjacent islands3 | |
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| Mainland China2 | |
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| Mongolia2 |  |
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| Pamir Mountains (Northern and central parts)2 |  |
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| Wakhan Corridor2 |  |
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| Pattani |  |
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| Sabah2 |  |
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| Shan State | |
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| Sixty-Four Villages East of the Heilongjiang River2 | |
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| Tannu Uriankhai (now Tuva Republic of Russia)2 | |
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| Tibet | |
 1 2 |
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| Trans-Karakoram Tract | |
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| Wa State | |
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| Islands and Waters: | Kinmen | |
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| Liancourt Rocks | |
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| Macclesfield Bank | |
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| Matsu | |
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| Paracel Islands | |
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| Pedra Branca, Middle Rocks and South Ledge |  |
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| Pratas Islands | |
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| Scarborough Shoal | |
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| Senkaku Islands | |
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| Sir Creek3 | |
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| Socotra Rock | |
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| Southern Kuril Islands | |
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| Spratly Islands3 | |
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| Taiwan and Pescadores2 | |
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| Notes: | 1Government in exile/exiled group. 2Inactive dispute. 3Divided among multiple claimants. |
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