Matsu Islands

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Lienchiang County 連江縣 Abbreviation(s): Matsu (馬祖)

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	9,920 (2007) (25 of 25)
- Density	335.07/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 (traditional Chinese: 馬祖列島 or less frequently, 馬祖群島; pinyin: Mǎzǔ) are a minor archipelago of 19 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait administered as Lienchiang County (連江 Pinyin: Liánjiāng), Fukien 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 Mazu Township (媽祖鄉).

They are named after the goddess Matsu. Kinmen is the other archipelago on the Fujian coast controlled by the ROC.

1 History
2 Townships
3 Geography
4 Demographics
5 Economy
6 Natural reserves
7 Connection to the goddess
8 See also
9 External links

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.

Subdivision of Lienchiang county into 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.

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]

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.

Farm products include rice, sugar cane, tea plant, orange. Sea animals, such as fish, clams, and jellyfish, are also popular exports.

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.

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.

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Matsu travel guide from Wikitravel

v • d • e Administrative divisions of the Republic of China (Current jurisdiction)
Provinces (streamlined)	Taiwan Province · Fuchien Province
Central Municipalities	Taipei City · Kaohsiung City
Counties (Taiwan Province)	Taipei County · Taoyuan County · Hsinchu County · Miaoli County · Taichung County · Changhua County · Nantou County · Yunlin County · Chiayi County · Tainan County · Kaohsiung County · Pingtung County · Yilan County · Hualien County · Taitung County · Penghu County
Counties (Fuchien Province)	Kinmen County · Lienchiang County
Provincial Cities (Taiwan Province)	Keelung City · Hsinchu City · Taichung City · Chiayi City · Tainan City

v • d • e Territorial disputes in East, South, and Southeast Asia
Type	Territory	Currently Administered by	Claimants
Land:	Aksai Chin		²
	Arunachal Pradesh		²
	Assam
	East Turkestan		¹ ²
	Heixiazi / Bolshoy Ussuriyskiy (Eastern part)²
	Heixiazi / Bolshoy Ussuriyskiy (Western part)²
	Indo-Bangladesh enclaves³
	Kashmir³		²
	Kachin State		¹ ²
	Kayin State		¹
	Korean Peninsula and its adjacent islands³
	Mainland China²
	Mongolia²
	Pamir Mountains (Northern and central parts)²
	Pamir Mountains (Southern part)²
	Pattani		¹
	Sabah		²
	Shan State		¹
	Sixty-Four Villages East of the Heilongjiang River²
	Tannu Uriankhai (now Tuva Republic of Russia)²
	Tibet		¹ ²
	Trans-Karakoram Tract		²
	Wa State		¹
Islands and Waters:	Kinmen
	Liancourt Rocks		²
	Macclesfield Bank
	Matsu
	Paracel Islands
	Pedra Branca
	Pratas Islands
	Scarborough Shoal
	Senkaku Islands
	Sir Creek³
	Socotra Rock		² ²
	Southern Kuril Islands
	Spratly Islands³
	Taiwan and Pescadores
Notes:	¹Government in exile/exiled group. ²Inactive dispute. ³Divided among multiple claimants.