The Yilan Plain in which the city is located has historically been referred to as Kapalan (Chinese: 蛤仔難; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Kap-á-lān),[2]Kapsulan (蛤仔蘭; Kap-chú-lân; also 甲子蘭), Komalan (噶瑪蘭; Kat-má-lán), etc. These names, as well as that of Yilan itself, were given to the sites by the Kavalan tribe of Taiwanese aborigines. Later arrivals included Han Chinese settlers during the Qing dynasty in China (1802) and settlers from Okinawa during Taiwan's Japanese era (1895–1945).
Qing dynasty
In 1810 under Qing dynasty rule, a formal administration office was established at Wuwei (五圍) and "Komalan Subprefecture" (噶瑪蘭廳; Kat-má-lán Thiaⁿ) was at the present day location of Yilan City. Construction of the city wall was completed a year later. After a few years once the basic infrastructure was ready, the city assumed the political, economical, cultural and educational center for the Lanyang Plain. In 1878, Komalan was a large rice production area commonly called Kapsulan, and became a district called Gilan Hsien.[3] It was one of the three new districts that constituted the new Taipeh Prefecture.
Empire of Japan
Map of Yilan (labeled as GIRAN) and surrounding area (1944)
According to the 1904 census, the population of Giran town was about 15,000.[4]
Republic of China
Map of the region including Yilan (labeled as I-lan (Giran) 宜蘭) (1954)
^ ab各里里長 [Village leaders] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Yilan City Office. Archived from the original on 2017-02-22. Retrieved 2017-02-21. 宜蘭市總里數 ：38里，鄰數：478
^ ab認識宜蘭市 [Get to Know Yilan City]. ilancity.gov.tw (in Chinese). Yilan City Office. Archived from the original on 2017-08-29. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
^宜蘭縣宜蘭市 現住人口數按性別及年歲分 [Resident Population Figures by Gender and Age, Yilan City, Yilan County] (PDF). ilhhr.e-land.gov.tw (in Chinese). Yilan City Household Registration Office. September 2023. Archived(PDF) from the original on 2023-10-31. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
^Allen, Bethany (2023). "Spies and Sister Cities". Beijing Rules: How China Weaponized Its Economy to Confront the World. HarperCollins. pp. 72–73. ISBN9780063057418. OCLC1356620867. Two embassy diplomats subsequently showed up, expressing "concerns" about Rockville's new relationship with Yilan and offering to have the embassy introduce other mainland Chinese cities to Rockville for potential new sister city relationships.
1 The provinces are merely retained as nominal entities within the constitutional structure, as they have no governing power following the formal dissolution of the provincial administrative organs in 2018. Cities and counties are de facto regarded as the principal constituent divisions of the ROC.
Sarah Shair-Rosenfield (November 2020). "Taiwan Combined"(PDF). The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
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