Wuciou is a group of islands comprising two major islands, namely Greater Ciou Islet and Smaller Ciou Islet, in the Taiwan Strait

Taiwan Strait

The Taiwan Strait or Formosa Strait, formerly known as the Black Ditch, is a 180-km-wide strait separating Mainland China and Taiwan. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to East China Sea to the northeast...

. Administratively the Wuciou Township is part of Kinmen County of the Fujian Province of the Republic of China

Republic of China

The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

. Its name means "black mound".

The People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

 claims Wuciou as part of the Xiuyu District

Xiuyu District

Xiuyu is a district in the municipal region of Putian, Fujian. The district executive, legislature and judiciary are in Hushi Town , together with the CPC and PSB branches.-Notable Islands:Xiuyu District administers many islands, including -...

 of the Putian

Putian

Putian is a prefecture-level city in eastern Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It borders Fuzhou City to the north, Quanzhou City to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east.-Administration:...

 prefecture

Prefecture-level city

A prefectural level city , prefectural city or prefectural level municipality is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China, ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. Prefectural level cities form the second level of the administrative...

 of its Fujian Province

Fujian

' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...

.

It was part of the Putian County

Putian

Putian is a prefecture-level city in eastern Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It borders Fuzhou City to the north, Quanzhou City to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east.-Administration:...

 before the Kuomintang fled to Taiwan following the Chinese Civil War

Chinese Civil War

The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...

 between Kuomintang

Kuomintang

The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...

 and the Chinese Communist Party

Communist Party of China

The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...

. Although provisionally part of the Kinmen County, there is no ferry service to the rest of the Kinmen County. Ferry connection is only available to the Port of Taichung

Taichung

-Demographics:Taichung’s population was an estimated 1,040,725 in August 2006. There are slightly more females in the city than males.24.32% of residents are children, while 16.63% are young people, 52.68% are middle-age, and 6.73% are elderly....

.

The dialect spoken on Wuciou is a variety of Puxian Min

Puxian Min

Pu–Xian or Puxian Min , also known as Xinghua, is a branch of Min Chinese.Puxian is a word combination of two place names of Putian City and Xianyou County ....

, unlike the other islands of Kinmen.

External links

• Wuciou Township Office
• Fujian Provincial Government website
• Satellite image of the islands of Wuchiu and Hsiaochiu by Google Maps
  Google Maps
  Google Maps is a web mapping service application and technology provided by Google, free , that powers many map-based services, including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder, Google Transit, and maps embedded on third-party websites via the Google Maps API...