Miaoli County

Miaoli County 苗栗縣
County
Top:A night view of Tongluo, Second left:Lonteng Acient Bridge, Second right:Liyu Reserve Lake, Third left :Chunhsiang Strawberry Farm Park, Third right:Hakka Cultural Park, Bottom left: Osmamthus Street in Nanchuang, Bottom right:Mount Huoyen
Flag Coat of arms
Coordinates: 24°33′48.29″N 120°49′32.98″E / 24.5634139°N 120.8258278°E / 24.5634139; 120.8258278Coordinates: 24°33′48.29″N 120°49′32.98″E / 24.5634139°N 120.8258278°E / 24.5634139; 120.8258278
Country	Taiwan
Region	western Taiwan
Seat	Miaoli City
Largest city	Toufen
Boroughs	2 cities, 16 (5 urban, 11 rural) townships
Government
• County magistrate	Hsu Yao-chang (KMT)
Area
• Total	1,820.3149 km2 (702.8275 sq mi)
Area rank	11 of 22
Population (December 2014)
• Total	567,132
• Rank	13 of 22
• Density	310/km2 (810/sq mi)
Time zone	National Standard Time (UTC+8)
Website	www.miaoli.gov.tw
Symbols
Bird	European magpie (Pica pica)
Flower	Camphor laurel (Cinnamomum camphora)
Tree	Tea olive (Osmanthus fragrans)

Miaoli County (Chinese: 苗栗縣; pinyin: Miáolì Xiàn) is a county in western Taiwan. Miaoli is contiguous with Hsinchu County and Hsinchu City to the north, Taichung to the south, and borders the Taiwan Strait to the west. The Council for Economic Planning and Development of Taiwan classifies Miaoli as a county of Central Taiwan, while the Taiwan Central Weather Bureau classifies Miaoli as a county of the North. Miaoli City is the capital of the county, and is also known as "Mountain Town", owing to the number of mountains nearby, making it a destination for hiking.

The name Miaoli was coined using two Hakka Chinese words, meu (貓; "cat") and li (狸; "raccoon dog") to phonetically approximate Pali (Bari) from the Taokas language. The resulting word (貓狸) is a widespread but non-orthodox variant referring to Viverridae. In 1889, during late Qing rule, the name was modified from various forms (貓裏, 貓裡, 貓里) to its current form.

Evidence of settlement in Miaoli dates back a thousand years. Many archaeological artifacts have been found showing that during the prehistoric era, people lived in the river terrace. They mainly led an agriculture life and engaged in hunting and fishing for their extra food source. About a thousand years ago, an indigenous group Taokas settled here.

In the mid-17th century, Han Chinese began to migrate into the area, beginning a gradual process of deforestation and establishment of permanent settlement sites. The prior inhabitants of Miaoli were either assimilated into the dominant Han population, or migrated deeper into the mountainous range. After several hundred years, Miaoli had become the home of people from different origins, such as Hakka, Hoklo, Atayal and Saisiyat.