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The Department of Civil Affairs was established in November 1945 with six divisions: Administration, Civil Registry, Business Commerce and Industry, Social Welfare, Cooperation, Forestry and Livestock.After restructuring, the Department was organized into three divisions (Administrative Services, Local Governance, and Civil Registry Divisions), and two additional offices (Personnel and Accounting Offices) were established. The size of the Departmental staff was 84 employees. The Department also had two sections for Land and National Military Service Conscription, and managed two sites,Taipei Zhongshan Hall and the Martyr’s Shrine.

The Department of Social Welfare was established in 1957.Those affairs originally within the jurisdiction of the Social Welfare Division of the Department of Civil Affairs were then transferred to the Department of Social Welfare.

The Department of Construction was established in 1967 to manage the government portfolio transferred from the Department of Civil Affairs for administration of businesses and industries as well as forestry, fishing, and animal husbandry related guidance, and market management affairs was transferred from the Department of Finance.

The Martyr’s Shrine was transferred to the Archive Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense and the Civil Registry Division was transferred to the Taipei Police Department in 1969. In 1971, the Department of Land was established and the Confucius Temple Administrative Council was added to the Department.

The Department of Land was administratively elevated in 1971, and Taipei Land Office expanded to three additional offices (Jiancheng, Songshan, and Guting). The Surveying Team was also expanded to a Surveying Brigade.

In May 1972, Department staffing underwent a reduction in force bringing total employment to 68. In 1974, the Executive Yuan approved the reorganization of the Departmental administrative jurisdiction portfolio. The subordinate units included the Department of Compulsory Military Service, Taipei Zhongshan Hall, Confucius Temple, and Taipei City Archives.

The Department of Compulsory Military Service was administratively elevated in 1979, and Taipei Zhongshan Hall was placed under its control in 1980. In 1986, the subordinate unit of Taipei Zhongshan Hall was eliminated.

To ensure the independence of civil registry matters from police affairs, all household registration offices of Taipei City were reassigned to be subordinate to the Department in 1993. Meanwhile, the Department’s Fourth Division was established to govern civil registries and oversight of all household registration offices, while the Administrative and Government Ethics Offices were also established.

The Indigenous Peoples Commission was established in 1996, to provide governance and counseling for indigenous peoples affairs upon transfer of the Department’s responsibilities.

The Department of Cultural Affairs was established in 1999, to which the Department transferred Taipei City Archives and Taipei Zhongshan Hall.

The Taipei Hakka Affairs Commission was established in 2002, to which Hakka affairs responsibilities originally within the jurisdiction of the Department were transferred.

In 2009, the Department’s 4 divisions and 5 offices were restructured as 5 divisions and 5 offices to better comport with their respective jurisdictional mandates. . The divisions were renamed the “District Administration Oversight Division”, “Local Governance Division”, “Religion and Traditions Division” and “Civil Registry Division”, with one additional “Population Policy Division”. As part of the restructuring within Taipei City Government,the Taipei Mortuary Services Office originally under the Department of Social Welfare was reassigned to this Department on September 21, 2009. This restructuring aligns mortuary services management of Taipei as a part of the municipal civil affairs portfolio conforming to the uniform practice of other localities nationwide.

Department of Civil Affairs

History