Matsu Islands

The Matsu Islands (Chinese: 馬祖列島; pinyin: Mǎzǔ Lièdǎo; Fuzhou dialect: Mā-cū liĕk-dō̤ or less frequently, Chinese: 馬祖群島; pinyin: Mǎzǔ Qúndǎo; Fuzhou dialect: 馬祖島 Mā-cū-dō̤) are a minor archipelago of 36 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait administered as Lienchiang County (連江縣; Lièng-gŏng-gâing pinyin: Liánjiāng Xiàn;) under streamlined Fujian Province of Taiwan. It is the smallest county in the country.

Only a small area of what is historically Lienchiang County is under the control of the Republic of China. The People's Republic of China (PRC) administers the part of the historical county on mainland China as Lianjiang County, which claims the entire archipelago to be its Mazu Township (馬祖鄉; Mā-cū-hiŏng). Kinmen is the other archipelago along the coast of Fujian that is controlled by the Republic of China (Taiwan).

Name

The Matsu Islands are named for the goddess Matsu.

The Lienchiang name is derived from the original Lianjiang County of Fujian province in Mainland China. 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. Some local people opposed the name change because they felt it reflected a Democratic Progressive Party Taiwan Independence viewpoint.