Kaohsiung County was established on 6 December 1945 on the territory of Takao Prefecture (高雄州) shortly after the end of World War II.

The remaining Kaohsiung County has territory equivalent to the Hōzan (Fengshan), Okayama (Kangshan), and Kizan (Chishan) in the Japanese era.

In addition, districts in the remaining part of Kaohsiung County was defunct.

On 25 December 2010, the county merged with Kaohsiung City to form a larger single special municipality.

On the eve of merging with Kaohsiung City, the county consists of the following administrative divisions