The Yilan Plain in which the city is located has historically been referred to as Kapalan (Chinese: 蛤仔難; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Kap-á-lān),[2] Kapsulan (蛤仔蘭; Kap-chú-lân; also 甲子蘭), Komalan (噶瑪蘭; Kat-má-lán), etc.

In 1810 under Qing dynasty rule, a formal administration office was established at Wuwei (五圍) and "Komalan Subprefecture" (噶瑪蘭廳; Kat-má-lán Thiaⁿ) was at the present day location of Yilan City.

After a few years once the basic infrastructure was ready, the city assumed the political, economical, cultural and educational center for the Lanyang Plain.

[4] After the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China on 25 October 1945, Yilan City was created in January 1946 as a county-administered city the county seat of the newly created Yilan County and continued to become the political, economical and cultural centers of the region.

[14] The relationship gained notoriety as diplomats from the Embassy of China, Washington, D.C., unsuccessfully attempted to scuttle the agreement.