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Keelung City (; POJ: Ke-lâng) is a provincial city of Taiwan Province, Republic of China. Located in the northeastern of the island and bordering Taipei County, it is Taiwan's second largest seaport (after Kaohsiung). Keelung is nicknamed "The Rainy Port" (雨港).
History
Keelung was first inhabited by the Ketagalan, a tribe of Taiwanese aborigine.
"Keelung" used to be written in the homophonous characters meaning "Rooster Cage" (雞籠), named after a local mountain of such a shape. Another theory suggests that the characters were transcription of a Ketagalan placename. The characters were changed in 1875 (Qing Dynasty) to mean "The Base that Prospers". The spelling "Keelung" does not belong to any standard romanization system.
In 1863, the Qing Empire opened up Keelung as a trading port.
From 1 October 1884 to July 1885, the French occupied Keelung (from 29 March 1885 the Pescadores too); the military governor was André-Amédée-Anatole-Prosper Courbet (b. 1827 - d. 1885).
A systematic city development started during the Japanese Occupation, after the 8 May 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki, which handed all Taiwan over to Japan, in force.
Keelung became a town in Keelung District, Taipei Prefecture in 1920 and was upgraded to a city of Taipei Prefecture in 1924. Coal mining peaked in 1968.
Administration
Keelung administers seven districts:
| Hanzi | Tongyong | Pinyin | Wade-Giles | -- | 中正 | Jhongjheng | Zhongzheng | Chung-cheng | -- | 中山 | Jhongshan | Zhongshan | Chung-shan | -- | 仁愛 | Ren-ai | Ren’ai | Jen-ai | -- | 信義 | Sinyi | Xinyi | Hsin-yi | -- | 安樂 | Anle | Anle | An-le | -- | 暖暖 | Nuannuan | Nuannuan | Nuan-nuan | -- | 七堵 | Cidu | Qidu | Ch'i-tu | -- |
|---|
Population growth
- 700 households (1840)
- 9,500 (1897)
- 58,000 (1924)
- 100,000 (1943)
- 92,000 (1944): decrease due to Allied air bombings
- 130,000 (1948): 28,000 Mainlander influx
- 330,000 (1971)
- 347,828 (late 1990s)
Sister cities
Campbell, California, USA Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands Salt Lake City, USA Corpus Christi, Texas, USA
See also
- Taipei County
- Taipei City ( capital of Taiwan , Municipality )
- Kaohsiung City( the second largest city in Taiwan, Municipality )
- List of cities in the Republic of China (Taiwan)
- Political divisions of the Republic of China
Sources and external links
Cities in Taiwan | Political divisions of the Republic of China | Ports and harbours in Taiwan
"Keelung"