Keelung

Learn more about Keelung

Keelung City 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).

[edit] 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.

From 1642 to 1661 and 1663-1668 Keelung was Dutch. The Dutch East India Company attacked the Spanish (who came to Keelung a few years before) and after a short successful siege took over their Fort San Salvador. They reduced its size and renamed it Fort Noort-Holland. The Dutch had three more minor fortifications in Keelung and also a little school and a preacher. When Ming loyalist Cheng Ch'en Kung (Coxinga) successfully attacked the Dutch in the South of Taiwan, the crew of the Keelung forts fled to the Dutch trading post in Japan. The Dutch came back in 1663 and re-occupied and strengthened their earlier forts. However, trade with China through Keelung was not what they hoped it would be and in 1668 they left voluntarily.

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 Admiral Amédée 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.

[edit] Administration

Keelung administers seven districts:

[edit] 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)

[edit] Sister cities

• Image:Flag of the United States.svg Campbell, California, USA
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg Corpus Christi, Texas, USA
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg Rosemead, California, USA
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg Yakima, Washington, USA
• Image:Flag of the Marshall Islands.svg Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands

[edit] See also

• Taipei County
• Taipei City ( capital of Republic of China, 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

[edit] Sources and external links

• Keelung travel guide from Wikitravel
• Keelung City Government Official Wesite
• Keelung Harbor Bureau Official Wesite
• WorldStatesmen.org - Taiwan

Coordinates: 25°08′N 121°44′Ezh-min-nan:Ke-lâng-chhī fr:Chilung ko:지룽 시 nl:Chilung ja:基隆市 simple:Keelung City sv:Chilung vi:Cơ Long zh:基隆市