Keelung

Encyclopedia : K : KE : KEE : Keelung

Keelung City
基隆市
City Flag	City Seal
Abbreviation	Keelung 基隆
Nickname	The Rainy Port 雨港
Capital	Jhongjheng, Keelung
Region	Northern Taiwan
Mayor	Hsu Ts'ai-li (許財利)
Area	132.758 km² (Ranked 21 of 25)
Population (April 2006)
- Population	391,215 (Ranked 18 of 25)
- Density	2,947 /km²
Districts	7
Website	[English] [Trad. Chinese]
Symbols
- Bird	Eagle
- Flower	Common crepe myrtle
- Tree	Formosan Sweet-gum

Keelung City (Chinese: 基隆; Pinyin: Jīlóng; Wade-Giles: Chi-lung; 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).

Contents

1 History
2 Administration
3 Population growth
4 Sister cities
5 See also
6 Sources and external links

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

A view of Keelung city

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)

A view of Keelung port

Sister cities

Campbell, California, USA

Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands

Salt Lake City, USA

Corpus Christi, Texas, USA

Sources and external links

This page contains Chinese text.
Without proper [Enabling East Asian charactersrendering support], you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

Administrative divisions of the Republic of China

Provinces (streamlined):	Taiwan Province \| Fuchien Province
Central Municipalities:	Kaohsiung City \| Taipei City
Counties (Taiwan Province):	Changhua County \| Chiayi County \| Hsinchu County \| Hualien County \| Kaohsiung County \| Miaoli County \| Nantou County \| Penghu County \| Pingtung County \| Taichung County \| Tainan County \| Taipei County \| Taitung County \| Taoyuan County \| Yilan County \| Yunlin County
Counties (Fuchien Province):	Kinmen County \| Lienchiang County
Provincial Cities (Taiwan Province):	Chiayi City \| Hsinchu City \| Keelung City \| Taichung City \| Tainan City

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