Keelung City

All you want to know about Keelung City

**Keelung City**
基隆市
City Flag	City Seal
Abbreviation	Keelung/KLC 基隆/基市
Nickname	The Rainy Port 雨港
Capital	Jhongjheng, Keelung
Region	Northern Taiwan
Mayor	Chang, Tong-Rong (張通榮)
Area	132.758 km² (Ranked 21 of 25)
Population (June 2007)
- Population	390,299 (Ranked 18 of 25)
- Density	2,939.91 /km²
Districts	7
Website	English Trad. Chinese
Symbols
- Bird	Eagle
- Flower	Common crepe myrtle
- Tree	Formosan Sweet-gum

A view of Keelung city

A view of the Port of Keelung

Kelung Port Croquis (in 1894)

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Keelung City (also: Jilong or Chilung) (traditional Chinese: 基隆市; Tongyong Pinyin: Jilóng Shìh; Hanyu Pinyin: Jīlóng Shì; Wade-Giles: Chi-lung-shih ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ke-lâng-chhī) is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. It borders Taipei County and forms the Taipei-Keelung metropolitan area, along with the City and County of Taipei. Nicknamed the Rainy Port for its frequent rain and maritime role, the city is Taiwan's second largest seaport (after Kaohsiung). Keelung is currently administered as a provincial city of Taiwan Province, Republic of China.

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

Name

The city of Keelung was known as Kelung or Keelung to the Western world during the 19th century. However, the Taiwanese people have long called the city Kelang (Taiwanese language POJ: Ke-lâng, Chinese characters: 雞籠, meaning rooster cage).

It has been proposed that the name Keelung was derived from the local mountain that took the shape of a rooster cage. However, it is more probable that the name was derived from the first inhabitants of the region, as are the names of many other Taiwanese cities. In this case, the Ketagalan people were the first inhabitants, and early Han settlers probably approximated "Ketagalan" with "Ke-lâng" (phonetics of the Southern Min Language).

In 1875, during Qing Dynasty rule, the Chinese characters of the name were changed to the more auspicious 基隆 (pinyin: Jīlóng; POJ: Ki-liông, meaning prosperous base). In Mandarin, probably the working language of Chinese government at the time, both the old and new names were likely pronounced Kīlóng (hence "Keelung"). Under Japanese rule (1895-1945), the city was known to the west by Japanese readings of the new name: Kirun, Kiirun or Kīrun. In Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of the Republic of China, the new name is read Jīlóng, although the locals have continued to call the city Ke-lâng throughout changes in government.

History

Keelung was first inhabited by the Ketagalan, a tribe of Taiwanese aborigine. Its first contact with the west was the Spanish. During 1642 to 1661 and 1663-1668, Keelung was under Dutch control. The Dutch East India Company attacked the Spanish and, after a short successful siege, took over their Fort San Salvador at Santissima Trinidad. 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 Dynasty loyalist Koxinga (Cheng Ch'en-Kung) 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.

The Keelung Campaign was an important subsidiary campaign in the Sino-French War (August 1884 to April 1885). The French occupied Keelung from 1 October 1884 to 22 June 1885, and several battles were fought during this period between Liu Ming-ch'uan's Army of Northern Formosa and Colonel Jacques Duchesne's Formosa Expeditionary Corps.

A systematic city development started during the Japanese Era, after the 8 May 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki, which handed all Taiwan over to Japan, went into 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:

Tongyong	Hanzi	Pinyin	Wade-Giles
Jhongjheng District	中正區	Zhōngzhèng	Chung-cheng
Jhongshan District	中山區	Zhōngshān	Chung-shan
Ren-ai District	仁愛區	Rén'ài	Jen-ai
Sinyi District	信義區	Xìnyì	Hsin-yi
Anle District	安樂區	Ānlè	An-le
Nuannuan District	暖暖區	Nuǎnnuǎn	Nuan-nuan
Cidu District	七堵區	Qīdǔ	Ch'i-tu

Population growth

Year	Population	Notes
1840	700 households
1897	9,500
1924	58,000
1943	100,000
1944	92,000	decrease due to Allied air bombings
1948	130,000	28,000 Mainlander influx
1971	330,000
late 1990s	347,828

Sister cities

Sources and external links

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v • d • e

Administrative divisions of the Republic of China

Provinces and
counties

Taiwan Province	Changhua · Chiayi · Hsinchu · Hualien · Kaohsiung · Miaoli · Nantou · Penghu (Pescadores) · Pingtung · Taichung · Tainan · Taipei · Taitung · Taoyuan · Yilan · Yunlin

Fujian Province	Kinmen · Lienchiang (Matsu Islands)

Provincial cities

Chiayi · Hsinchu · Keelung · Taichung · Tainan

Central municipalities

Kaohsiung City · Taipei City

Taiwan Area

v • d • e

Major cities of Greater China

People's Republic of China

Direct-controlled municipalities	Beijing · Chongqing · Shanghai · Tianjin

Sub-provincial cities	Changchun · Chengdu · Dalian · Guangzhou · Hangzhou · Jinan · Harbin · Nanjing · Ningbo · Qingdao · Shenyang · Shenzhen · Wuhan · Xi'an · Xiamen

Provincial capitals (not included above)	Changsha · Fuzhou · Guiyang · Haikou · Hefei · Hohhot · Kunming · Lanzhou · Lhasa · Nanchang · Nanning · Shijiazhuang · Taiyuan · Ürümqi · Xining · Yinchuan · Zhengzhou

Special administrative regions	Hong Kong · Macau