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Keelung 基隆
Provincial city
Keelung City · 基隆市
Clockwise from top: Keelung's Skyline, Zhongzheng Park, Zhongzheng & Daye Tunnel, Rocks at the coast of Keelung, and Port of Keelung
FlagSeal
Nickname: The Rainy Port (雨港)
Country	Taiwan
Region	Northern Taiwan
Districts	7
City seat	Jhongjheng District
Government
• Mayor	Chang Tong-rong
• Deputy Mayor	Ke Shuei-yuan
Area
• Total	132.7589 km (51.2585 sq mi)
• Rank	21 of 25
Population
• Total	387,207
• Rank	19 of 25
• Density	2,900/km (7,600/sq mi)
- Bird	Eagle
- Flower	Common crepe myrtle
- Tree	Formosan Sweet-gum
English	Keelung/KLC
Chinese	基隆/基市
Website	www.klcg.gov.tw Transclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{langx|en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead.

Template:ChineseText

Keelung City (also Jilong or Chilung) is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. It borders New Taipei with which it forms the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, along with Taipei itself. 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 municipality within Taiwan Province of the Republic of China.

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 (Chinese: 雞籠; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ke-lâng; lit. 'rooster cage or hencoop').

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; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ki-liông; lit. 'base prosperous'). 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 Chinese, 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 with the Spanish in the early 17th century, who built a fort in Keelung as an outpost of the Manila-based Spanish East Indies. From 1642 to 1661 and 1663–1668, Keelung was under Dutch control. The Dutch East India Company took over the Spanish Fort San Salvador at Santissima Trinidad. They reduced its size and renamed it Fort Noort-Hollant. 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. A five-phase construction of Keelung Harbor was initiated, and in by 1916 trade volume had exceeded even those of Tamsui and Kaohsiung Harbors to become one of the major commercial harbors of Taiwan.

Keelung became a town in Keelung District, Taipei Prefecture in 1920 and was upgraded to a city of Taipei Prefecture in 1924. The Pacific War broke out in 1941, and Keelung became one of the first targets of Allied bombers and was nearly destroyed as a result. Coal mining peaked in 1968. The city developed quickly and by 1984, the harbor was the 7th largest container harbor in the world.

• Keelung Port Croquis (in 1894)
• A view of Downtown Keelung
• A view of the Port of Keelung

Climate

Keelung has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) and is particularly noted for its high rainfall year-round, with an average of upwards of 3,700 millimetres (146 in), contributing to its nickname of "Rain Port" (雨港). Winters are short and mild, whilst summers are long and hot, much like the rest of the island. However its location on northern mountain slopes means that due to orographic lift, rainfall is heavier during fall and winter, the latter during which a northeasterly flow prevails. During summer, southwesterly winds dominate and thus there is a slight rain shadow effect. Fog is most serious during winter and spring, when relative humidity levels are also highest.

Culture

One of the most popular festivals in Taiwan is the Mid-Summer Ghost Festival. The Keelung Ghost Festival is among the oldest in Taiwan, dating back to 1851 after bitter clashes between rivaling clans, which claimed many lives before mediators stepped in. The Ghost Festival of Keelung City is a reflection of Taiwan's rich cultural history that is very much alive today.

Administration

Keelung has seven districts (區 Qu):	District		Population	Land area
			as of 2009	km²
	■ Zhongzheng	中正區	56,635	10.2118
	■ Zhongshan	中山區	51,755	10.5238
	■ Ren'ai	仁愛區	50,475	4.2335
	■ Xinyi	信義區	51,436	10.6706
	■ Anle	安樂區	85,093	18.0250
	■ Nuannuan	暖暖區	38,184	22.8283
	■ Qidu	七堵區	55,180	56.2659

Population growth

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Keelung is twinned with:

• Bacolod, Philippines
• Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands
• Campbell, USA
• Corpus Christi, USA
• Davao City, Philippines
• East London, South Africa
• Marrickville, Australia
• Miyakojima, Japan
• Rosemead, USA
• Salt Lake City, USA
• Thunder Bay, Canada
• Yakima, USA

People from Keelung

• Jiang Yi-huah, Premier of the Republic of China

Transportation

Keelung City is accessible from Keelung Station of the Taiwan Railway Administration.

See also

• Port of Keelung
• Taipei City
• New Taipei City
• List of cities in the Republic of China (Taiwan)
• Administrative divisions of the Republic of China

References

1. Smith, D. Warres (1900). European settlements in the Far East: China, Japan, Corea, Indo-China, Straits Settlements, Malay States, Siam, Netherlands, India, Borneo, the Philippines, etc. S. Low, Marston & company. p. 38. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
2. Terry, Thomas Philip (1914). Terry's Japanese Empire. Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 775. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
3. "Welcome to Keelung City: The Beginning". Keelung City Government. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
4. "Ching Dynasty". Keelung City Government. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
5. Twitchett, Denis Crispin (1978). The Cambridge history of China, Volume 2; Volume 8. Cambridge University Press. p. 46. ISBN 0-521-24333-5. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
6. ^ "Ming Dynasty and Cheng Cheng kung's Era". Keelung City Government. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
7. ^ "Japanese Occupation". Keelung City Government. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
8. "The Republic of China". Keelung City Government. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
9. "Statistics > Monthly Mean". Central Weather Bureau.
10. "Keelung: Mid-summer ghost festival". Dream Life. Retrieved 15 October 2008.

External links

• Keelung travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Keelung City Government official website Template:En icon
• Keelung Harbor Bureau official website Template:En icon
• WorldStatesmen.org — Taiwan

• Use dmy dates from August 2010
• Keelung
• Port cities and towns in Taiwan