| Keelung 基隆 |
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| — 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 | |||
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| Nickname(s): The Rainy Port (雨港) | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | Taiwan | ||
| Region | Northern Taiwan | ||
| Districts | 7 | ||
| City seat | Jhongjheng District (中正區) | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Chang Tong-rong (張通榮) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 132.7589 km2 (51.3 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 21 of 25 | ||
| Population (April 2010) | |||
| • Total | 387,207 | ||
| • Rank | 19 of 25 | ||
| • Density | 2,916.6/km2 (7,554/sq mi) | ||
| Symbols | |||
| - Bird | Eagle | ||
| - Flower | Common crepe myrtle | ||
| - Tree | Formosan Sweet-gum | ||
| Abbreviations | |||
| English | Keelung/KLC | ||
| Taiwanese | 基隆/基市 | ||
| Website | klcg.gov.tw/en/ | ||
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 Republic of China (Taiwan).
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| Keelung City | |||||||||||||
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| Chinese | 基隆市 | ||||||||||||
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| Taiwanese Hokkien Name | |||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 雞籠市 | ||||||||||||
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The city of Keelung was known as Kelung or Keelung to the Western world during the 19th century.[1][2] However, the Taiwanese people have long called the city Kelang (Chinese: 雞籠; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ke-lâng; literally "rooster cage or hencoop"[3]).
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; literally "base prosperous").[4] 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.
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.[5][6] 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.[6] 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.[7]
Keelung became a town in Keelung District, Taipei Prefecture in 1920 and was upgraded to a city of Taipei Prefecture in 1924.[7] 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.[7] Coal mining peaked in 1968. The city developed quickly and by 1984, the harbor was the 7th largest container harbor in the world.[8]
Keelung has a four-season humid subtropical climate (Koppen 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 rainfall there is a slight rain shadow effect. Fog is most serious during winter and spring, when relative humidity levels are also highest.
| Climate data for Keelung (1971-2000) | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 18.0 (64.4) |
18.2 (64.8) |
20.3 (68.5) |
24.1 (75.4) |
27.1 (80.8) |
30.4 (86.7) |
32.6 (90.7) |
31.9 (89.4) |
29.5 (85.1) |
26.1 (79.0) |
22.7 (72.9) |
19.7 (67.5) |
25.1 (77.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 15.8 (60.4) |
15.8 (60.4) |
17.6 (63.7) |
21.1 (70.0) |
24.2 (75.6) |
27.1 (80.8) |
29.0 (84.2) |
28.6 (83.5) |
26.8 (80.2) |
24.0 (75.2) |
20.8 (69.4) |
17.6 (63.7) |
22.4 (72.3) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 13.7 (56.7) |
13.7 (56.7) |
15.3 (59.5) |
18.7 (65.7) |
21.7 (71.1) |
24.5 (76.1) |
26.0 (78.8) |
25.9 (78.6) |
24.4 (75.9) |
22.1 (71.8) |
18.9 (66.0) |
15.6 (60.1) |
20.0 (68.0) |
| Rainfall mm (inches) | 335.8 (13.22) |
399.1 (15.713) |
332.3 (13.083) |
240.9 (9.484) |
296.1 (11.657) |
286.7 (11.287) |
150.4 (5.921) |
212.8 (8.378) |
360.8 (14.205) |
413.4 (16.276) |
394.7 (15.539) |
332.1 (13.075) |
3,755.1 (147.839) |
| % humidity | 81.2 | 82.5 | 83.6 | 81.6 | 81.7 | 79.6 | 75.1 | 76.7 | 78.6 | 79.2 | 79.0 | 78.5 | 79.8 |
| Avg. rainy days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 21.0 | 19.6 | 21.1 | 17.2 | 18.8 | 14.2 | 9.2 | 11.5 | 15.0 | 17.7 | 19.9 | 20.1 | 205.3 |
| Sunshine hours | 54.5 | 48.0 | 65.6 | 83.4 | 90.3 | 125.4 | 203.0 | 192.5 | 149.1 | 94.3 | 58.7 | 52.6 | 1,217.4 |
| Source: [9] | |||||||||||||
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.[10]
| Keelung has 7 districts (區 Qu): | District | Population | Land area | |
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| as of 2009 | km² | |||
| ■ Zhongzheng-qu | 中正區 | 56,635 | 10.2118 | |
| ■ Zhongshan-qu | 中山區 | 51,755 | 10.5238 | |
| ■ Ren'ai-qu | 仁愛區 | 50,475 | 4.2335 | |
| ■ Xinyi-qu | 信義區 | 51,436 | 10.6706 | |
| ■ Anle-qu | 安樂區 | 85,093 | 18.0250 | |
| ■ Nuannuan-qu | 暖暖區 | 38,184 | 22.8283 | |
| ■ Qidu-qu | 七堵區 | 55,18 | 56.2659 |
| Year | Population | Notes |
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Decrease due to Allied air bombings |
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28,000 Mainlander influx |
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Keelung is twinned with:
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