Keelung

Keelung (基隆 Pinyin: Jīlóng, Wade-Giles: Chi-lung) is a county-level 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).

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".

In 1863, the Qing Empire opened up Keelung as a trading port. A systematic city development started in 1895 during the Japanese Occupation. 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:

Population

• 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)

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