Keelung

Keelung City
Keelung City
Chinese	基隆市
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Jīlóng Shì
Wade–Giles	Chi-lung-shih
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ	Ki-liông-chhī
Taiwanese Hokkien Name
Traditional Chinese	雞籠市
Hokkien POJ
Transcriptions
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ	Ke-lâng-chhī

Keelung

基隆
Keelung 基隆
Provincial city
	基隆市 · Keelung City
	Clockwise from top: Keelung's Skyline, Zhongzheng Park, Zhongzheng & Daye Tunnel, Rocks at the coast of Keelung, and Port of Keelung
	Flag Seal
	Nickname: The Rainy Port (雨港)
Country	Taiwan
Region	Northern Taiwan
Districts	7
City seat	Zhongzheng District
Government
• Mayor	Chang Tong-rong
• Deputy Mayor	Ke Shuei-yuan
Area
• Total	132.7589 km2 (51.2585 sq mi)
• Rank	21 of 25
Population (April 2010)
• Total	387,207
• Rank	19 of 25
• Density	2,900/km2 (7,600/sq mi)
Postal code	200-206
Area code	(0)32
- Bird	Eagle
- Flower	Common crepe myrtle
- Tree	Formosan Sweet-gum
English	Keelung/KLC
Chinese	基隆/基市
Website	www.klcg.gov.tw Template:En icon

Template:ChineseText

Keelung, officially known as Keelung City (Chinese: 基隆市; pinyin: Jīlóng Shì; Wade–Giles: Chilung Shi) (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).

Name

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; lit. '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; lit. '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.

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.^[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 (Zheng Chenggong) 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, following the First Opium War (1839–1842}} between Great Britain and China, 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 Mingchuan's Army of Northern Formosa and Colonel Jacques Duchesne's Formosa Expeditionary Corps.

A systematic city development started during the Japanese Era, after 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 Port Croquis (in 1894)
A view of Downtown Keelung
A view of the Port of Keelung

Panorama view of Central Keelung and harbor area.

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.

Climate data for Keelung (1971–2000)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °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)
Mean daily minimum °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 (68.1)
Average rainfall mm (inches)	335.8 (13.22)	399.1 (15.71)	332.3 (13.08)	240.9 (9.48)	296.1 (11.66)	286.7 (11.29)	150.4 (5.92)	212.8 (8.38)	360.8 (14.20)	413.4 (16.28)	394.7 (15.54)	332.1 (13.07)	3,755.1 (147.83)
Average 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
Average relative 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
Mean monthly 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]

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.^[10]

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

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
2010	387,207