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Keelung City facts for kids

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Keelung

基隆市
City
Top: A panoramic view of downtown Keelung and Keelung Port Second left: Main gate of Chung Cheng Park Second right: Start of Sun Yat-sen Freeway Third left: Northern coast of Keelung Third right: Keelung Port Bottom left: A pencil squid (Loliginidae)-style windmill in downtown Bottom right: Keelung Island
Top: A panoramic view of downtown Keelung and Keelung Port

Second left: Main gate of Chung Cheng Park
Second right: Start of Sun Yat-sen Freeway
Third left: Northern coast of Keelung
Third right: Keelung Port
Bottom left: A pencil squid (Loliginidae)-style windmill in downtown

Bottom right: Keelung Island
Flag of Keelung
Flag
Official seal of Keelung
Seal
Nickname(s): 
The Rainy Port (雨港)
Taiwan ROC political division map Keelung City.svg
Country Taiwan (Republic of China)
Region Northern Taiwan
Districts 7
City seat Zhongzheng District
Area
 • Total 132.7589 km2 (51.2585 sq mi)
Area rank 18 of 22
Population
 (2016)
 • Total 371,878
 • Rank 16 of 22
 • Density 2,801.153/km2 (7,254.953/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+8 (National Standard Time)
Postal code
200-206
Area code(s) (0)32
- Bird Eagle
- Flower Common crepe myrtle
- Tree Formosan Sweet-gum
English Keelung/KLC
Chinese 基隆/基市

Keelung City is a provincial city of Taiwan, 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". It is administered as a provincial city of Taiwan Province and is considered part of the Taipei-Keelung metropolitan area. The city developed quickly and by 1984, the harbor was the 7th largest container harbor in the world.

History

Keelung-Garnot-Kelung-1894
Keelung Port Croquis 1894

Keelung was first inhabited by the Ketagalan, a tribe of Taiwanese aborigine.

"Keelung" used to be written in the homophonous characters meaning "Rooster Cage", named after a local mountain of such a shape. The characters were changed in 1875 (Qing Dynasty) to mean "The Base that Prospers".

From 1642 to 1661 and 1663-1668 Keelung was under Dutch control. The Dutch East India Company attacked the Spanish (who came to Keelung a few years before) 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.

Keelung City official mascot statue in Baifu Park 20160307
Keelung City official mascot statue in Baifu Park

In 1863, the Qing Empire opened up Keelung as a trading port. From 1 October 1884 to July 1885, the French occupied Keelung.

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

Festivals

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.

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Keelung para niños

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