Port of Kaohsiung Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Port of Kaohsiung 高雄港
Port of Kaohsiung
Location
Country	Taiwan
Location	Kaohsiung
Details
Opened	1858
Operated by	Port of Kaohsiung Branch, Taiwan International Ports Corporation
Statistics
Annual container volume	9.47 million TEU (2005)

The Port of Kaohsiung (also called POK) is the biggest harbor in Taiwan. It's a very busy place! This port handles millions of large shipping containers every year. In 2015, it moved about 10.26 million containers.

You can find the Port of Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan, right next to Kaohsiung City. It's surrounded by several city areas like Gushan and Cijin. A company called Taiwan International Ports Corporation runs the port. They are in charge of making sure everything works smoothly.

History of Kaohsiung Port
Images for kids
See also

History of Kaohsiung Port

The first entrance to the port

The second entrance to the port

The Port of Kaohsiung started as a natural lagoon. Over hundreds of years, it slowly grew into the modern harbor we see today.

Early Beginnings

In the 1500s, some villages were already built along the coast of what is now Kaohsiung. The local people called this area "Takau."

In the 1620s, explorers from the Dutch East India Company arrived in Takau. They began to develop the lagoon. The port was known as "Takau Port" back then. It grew steadily during the time when the Dutch ruled, then under Koxinga, and later during the early Qing Dynasty.

Opening to Trade

In 1858, the Qing Dynasty lost a war called the Second Opium War to France and Britain. Because of this, they had to sign an agreement called the Treaties of Tianjin. This agreement said that five ports in Taiwan had to open for foreign trade.

Takao Port was one of these five ports. It officially opened to traders from Western countries in 1864. Later, in 1895, the Qing government gave Taiwan to Japan after losing the First Sino-Japanese War.

Modern Development

When Japan took control of Taiwan, their government decided to make the port much bigger and more modern. They planned huge projects to develop the harbor.

The Japanese built the port in three main steps. The first step was finished in 1908. The second step was done in 1912. The third step was started but stopped halfway because World War II began. During the war, the port was heavily bombed by the Allied forces.

After World War II, the government of the Republic of China continued to develop the port. A "second port" area was built in 1975. This was done by breaking through the land between Siaogang and Cijin.

Near the southern entrance of this second port, there is now a museum and a park. The museum tells the story of a large community that used to live there. They had to move when the port expanded.