Taipei

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia   (Redirected from Taipei City) Jump to: navigation, search Taipei 臺北 —  Special municipality  — 臺北市 · Taipei City Clockwise from top: Taipei skyline, Grand Hotel, FarEastern Plaza, National Palace Museum, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Taipei Metro (Jiantan Station) Flag Seal Nickname(s): The City of Azaleas Satellite image of Taipei City Coordinates: 25°02′N 121°38′E / 25.033°N 121.633°E / 25.033; 121.633Coordinates: 25°02′N 121°38′E / 25.033°N 121.633°E / 25.033; 121.633 Country  Republic of China (Taiwan) Region Northern Taiwan Settled 1709 City seat Xinyi District District-divisions 12 districts Government  • Type Taipei City Government  • Mayor Hau Lung-pin (KMT) Area  • Special municipality 271.7997 km2 (104.9425 sq mi)  • Water 2.7 km2 (1.0 sq mi)  1.0% Population (December 2010)  • Special municipality 2,618,772  • Density Bad rounding here9,600/km2 (Bad rounding here25,000/sq mi)  • Metro 7,000,000 - 9,000,000   (Metro article) (Ranked 4 of 22) Time zone CST (UTC+8) Postal code 100–116 Area code(s) (0)2 Districts 12 Bird Formosan Blue Magpie (Urocissa caerulea) Flower Azalea (Rhododendron nudiflorum) Tree Banyan (India laurel fig, Ficus microcarpa) Website taipei.gov.tw (English) The metropolitan area (or tri-cities) of Taipei includes Taipei, New Taipei, and Keelung. Taipei City Chinese name Traditional Chinese 臺北市 or 台北市 Simplified Chinese 台北市 Literal meaning Northern Taiwan City Transcriptions Hakka - Romanization Thòi-pet Sṳ Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Táiběi Shì - Tongyong Pinyin Táiběi Shìh - Wade–Giles T'ai²-pei³ Shih⁴ - Gwoyeu Romatzyh Tairbeei Shyh - MPS2 Táiběi Shr̀ - Bopomofo ㄊㄞˊ ㄅㄟˇ ㄕˋ Min - Hokkien POJ Tâi-pak Chhī - Taiwanese Romanization Tâi-pak Tshī - Min-dong BUC Dài-báe̤k Wu - Romanization de平 poh入 zy上 Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping toi⁴ bak¹ si5 Japanese name Kanji 臺北市 Kana たいほくし Transcriptions - Romanization Taihoku shi

Taipei City (/ˌtaɪˈpeɪ/; Chinese: 臺北市 or 台北市; pinyin: Táiběi Shì; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tâi-pak Chhī) is the capital of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Situated at the northern tip of Taiwan, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River; it is about 25 km (16 mi) southwest of Keelung, a port city on the Pacific Ocean. It lies in the Taipei Basin, an ancient lakebed bounded by the two relatively narrow valleys of the Keelung and Xindian rivers, which join to form the Tamsui River along the city's western border. The city proper (Taipei City) is home to an estimated 2,618,772 people. Taipei, New Taipei, and Keelung together form the Taipei metropolitan area. The overall area serves a population of 6,900,273 administered under three municipal governing bodies. "Taipei" sometimes refers to the whole metropolitan area, while "Taipei City" refers to the city proper. Taipei City proper is surrounded on all sides by New Taipei.

Taipei is the political, economic, and cultural centre of Taiwan. Considered to be a global city, Taipei is part of a major industrial area. Railways, high speed rail, highways, airports, and bus lines connect Taipei with all parts of the island. The city is served by two airports – Taipei Songshan and Taiwan Taoyuan.

Taipei was founded in the early 18th century and became an important center for overseas trade in the 19th century. The Qing Dynasty of China made Taipei the provincial capital of Taiwan in 1886. Japan acquired Taiwan in 1895 after the First Sino-Japanese War. Taiwan became a colony of Imperial Japan with Taipei as its capital. Taiwan's Japanese rulers embarked on an extensive program of advanced urban planning that featured extensive railroad links. A number of Taipei landmarks and cultural institutions date from this period. The Republic of China took over the island in 1945 following Japanese surrender. After losing Mainland China to the Chinese Communist Party in the Chinese Civil War, the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) relocated the ROC government to Taiwan and declared Taipei the provisional capital of the Republic of China in December 1949. In 1990 Taipei provided the backdrop for the Wild Lily student rallies that moved Taiwanese society from one-party rule to multi-party democracy. The city is today home to Taiwan's democratically elected national government.