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Keelung City (Chinese: 基隆, Pinyin: Jilong, POJ: Ke-lâng) is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. It borders Taipei County and forms the Taipei-Keelung metropolitan area, along with the City and County of Taipei. Nicknamed the Rainy Port for its frequent rain and maritime role, the city is Taiwan's second largest seaport (after Kaohsiung. Keelung is currently administered as a provincial city of Taiwan Province, Republic of China (commonly known as Taiwan).

Contents 1 Name of City 2 History 3 Administration 4 Population growth 5 Sister cities 6 See also 7 Sources and external links

The city of Keelung was known as Kelung to the western world during the 19th century. Under Japanese rule, the city was known to the west as Kirun. To the Taiwanese people, the city is known in the Taiwanese language as Ke-lâng, traditionally associated with the Chinese characters 雞籠, meaning rooster cage. The locals continue to call the city Ke-lâng despite the fact that the two characters were subsequently changed in 1875 to the more auspicious but differently pronunced 基隆, meaning prosperous base. In Mandarin, both 雞籠 and 基隆 are pronunced as Jilong (in Hanyu Pinyin; Chi-lung in Wade-Giles).

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. The Ketagalan people were the first inhabitants there, and Ke-lâng was likely derived from Ketagalan.

Keelung was first inhabited by the Ketagalan, a tribe of Taiwanese aborigine. Its first contact with the west was the Spanish. From 1642 to 1661 and 1663-1668 Keelung was under Dutch control. The Dutch East India Company attacked the Spanish 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.

In 1863, the Qing Empire opened up Keelung as a trading port.

From 1 October 1884 to July 1885, the French occupied Keelung (from 29 March 1885 the Pescadores too); the military governor was Admiral Amédée Courbet (b. 1827 - d. 1885).

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.

Keelung administers seven districts:

Hanzi	Tongyong	Pinyin	Wade-Giles
中正	Jhongjheng	Zhōngzhèng	Chung-cheng
中山	Jhongshan	Zhōngshān	Chung-shan
仁愛	Ren-ai	Rén'ài	Jen-ai
信義	Sinyi	Xìnyì	Hsin-yi
安樂	Anle	Ānlè	An-le
暖暖	Nuannuan	Nuǎnnuǎn	Nuan-nuan
七堵	Cidu	Qīdǔ	Ch'i-tu

• 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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• Davao City, Philippines
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• Taipei County
• Taipei City (Municipality)
• Kaohsiung City (Municipality)
• List of cities in the Republic of China (Taiwan)
• Political divisions of the Republic of China

Find more information on Keelung by searching Wikipedia's sister projects
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• Keelung travel guide from Wikitravel
• Keelung City Government Official Wesite
• Keelung Harbor Bureau Official Wesite
• WorldStatesmen.org - Taiwan

v • d • e Administrative divisions of the Republic of China (Current jurisdiction)
Provinces (streamlined)	Taiwan Province · Fuchien Province
Central Municipalities	Taipei City · Kaohsiung City
Counties (Taiwan Province)	Taipei County · Taoyuan County · Hsinchu County · Miaoli County · Taichung County · Changhua County · Nantou County · Yunlin County · Chiayi County · Tainan County · Kaohsiung County · Pingtung County · Yilan County · Hualien County · Taitung County · Penghu County
Counties (Fuchien Province)	Kinmen County · Lienchiang County
Provincial Cities (Taiwan Province)	Keelung City · Hsinchu City · Taichung City · Chiayi City · Tainan City

Coordinates: 25°08′N, 121°44′E