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Kaohsiung

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This article is about the city. For the county, see Kaohsiung County.
Kaohsiung City (高雄市)
Official flag of Kaohsiung City
 Official seal of Kaohsiung City
Flag Seal
Nickname: "The Harbor City (港都)"
Coordinates: 22°38′N 120°16′E
Country Image:Flag of the Republic of China.svg Taiwan, Republic of China
Region Southern Taiwan
Capital Linya Dist(苓雅區)
Mayor Yeh Chu-lan(葉菊蘭)
(Acting)
Area  
 - City 153.59 km²  (59.3 sq mi)
Population  
 - City (March 2006) 1,510,577
 - Density 9,833/km² (25,467/sq mi)
The city has 11 districts.
Website: http://w4.kcg.gov.tw/~english/

Kaohsiung City (Traditional Chinese:高雄市, Tongyong Pinyin: Gaosyóng, Hanyu Pinyin: Gāoxióng, POJ: Ko-hiông; coordinates 22°38'N, 120°16'E) is a city located in southern Taiwan. Kaohsiung City is also the second largest city in Image:Flag of the Republic of China.svg Taiwan, with population around 1.510 Million. As one of two Central Municipalities under the administration of the Republic of China, Kaohsiung City is a second-level political division, with the same status as a province. Kaohsiung City is further separated into eleven districts, each has a district office which handles day-to-day businesses between the Kaohsiung City government and its citizens.

Kaohsiung is a major center for manufacturing, refining, and transportation. Unlike Taipei, the streets of Kaohsiung are wide and traffic is less congested than in Taipei. However, the air pollution around Kaohsiung is notoriously bad because of the heavy industry in the area. Kaohsiung is the major port through which most of Taiwan's oil is imported, which accounts for the large amount of heavy industry.

It is an export processing zone—producing aluminium, wood and paper products, fertilizers, cement, metals, machinery, and ships. With its harbor one of the four largest in the world, Kaohsiung is the center of Taiwan's shipbuilding industry, as well as home to a large ROC Navy base. Its subway system, and the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit (KMRT), should be running in 2006.

Kaohsiung City will host the 2009 World Games, a multisport event primarily composed of sports not featured in the Olympic Games.

Contents

[edit] Subdivisions

Image:Kaohsiung-Streets2006Oct.jpg
Image:Kaohsiung-Streets-night.jpg

Kaohsiung is divided into 11 administrative districts:

[edit] The Old City

  • Cijin (旗津區)
  • Gushan (鼓山區)
  • Yancheng (鹽埕區)
  • Zuoying (左營區)

[edit] Downtown

  • SinHsing (新興區)
  • Cianjin (前金區)
  • Lingya (苓雅區)

[edit] Other

  • Sanmin (三民區)
  • Nanzih (楠梓區)
  • Cianjhen (前鎮區)
  • Siaogang (小港區)

Two islands in the South China Sea are administered by Kaohsiung City and constitute part of Cijin District:

[edit] Geography

Image:Ddm 2004 027 Kaohsiung Harbor.jpg

Kaohsiung is located south of the Tropic of Cancer, the climate is tropical with average temperatures ranging from between 18.6 and 28.7 degrees Celsius, and average humidity between 60 and 81%. Average annual rainfall is 1134 mm.

The city sits on the southwestern coast of Taiwan facing the Taiwan Strait. The downtown areas are centered around Kaohsiung Harbor with the island of Chijin on the other side of the harbor acting as a natural breakwater. The Ai (Love) River flows into the harbor through the Old City and downtown. Zuoying Harbor lies to the north of Kaohsiung Harbor and the city center. Kaohsiung's natural landmarks include the coral mountains Shoushan and Banpingshan.

[edit] History.

See also: Political divisions of the Republic of China

Image:Tuntex Sky Tower night.JPG

Founded near the end of the Ming Dynasty in the 17th century, the village was known as Takau (打狗; POJ: Táⁿ-káu; pinyin: Dǎgǒu) in the Holo language spoken by most of the early immigrants. The name originates from the Makatao language of the local aboriginal tribe and translates as "bamboo forest". The Dutch established Fort Zeelandia in 1624 and defeated the local tribes in 1635. The Dutch were later expelled by the Kingdom of Tungning government founded by Ming Dynasty loyalists of Koxinga in 1662. Zheng Jing, the son of Koxinga, renamed the village Wan-nien-chow (萬年州) in 1664. The name was restored to Takau in the late 1670s, when the town expanded dramatically with immigrants from mainland China. In 1684 the Qing Dynasty re-annexed Taiwan and renamed the town Fongshan County (鳳山縣), considering it a part of Taiwan Prefecture. It was first opened as a port during the 1680s.

In 1895, Taiwan was ceded to Japan as part of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. It was during this period that the city's name was changed from 打狗 (Taiwanese: Táⁿ-káu) to 高雄 (romaji: Takao). While the sound remained more or less the same, the literal meaning of the name changed from "Beating Dog" to "High Hero". The Japanese developed Takao, especially the harbour. An important military base and industry center, the city was heavily bombed by Task Force 38 and FEAF during 1944-1945.

After control of Taiwan was handed to the Republic of China in 1945, the official romanization of the city name came to be "Kao-hsiung", based on the Wade-Giles romanization of the Standard Mandarin reading of the kanji name. Kaohsiung was upgraded to a municipality on July 1, 1979, by the Executive Yuan, which approved this proposal on November 19, 1978. The Kaohsiung Incident took place in Kaohsiung in 1979 December 10.

[edit] Politics

As the second largest city in Taiwan, the office of Mayor of Kaohsiung is viewed as a presitgious position, often at times seen as a counterweight to the Mayor of Taipei.

Kaohsiung is sometimes seen as the political mirror image of Taipei. While northern Taiwan leans towards the pan-blue coalition, southern Taiwan has traditionally leaned towards the pan-green coalition and Kaohsiung is no exception. Frank Hsieh of the DPP was reelected twice as Mayor of Kaohsiung, where he was widely credited with transforming the city from an industrial sprawl to an attractive modern metropolis. Hsieh resigned the office of mayor to take up the office of Premier of the Republic of China in 2005.

[edit] Transportation

Image:Kaohsiung-container-depot.jpg Image:Kaohsiung-container-port.jpg Image:Ddm 2004 006 Kaohsiung Cable Car on Rail.jpg

[edit] Port of Kaohsiung

Also known as the "Harbor Capital" of Taiwan, Kaohsiung has always had a strong link with the ocean and maritime transportation. Ferries play a key role in everyday transportation, and often play the role that buses do in other cities, especially for transportation crossing the harbor. The Port of Kaohsiung is also Taiwan's largest container port, and is one of the largest in the world by some measurements, ranking 6th in the world in terms of container throughput.<ref> (2005) Review of Maritime Transport 2004. New York: United Nations. ISBN 92-1-112645-2.</ref> However, Port of Kaohsiung is not officially a part of Kaohsiung City, instead it is administrated by the Port Authority of the Central Government. There is a push for Kaohsiung City to annex Port of Kaohsiung in order to facilitate better regional planning.

[edit] Kaohsiung International Airport

Kaohsiung City is also home to Taiwan's second largest airport, the Kaohsiung International Airport, which is located in the Siaogang District in southern Kaohsiung City.

[edit] Rapid Transit

A new metro system, the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit System is currently under construction; it expects to be open at the end of 2007. A light rail route that circles central Kaohsiung City will also be constructed when funding becomes available. In 2004, the Kaohsiung City Government and Siemens AG built a two-station circle route in Central Park, in order to demonstrate the feasibility of building a light rail system in Kaohsiung City. It was meant to alleviate some residents' concerns that light rail would negatively impact their surroundings, such as producing excessive noise and hindering normal traffic flow. This Siemens Combino vehicle was later used as part of the defunct M>Tram network in Melbourne, later tranferring to Yarra Trams. The demonstration light rail line is now closed.

[edit] Railroad

The city is served by the Taiwan Railway Administration's Western Line and Pingtung Line. Initially, Taiwan High Speed Rail will serve Kaohsiung City via its new Zuoying Station in northern Kaohsiung City when it opens in 2006. Taiwan High Speed Rail will later extend its southern terminus to the new Kaohsiung Station in central Kaohsiung City when funding becomes available. Both the new Zuoying Station and new Kaohsiung Station will be replacements of the old stations at roughly the same sites and they will be joint stations of the "Three Rails": Kaohsiung Rapid Transit, Taiwan Railway Administration, and Taiwan High Speed Rail. Additionally, the light rail route will serve the new Kaohsiung Station.

[edit] Attractions

Image:Ddm 2004 016 Love River.jpg

[edit] Education

[edit] Sister cities

[edit] See also

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[edit] References

<references/>

[edit] External links

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Administrative divisions of the Republic of China Image:Flag of the Republic of China.svg
Provinces (streamlined): Taiwan Province | Fuchien Province
Central Municipalities: Kaohsiung City | Taipei City
Counties (Taiwan Province): Changhua County | Chiayi County | Hsinchu County | Hualien County | Kaohsiung County | Miaoli County | Nantou County | Penghu County | Pingtung County | Taichung County | Tainan County | Taipei County | Taitung County | Taoyuan County | Yilan County | Yunlin County
Counties (Fuchien Province): Kinmen County | Lienchiang County
Provincial Cities (Taiwan Province): Chiayi City | Hsinchu City | Keelung City | Taichung City | Tainan City


Major cities of Greater China
People's Republic of China Direct-controlled municipalities (4) Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin
Sub-provincial cities (15) Changchun, Chengdu, Dalian, Guangzhou, Hangzhou,
Harbin, Jinan, Nanjing, Ningbo, Qingdao,
Shenyang, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Xiamen, Xi'an
Special administrative regions (2) Hong Kong, Macau
Republic of China (Taiwan) Direct-controlled municipalities (2) Kaohsiung, Taipei
cs:Kao-siung

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