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This article is about the capital city of the Republic of China (Taiwan). For the county, see Taipei County. Taipei City (; Taiwanese: Tâi-pak-chhī) is the de facto capital city of the Republic of China on Taiwan. It is Republic of China's center of politics, commercial, mass media, education, and pop culture, and today also is widely considered to be one of the "Gamma world cities". The City of Taipei, Taipei County surrounding it, and nearby Keelung City form Taipei metropolitan area but are administered under different local government bodies. Taipei City is a special municipality administered directly under the ROC central government, while Taipei County and Keelung City are administered as part of Taiwan Province. Therefore, although Taipei is used to refer the whole metropolitan area, Taipei City specifically means the city proper only. According to the census data collected in July 2006, the total population in Taipei City (excluding Taipei County) is 2,625,757. The major industries in the city include electrical and electronic equipment, textiles, metals, ship-building, and motorcycles. Administrative divisions Taipei City administers twelve districts (區): Geography Taipei City is located in the Taipei Basin (台北盆地) in northern Taiwan and is bordered on the south by the Sindian (Hsintien) River (新店溪), and the Danshuei (Tamsui) River (淡水河) on the west. The northern districts of Shilin and Beitou extend north of the Keelung River (基隆河) and are bordered by Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園). Because of its location in a valley, the city commonly experiences high temperatures and humidity during the summer months, a problem enhanced by the high population density and the use of air conditioning. The climate is subtropical. History The region known as the Taipei basin was home to Ketagalan tribes before the 18th century. Han Chinese began to settle in Taipei Basin in 1709. In the late 19th century, the Taipei area, where the major Han settlements in northern Taiwan and one of the designated foreign trade port, Tamsui, were located, gained economic importance due to the boosting foreign trade, especially that of tea exportation. In 1875, the northern part of Taiwan was separated from Taiwan Prefecture (臺灣府) and incorporated into the new Taipei Prefecture (臺北府). Having been established adjoining the flourishing townships of Bangkah and Toa-tiu-tiann, the new prefectural capital was known as Chengnei (城內), "the inner city", and government buildings were erected there. From 1875 (during the Qing Dynasty) until the beginning of Japanese rule in 1895, Taipei was part of Danshui County (淡水縣) of Taipei Prefecture and the prefectural capital. Taipei remained a temporary provincial capital before it officially became the capital of Taiwan in 1894. As settlement for losing the Sino-Japanese War, China ceded the entire island of Taiwan to Japan in 1895. After the Japanese take-over, Taipei, called '''Taihoku''' in Japanese, emerged as the political center of the Japanese Colonial Government. Much of the architecture of Taipei dates from the period of Japanese rule, including the Presidential Building which was the Office of the Taiwan Governor-General (台灣總督府). During the Japanese rule, Taihoku was incorporated in 1920 as part of Taihoku Prefecture (台北州). It included Bangka, Dadaocheng, and Chengnei among other small settlements. The eastern village Matsuyama (松山庄) was annexed into Taihoku City in 1938. Upon the Japanese defeat in the Pacific War and its consequent surrender in August 1945, Taiwan was taken over by Chinese troops. Subsequently, a temporary Office of the Taiwan Province Administrative Governor (臺灣省行政長官公署) was established in Taipei City. In 1949, the Communists forced the Kuomintang government under Chiang Kai-shek to flee mainland China and establish Taipei as the provisional capital of the ROC. Taipei was also the capital of Taiwan Province (臺灣省) until the 1960s when the provincial administration was moved to Jhongsing Village (中興新村) in central Taiwan. (The PRC does not recognize this move and still regards Taipei as the provincial capital of Taiwan.) As approved on December 30, 1966 by Executive Yuan, Taipei became a centrally administered municipality on July 1, 1967. In the following year, Taipei City expanded again by annexing Shilin, Beitou, Neihu, Nangang, Jingmei, and Muzha. In 1990, 16 districts in Taipei City were consolidated into the current 12 districts. Government and politics
Festivities and events There are many yearly festivals that commonly are held in Taipei including the Lantern Festival and Double Tenth Day. A common location for festivities in Taipei is the square in front of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Recently, some of the major festivals normally held in Taipei (specifically, the Double Tenth Day fireworks) have been moved to others cities in Taiwan. Education Universities Taipei currently has eighteen universities: Colleges In addition, there are six colleges: Chinese Language schools Major Chinese Language schools: Museums Libraries Transportation
Tourism
Pronunciation note The spelling Taipei derives from the Wade-Giles romanization T'ai-pei, in which "p" is pronounced like the English "p" in the word "spay" (the unaspirated "p" may sound like a "b" to the layman). Both Hanyu Pinyin, which is used both in the PRC and is mandated by KMT Taipei City government, and Tongyong Pinyin, which is mandated by the DPP central government, reflect this pronunciation, romanizing Taipei as Taibei, a spelling that is closer to the Mandarin pronunciation. However, this romanization is very rarely seen. Though Taipei City has converted many of its street signs to Hanyu Pinyin, it has retained the original spelling of "Taipei" as an exception since this form has been well-known and heavily used. Sister cities and regions relationships The following places are sister cities to Taipei City: The large number of sister cities, possibly the most of any city, may be due to the Republic of China's lack of formal diplomatic relations with most states in the world, necessitating international relations to be performed at the municipal level. Gallery Image:BMAnniversary ROC Taipei 101.jpg|Taipei City at night, with Taipei 101 at the far left side. Image:Taipei-TRTS-Shilin.jpg|A view of Taipei by day, with Shilin Night Market to the right, and the Jiantan metro station in the middle-left. Image:CKS_Memorial_Hall.jpg|The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei City Image:Chiang_Kai-shek_Memorial_Hall.jpg|The entrance gate to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Image:Liyu 2004c The Grand Hotel Taipei.jpg|The Grand Hotel of Taipei Image:Seven_star_mountain_Taiwan_with_hot_spring.JPG|The Seven Star Mountain with hot springs on the side in Yangmingshan National Park. Image:ZhongxiaoFuxingMRT.jpg|The ZhongxiaoFuxing Station, Taipei Rapid Transit System Image:昆陽站一號出口.jpg|The Kunyang station exit N° 1, Taipei Rapid Transit System Image:Taipei_View.jpg|View of Taipei from Taipei 101 Image:Taipei_City_Hall_(0097).JPG|The Taipei City Hall in Xinyi District See also | |||||||||||||
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