KAOHSIUNG, TAIWAN
Date Modified: 06.28.2008
Content: Kaohsiung - General Info and Links
Source: Wikipedia
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Area: 153.5927 km2
Population: 1,510,441
Population Density: 9833/km2
Districts: 11
Kaohsiung is the second largest city in Taiwan
(population around 1,450,000) with eleven districts. Kaohsiung
can refer to either Kaohsiung City, which is administered directly
by the central government of the Republic of China, or Kaohsiung
County, which is administered as part of Taiwan Province. This
article is about Kaohsiung City.
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, the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit (KMRT), should be running
in 2007.
Kaohsiung will host the 2009 World Games, a multisport event primarily
composed of sports not featured in the Olympic Games.
>> Subdivisions
Kaohsiung is divided into 11 administrative districts:
The Old City
Cijin
Gushan
Yancheng
Zuoying
Downtown
Sinsing
Cianjin
Lingya
Other
Sanmin
Nanzih
Cianjhen
Siaogang
>>Geography
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 Panpinshan.
>> History
Founded near the end of the Ming Dynasty, the city grew up from
a small village called Tá?-káu in the Holo language
spoken by most of the early immigrants (pronounced "Dagou"
in Mandarin). The name originates from Makatao, the name of a
local tribe and meaning "bamboo forest" in the local
tribe's language. The Dutch established Fort Zeelandia in 1624,
defeated local tribes around here in 1635, but were expelled by
Koxinga in 1662. Under Zheng Jing's (son of Koxinga) control the
area was named Wan-nien-chow in 1664. Following a further name
change to Tá?-káu in the late 1670s, the town grew
dramatically with immigrants from mainland China. In 1684 the
Qing conquered Taiwan and renamed the town Fengshan County, 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 changed from Tá?-káu to Takao (in Japanese).
While the sound remained more or less the same, the old character
meaning of "Beating Dog" was replaced with the more
elegant-sounding "High Hero". 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 Mandarin Chinese reading.
The Japanese developed Kaohsiung, especially the harbour. Kaohsiung
was upgraded to a municipality on July 1, 1979, by the Executive
Yuan, which approved this proposal on November 19, 1978. The famous-in-hindsight
Kaohsiung Incident of December 1979 occurred in the city.
>> Politics
As the second largest city in Taiwan, the office of Mayor of Kaohsiung
is viewed as a presitgious position, oftentimes 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.
>> Transportation
Light Rail Demonstration, Central Park, Kaohsiung City 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. 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.
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.
A new metro system, the Kaohsiung Rapid
Transit System is currently under construction. A light rail route
that circles central Kaohsiung City will also be constructed when
funding becomes available. In 2004, Kaohsiung City Government,
joining with 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 and alleviate some residents' concerns
of light rail's negative impacts such as noise and traffic.
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 2007. 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 Staion 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.
>> Attractions
Sailboats on the Ai River
Ai River (Love River)
Chihou Battery
Cijin Ferry
Current host of the World Pool Championships
Fengshan Old City
Fo Guang Shan
Liouho Night Market
Old Kaohsiung Railway Station
Sizihwan Scenic Area
Tuntex Sky Tower
Zuoying's Lotus Lake
>>Education
National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology
National Kaohsiung Marine University
National Kaohsiung Normal University
National Kaohsiung University of Applied Science
National Sun Yat-sen University
National University of Kaohsiung
The Kaohsiung Municipal Kaohsiung Senior High School
TEACH ENGLISH
IN TAIWAN - Browse
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MORE INFO
Kaohsiung City Government Website
http://w4.kcg.gov.tw/~english/
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