New Taipei City

New Taipei City is a special municipality located in northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 4,004,367 as of January 2023, making it the most populous city in Taiwan, and also the second largest special municipality by area, behind Kaohsiung. New Taipei City borders Keelung to the northeast, Yilan County to the southeast, and Taoyuan to the southwest, and completely encloses the city of Taipei. Banqiao District is its municipal seat and biggest commercial area.

New Taipei City
新北市
Clockwise from top:
Panoramic view of the skyline of New Taipei City and the Mount Guanyin, Shifen Waterfall, TRA Pingxi Line, Bitan Suspension Bridge, Sunset of Tamsui, Jiufen Old Street at night and New Taipei City Government
Etymology: Chinese: 新北; lit. 'New north'
Coordinates: 25°00′40″N 121°26′45″E
Country Republic of China (Taiwan)
Part of Taihoku Prefecture17 April 1895
Taipei County7 January 1946
Special municipality status25 December 2010
SeatBanqiao District
Districts
Government
  Body
  MayorHou Yu-ih (KMT)
Area
  Special municipality2,052.57 km2 (792.50 sq mi)
  Urban
1,140 km2 (440 sq mi)
  Rank9 out of 22
Population
 (January 2023)
  Special municipality4,004,367
  Rank1 out of 22
  Density2,000/km2 (5,100/sq mi)
  Urban
8,535,000
  Urban density7,500/km2 (19,000/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+8 (National Standard Time)
Postal code
207, 208, 220 – 224, 226 – 228, 231 – 239, 241 – 244, 247 – 249, 251 – 253
Area code(0)2
ISO 3166 codeTW-NWT
Websiteforeigner.ntpc.gov.tw (in English)
New Taipei City
Chinese新北
Literal meaningNew North City

Before the Spanish and Dutch started arriving in Taiwan and set up small outposts in Tamsui in 1626, the area of present-day New Taipei City was mostly inhabited by Taiwanese indigenous peoples, mainly the Ketagalan people. From the late Qing era, the port of Tamsui was opened up to foreign traders as one of the treaty ports after the Qing dynasty of China signed the Treaty of Tientsin in June 1858. By the 1890s, the port of Tamsui accounted for 63 percent of the overall trade for entire Taiwan, port towns in the middle course of Tamsui River had also developed into bustling business and transportation centers. During the Japanese rule of Taiwan, the entire area of New Taipei City was organized as part of the Taihoku Prefecture. After the Republic of China took control of Taiwan in 1945, the present-day New Taipei City was designated on 7 January 1946 as Taipei County in Taiwan Province, which was constituted from the former Taihoku Prefecture, but not including present-day divisions of Taipei City, Keelung and Yilan County, the latter which became detached from Taipei County on 10 October 1950. Its county status remained until 25 December 2010 when it was promoted to special municipal status and renamed as "New Taipei City".

New Taipei City is a conurbation which was merged from numbers of regiopolis, suburban business districts or commuter towns to form one continuous polycentric urban area. Together with cities of Taipei and Keelung, New Taipei City constitutes most of the Taipei-Keelung metropolitan area which spans from the island's northern coastline to the mountainous Xueshan Range, and encompasses the entire Taipei Basin within its boundaries. The city is well-connected to other major cities in proximity or other parts of the island by various public transports such as Metro services, high-speed rail and an airport line commuting to Taoyuan International Airport, a major hub airport in northern Taiwan. The Port of Taipei, an artificial international seaport, is situated in the northwestern coast of the city in Bali District.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.