Kaohsiung is a city located in southern Taiwan. Kaohsiung City is also the most dense and the second largest city in Taiwan, with a population around 1.51 million. 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.
Located in the southern park of Taiwan, the city of Kaohsiung is the island's largest industrial center. It has stayed abreast of Taiwan's recent progress and prosperity, expanding and modernizing, the city strides into the 21st century as a newly emerging international metropolis.
Kaohsiung City is a second-level political division, with the same status as a province. The city is further divided into eleven districts, each with a district office that handles day-to-day businesses between the Kaohsiung City government and its citizens.
Beginning centuries ago, Kaoshiung was called 'Dagou' or 'Dahgu,' Transliterated from the name of local aborigines. Disturbed by the violence of pirates, in 1563, the "Takuo" tribe eventually moved to the site of present-day Pingtung City. This name persisted until 1920, when the city's name was changed to Kaohsiung.
Kaohsiung is a major center for manufacturing, refining, and transportation. 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 Republic of China Navy base.
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 Democratic Progressive Party was reelected twice as Mayor of Kaohsiung, where he was widely credited for transforming the city from an industrial sprawl into an attractive modern metropolis.
Intensive settlement began in earnest in the late 17th century, when the place was known as Ch'i-hou. Opened in 1863 as a treaty port, subsidiary to the port of Anping farther north on the coast, Kaohsiung became a customs station in 1864 and then gradually became an important port for the southern Taiwan coastal plain.
Kaohsiung's real economic and strategic importance began under the Japanese occupation (1895–1945). The Japanese needed a good port in southern Taiwan to serve those designated areas that were to become a major source of raw materials and food for Japan, and Kaohsiung was chosen. It became the southern terminus of the main north-south railway line, and from 1904 to 1907 extensive harbor works were undertaken. In 1920 the port was given the name Takao and the area became a municipality in 1920.
Alphabetical Listings of Hotels in Kaohsiung
RECOMMENDED HOTELS WITH DISCOUNT
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