"Capital of Taiwan" redirects here.

For the capital of streamlined Taiwan Province, see Zhongxing

New Village.
"Capital of the Republic of China" redirects here. For historical capitals of the Republic of China,
see Nanjing and Chongqing. For the capital of the People's Republic of China, see Beijing.
This article is about the capital city. For other uses, see Taipei (disambiguation).

Taipei

臺北市

Special municipality

Taipei City

Clockwise from top: Taipei skyline with the Taipei 101 in the
background, Grand Hotel, Far Eastern Plaza, National Palace
Museum, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Jiantan Station
 Flag

Etymology: pinyin: Táiběi; literally: "Taiwan north"

Nickname(s):

The City of Azaleas

Coordinates: 25°04′N 121°31′ECoordinates: 25°04′N 121°

31′E

Country Republic of China (Taiwan)

Region Northern Taiwan

Settled 1709

Seat Xinyi District

Districts
12 districts[show]

Government
• Mayor Ko Wen-je (Ind.)
• Council Taipei City Council
Area
[1][2]

• Special 271.80 km2 (104.94 sq mi)

municipality
• Water 2.7 km2 (1.0 sq mi) 1.0%
• Urban 1,140 km2 (440 sq mi)
Area rank 16 out of 22

Population
(2018)
• Special 2,674,063
municipality
• Rank 4 out of 22
• Density 9,800/km2 (25,000/sq mi)
• Urban 8,500,000
[3]

• Urban density 7,500/km2 (19,000/sq mi)

Time zone UTC+8 (National Standard Time)

Postal code 100–116

Area code(s) (0)2
ISO 3166 code TW-TPE

Bird Formosan blue magpie(Urocissa

caerulea)
Flower Azalea (Rhododendron nudiflorum)
Tree Banyan (India laurel fig, Ficus
microcarpa)

Website english.gov.taipei (in English)

Taipei City

"Taipei" in Chinese characters:

the top spelling is Traditional-only; the bottom spelling can be

both Traditional and Simplified

 Chinese name

Traditional Chinese 臺北市 or 台北市

Simplified Chinese 台北市

Literal meaning "Tai[wan] North"

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Japanese name

Kanji 台北市

Kana タイペイし、たいほくし(old)

Kyūjitai 臺北市

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Taipei (/ˌtaɪˈpeɪ/;[4] Hokkien POJ: Tâi-pak), officially known as Taipei City, is the capital[a] and
a special municipality of Taiwan (officially the Republic of China, "ROC"). Sitting at the northern
tip of the island, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about
25 km (16 mi) southwest of the northern port city Keelung. Most of the city is located in the Taipei
Basin, an ancient lakebed. The basin is bounded by the relatively narrow valleys of
the Keelung and Xindian rivers, which join to form the Tamsui River along the city's western
border.[5]

The city proper is home to an estimated population of 2,704,810 (2015), [6] forming the core part of
the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, which includes the nearby cities of New Taipei and
Keelung with a population of 7,047,559, [6][7] the 40th most-populous urban area in the world—
roughly one-third of Taiwanese citizens live in the metro district. The name "Taipei" can refer
either to the whole metropolitan area or the city proper.

Taipei is the political, economic, educational, and cultural center of Taiwan and one of the major
hubs in East Asia. Considered to be a global city and rated as an Alpha City by GaWC,[8] Taipei is
part of a major high-tech industrial area.[9] Railways, high-speed rail, highways, airports, and bus
lines connect Taipei with all parts of the island. The city is served by two airports – Taipei
Songshan and Taiwan Taoyuan. Taipei is home to various world-famous architectural or cultural
landmarks, which include Taipei 101, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Dalongdong Baoan
Temple, Hsing Tian Kong, Lungshan Temple of Manka, National Palace Museum, Presidential
Office Building, Taipei Guest House, Ximending, and several night markets dispersed throughout
the city. Natural features such as Maokong, Yangmingshan, and hot springs are also well known
to international visitors.

In English-language news reports the name Taipei often serves as a synecdoche referring to
Taiwan's national government. Due to the ambiguous political status of Taiwan internationally, the
term Chinese Taipei is also sometimes pressed into service as a synonym for the entire country,
as when Taiwan's government representatives participate in international organizations or
Taiwan's athletes participate in international sporting events.