Tainan

Tainan City
臺南市[I]
Tâi-lâm
Clockwise from top: Downtown Tainan, statue of Yoichi Hatta, THSR Tainan Station, danzai noodles, Fort Provintia, beehive firework in Yanshuei
Clockwise from top: Downtown Tainan, statue of Yoichi Hatta, THSR Tainan Station, danzai noodles, Fort Provintia, beehive firework in Yanshuei
Flag of Tainan City
Official seal of Tainan City
Etymology: pinyin: Táinán; lit. 'Taiwan south'
Nickname(s): 
The Phoenix City (鳳凰城),[1] The Prefecture City (府城), Nanying (南瀛)
Map
Location of Tainan City
Country Republic of China (Taiwan)
Formed under Fort Zeelandia1624
Capital of Kingdom of Tungning1661
Tainan Prefecture1895
Provincial city status25 October 1945
Upgraded to special municipality and merger with Tainan County25 December 2010
SeatAnping, Xinying[2]
Districts
Government
 • Body
 • MayorHuang Wei-cher (DPP)
Area
 • Special municipality2,191.65 km2 (846.20 sq mi)
 • Urban
259 km2 (100 sq mi)
 • Rank7 out of 22
Population
 (March 2023)[5]
 • Special municipality1,856,642
 • Rank6 of 22
 • Density850/km2 (2,200/sq mi)
 • Urban1,205,000
 • Urban density4,700/km2 (12,000/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+8 (National Standard Time)
Postal code
700–745
Area code(0)6
ISO 3166 codeTW-TNN
BirdPheasant-tailed jacana
FlowerPhalaenopsis
TreeDelonix regia
Websitewww.tainan.gov.tw/en/ Edit this at Wikidata (in English)
Tainan City
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese臺南
Simplified Chinese台南
Japanese name
Hiraganaたいなんし
Katakanaタイナンシ
Kyūjitai臺南市
Shinjitai台南市

Tainan (/ˈtˈnɑːn/),[7] officially Tainan City,[I] is a special municipality in southern Taiwan facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and commonly called the "prefectural capital"[II] for its over 260 years of history as the capital of Taiwan under the Dutch rule, the Kingdom of Tungning and later Qing dynasty rule until 1887. Tainan's complex history of comebacks, redefinitions and renewals inspired its popular nickname "the Phoenix City".[8] Tainan is classified as a "Sufficiency"-level global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.[9]

As Taiwan's oldest urban area with 400 years history, Tainan was initially established by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) as a ruling and trading base called Fort Zeelandia during the Dutch colonial rule on the island. After Koxinga seized the Dutch fort in 1662, Tainan remained as the capital of the Tungning Kingdom ruled by House of Koxinga until 1683 and afterwards the capital of Taiwan Prefecture under the Qing dynasty until 1887, when the new provincial capital was first moved to present-day Taichung, and then to Taipei eventually. Following the cession of Taiwan, Tainan became the second capital of the short-lived Republic of Formosa from June to October in 1895 until the Capitulation of Tainan by the invading forces of Japanese empire. Under Japanese rule, the city was the seat of Tainan Prefecture. After the surrender of Japan in World War II, the Republic of China took control of Taiwan in 1945 and reorganized the city as a provincial city in Taiwan Province; a role that would remain in place until 2010 when the city was merged with nearby Tainan County into a new special municipality.

Tainan has been historically regarded as one of the oldest cities in Taiwan, and its former name, Tayouan, has been claimed to be the origin of the name "Taiwan". It is also one of Taiwan's cultural capitals, for its rich folk cultures including the famous local street food and traditional cuisine, extensively preserved Taoist rites and other living local traditions covering everything from child birth to funerals. The city houses the first Confucian school–temple in Taiwan, built in 1665,[10] the remains of the Eastern and Southern gates of the old city, and countless other historical monuments. Tainan claims more Buddhist and Taoist temples than any other city in Taiwan.


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  1. ^ "Tainan University of Technology official site". Archived from the original on 2012-06-18. Retrieved 2007-08-04.
  2. ^ 臺南市政府全球資訊網. Tainan.gov.tw. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Retrieved 2013-01-23.
  3. ^ 《中華民國統計資訊網》縣市重要統計指標查詢系統網 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 12 June 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  4. ^ "Demographia World Urban Areas PDF (April 2016)" (PDF). Demographia. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 May 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  5. ^ 臺南市統計月報 (PDF) (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  6. ^ "Demographia World Urban Areas PDF" (PDF). Demographia. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-05-03. Retrieved 2019-11-30.
  7. ^ "Tainan". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
  8. ^ Chang, Winnie (April 1994). "Rise of the Phoenix?". Taiwan Today. Archived from the original on 2012-07-28. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
  9. ^ "The World According to GaWC 2020". GaWC – Research Network. Globalization and World Cities. Archived from the original on 24 August 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  10. ^ "Tainan Confucian Temple". Council for Cultural Affairs. Archived from the original on 2008-05-01. Retrieved 2008-08-19.

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