Taipei City (Traditional Chinese: ???; Simplified Chinese: ???; Hanyu Pinyin: Táibei Shì; Tongyong Pinyin: Táibei Shìh; Taiwanese: Tâi-pak-chhi) is the de facto capital city of the Republic of China on Taiwan. It is Republic of China's center of politics, commercial, mass media, education, and pop culture, and today also is widely considered to be one of the "Gamma world cities". ---------------------------------------------------- The City of Taipei, Taipei County surrounding it, and nearby Keelung City form Taipei metropolitan area but are administered under different local government bodies. Taipei City is a special municipality administered directly under the ROC central government, while Taipei County and Keelung City are administered as part of Taiwan Province. Therefore, although Taipei is used to refer the whole metropolitan area, Taipei City specifically means the city proper only. -------------------------------------------------- According to the census data collected in July 2006, the total population in Taipei City (excluding Taipei County) is 2,625,757. The major industries in the city include electrical and electronic equipment, textiles, metals, ship-building, and motorcycles.-------------------------------Taipei City is located in the Taipei Basin (????) in northern Taiwan and is bordered on the south by the Sindian (Hsintien) River (???), and the Tamsui River (???) on the west. The northern districts of Shilin and Beitou extend north of the Keelung River (???) and are bordered by Yangmingshan National Park (???????). Because of its location in a valley, the city commonly experiences high temperatures and humidity during the summer months, a problem enhanced by the high population density and the use of air conditioning. The climate is subtropical.-------------------------------------As settlement for losing the Sino-Japanese War, China ceded the entire island of Taiwan to Japan in 1895. After the Japanese take-over, Taipei, called Taihoku in Japanese, emerged as the political center of the Japanese Colonial Government. Much of the architecture of Taipei dates from the period of Japanese rule, including the Presidential Building which was the Office of the Taiwan Governor-General (?????). -------------------------------------------------------- During the Japanese rule, Taihoku was incorporated in 1920 as part of Taihoku Prefecture (???). It included Bangka, Dadaocheng, and Chengnei among other small settlements. The eastern village Matsuyama (???) was annexed into Taihoku City in 1938. Upon the Japanese defeat in the Pacific War and its consequent surrender in August 1945, Taiwan was taken over by Chinese troops. Subsequently, a temporary Office of the Taiwan Province Administrative Governor (?????????) was established in Taipei City. ------------------------------------------------ On December 7, 1949, the Kuomintang government under Chiang Kai-shek established Taipei as the provisional capital of the ROC after the Communists forced them to flee mainland China. Taipei was also the capital of Taiwan Province (???) until the 1960s when the provincial administration was moved to Jhongsing Village (????) in central Taiwan. (The PRC does not recognize this move and still regards Taipei as the provincial capital of Taiwan.) ------------------------------------------------------ As approved on December 30, 1966 by Executive Yuan, Taipei became a centrally administered municipality on July 1, 1967. In the following year, Taipei City expanded again by annexing Shilin, Beitou, Neihu, Nangang, Jingmei, and Muzha. In 1990, 16 districts in Taipei City were consolidated into the current 12 districts.--------------Taipei 101 is a 101-floor landmark skyscraper located in Taipei, Taiwan. Designed by C.Y. Lee & Partners and constructed by KTRT Joint Venture, it is currently the tallest building in the world by three of the four standards designated by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.