Port city (pop., 2002 est.: 1,504,061), southwestern Taiwan.
It is Taiwan's leading port and a major industrial centre. Settled late in the Ming dynasty , it became a treaty port in 1863 and a customs station in 1864. It grew in importance during the Japanese occupation (18951945) and served as the southern terminus of the main north-south railway line. The city was named Takao by the Japanese and was made a municipality in 1920. It came under Chinese rule in 1945.