The Taipei Basin () is a geographic region in northern

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

. It is the largest basin in Taiwan. The basin is bounded by the Yangmingshan to the north, the

Linkou Plateau The Linkou Plateau () is a plateau located along the southwest side of the Tamsui River, between Linkou District, New Taipei and Guishan District, Taoyuan, in northern Taiwan. It borders the Taipei Basin in the east, the Taoyuan Plateau in the so ...

to the west, and the Ridge of

Xueshan Range The Xueshan Range is a mountain range in northern Taiwan. It faces the Chungyang Range on the southeast. The tallest peak of Xueshan Range is Xueshan ("Snowy Mountain"), which has a height of . Shei-Pa National Park is located around the peaks ...

to the southeast. The shape of the basin is close to a triangle. The three vertices are Nangang, Huilong of Xinzhuang, and Guandu of

Beitou Beitou District is the northernmost of the twelve districts of Taipei City, Taiwan. The historical spelling of the district is Peitou. The name originates from the Ketagalan word ''Kipatauw'', meaning witch. Beitou is the most mountainous a ...

. The main rivers in the Taipei Basin include the

Tamsui Tamsui District (Hokkien POJ: ''Tām-chúi''; Hokkien Tâi-lô: ''Tām-tsuí''; Mandarin Pinyin: ''Dànshuǐ'') is a seaside district in New Taipei, Taiwan. It is named after the Tamsui River; the name means "fresh water". The town is popula ...

Keelung Keelung () or Jilong () (; Hokkien POJ: '), officially known as Keelung City, is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. The city is a part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, along with its neighbors, New T ...

, Dahan and Xindian. In the prehistoric era, the Taipei Basin was home to

Ketagalan Ketagalan or Ketangalan () are a Taiwanese aboriginal people originating in what is now the Taipei Basin. Their language has now become extinct. On 21 March 1996, the road in front of the Presidential Office Building was renamed from "Long Liv ...

tribes.

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive v ...

did not settle in the region until the 18th century. Today, Taipei Basin is within the boundaries of

Taipei City Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the nor ...

and

New Taipei City New Taipei City is a special municipality located in northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 3,974,683 as of 2022, making it the most populous city of Taiwan, and also the second largest special municipality by area, be ...

and is the largest metropolitan area in

Geology

The Taipei Basin is a subsiding

half-graben A half-graben is a geological structure bounded by a fault along one side of its boundaries, unlike a full graben where a depressed block of land is bordered by parallel faults. Rift and fault structure A rift is a region where the lithosphe ...

Pollution

The Taipei Basin rivers are heavily polluted by both raw sewage and industrial pollution from illegal industry. The natural river restoration is on the agenda of the

Taipei City Government The Taipei City Government (TCG) is the municipal government of Taipei. History The Taihoku City Government was founded on 10 October 1920 in Taihoku Prefecture during Japanese colonial rule. The original city hall was located at the site o ...

and several citizen organizations.Taipei from the River
- Marco Casagrande, ''E-Architect'' March, 2011

References

Landforms of Taipei Drainage basins of Taiwan Landforms of New Taipei Drainage basins of the Pacific Ocean {{Taiwan-geo-stub

Geology

Pollution

See also

References