Kaohsiung City (Chinese: 高雄市; pinyin: Gāoxióng Shì; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ko-hiông-chhī; old names: Takao, Takow, Takau) is a special municipality in Taiwan. Located in southern-western Taiwan and facing the Taiwan Strait, it is by area the largest municipality, at 2,951.85 km2 (1,139.72 sq mi), and second most populous (by urban area) with a population of approximately 2.77 million. Since its start in the 17th century, Kaohsiung has grown from a small trading village, into the political, economic, transportation, manufacturing, refining, shipbuilding, and industrial center of southern Taiwan. It is a global city with sufficiency as categorized by Globalization and World Cities Research Network in 2012.
The Kaohsiung International Airport is the third largest airport in Taiwan. The Port of Kaohsiung is the largest harbor in Taiwan, but not officially part of Kaohsiung City. The southern terminal of the Freeway 1 is in Kaohsiung. For north-south travel on railway, the city is served by the Taiwan Railways Administration stations of TRA Western Line and Pingtung Line. The Taiwan High Speed Rail also provides fast and frequent railway connection to Taipei. The Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit, the city's subway system, was launched in early 2008. Kaohsiung was the host city of the World Games 2009, a multi-sport event primarily composed of sports not featured in the Olympic Games. The city is also home to the Republic of China Navy fleet headquarters and academy.
The World Games of 2009 took place in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, from July 16, 2009 to July 26, 2009. The games featured sports that are not contested in the Olympic Games.
Nearly 6,000 athletes, officials, coaches, referees and others from 103 countries participated in the 2009 Kaohsiung World Games, setting a record high for the multi-sport competition. The International World Games Association (IWGA) President Ron Froehlich praised the July 16–26 games as the "best games ever."
The design of the emblem for the World Games 2009 is based on the first Chinese character in the city’s name. The character " kao" (高) means high or superior in English. The toponym stylized as a multicolored ribbon aims to create an atmosphere of festivity and celebration. The warm colors, orange and magenta, at the top and green and blue at the bottom symbolize the sun rising over the ocean and mirror Kaohsiung well: a passionate city with plenty of sunshine – a vibrant metropolis by the sea.
Kaohsiung 2nd district(Traditional Chinese characters|Chinese: 高雄市第二選舉區) is a single-member constituency for the Legislative Yuan since 2008. It has been represented by Chiu Chih-wei since 2012.