Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China (commonly known as "Taiwan") and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean. The city proper is home to an estimated 2,606,151 people.

Founded in the early 18th century, Taipei became an important center for overseas trade in the 19th century. The Qing Dynasty in China, made Taipei the provincial capital of Taiwan in 1886. When the Japanese acquired Taiwan in 1895 after the First Sino-Japanese War, they retained Taipei as the capital of the island, and also advanced an extensive urban planning in Taipei. The Republic of China took over the island in 1945 following Japanese surrender. After losing Mainland China to the Chinese Communist Party in the Chinese Civil War, the ruling Kuomintang resettled the ROC government to Taiwan and declared Taipei the provisional capital of the Republic of China in December 1949.

Taipei is the political, economic, and cultural center of Taiwan. It is home to the National Palace Museum, which has one of the largest collections of Chinese artifacts and artworks in the world. Taipei is a major industrial center, transportation hub as well as a global city.