Claim: The cultural capital of Taiwan is Taipei.

Taipei -LRB- -LSB- ˌtaɪˈpeɪ -RSB- -RRB- , officially known as Taipei City , is the capital city and a special municipality of Taiwan . Sitting at the northern tip of the island , Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City . It is about 25 km southwest of the northern port city Keelung . Most of the city is located on the Taipei Basin , an ancient lakebed bounded by the two relatively narrow valleys of the Keelung and Xindian rivers , which join to form the Tamsui River along the city 's western border . Taipei has been the capital of the ROC since 1949 , when the Kuomintang lost the mainland to the Communists in the Chinese Civil War .   The city proper is home to an estimated population of 2,704,810 in 2015 , forming the core part of the Taipei -- Keelung metropolitan area which includes the nearby cities of New Taipei and Keelung with a population of 7,047,559 , the 40th most-populous urban area in the world -- roughly one-third of Taiwanese citizens live in the metro district . The name `` Taipei '' can refer either to the whole metropolitan area or the city proper .   Taipei is the political , economic , educational , and cultural center of Taiwan , and one of the major hubs of the Chinese-speaking world . Considered to be a global city , Taipei is part of a major high-tech industrial area . Railways , high-speed rail , highways , airports , and bus lines connect Taipei with all parts of the island . The city is served by two airports -- Taipei Songshan and Taiwan Taoyuan . Taipei is home to various world-famous architectural or cultural landmarks which include Taipei 101 , Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall , Dalongdong Baoan Temple , Hsing Tian Kong , Lungshan Temple of Manka , National Palace Museum , Presidential Office Building , Taipei Guest House , Ximending , and several night markets dispersing over the city . Its natural features such as Maokong , Yangmingshan , and hot springs are also well known to international visitors .   As the capital city , `` Taipei '' is sometimes used as a synecdoche for Taiwan . Due to the ongoing controversy over the political status of Taiwan , the name Chinese Taipei is designated for official use when Taiwanese governmental representatives or national teams participate in some international organizations or international sporting events -LRB- which may require UN statehood -RRB- in order to avoid extensive political controversy by using other names .