The recorded history of Taipei begun with the Han Chinese settle in the Taipei Basin in 1709, and lead to the current High-tech capital that is nowadays Taipei City. Notable others dates are the annexation of Taiwan by Japan, which made Taipei start its rapid growth, and in the 1950s USA provided financial help to the ROC's dictatorial but efficient government, which allowed the city to start a fast structural and industrial growth, leading to the current high-tech world leadership.

The region known as the Taipei basin was home to Ketagalan tribes before the 18th century. Han Chinese began to settle in the Taipei Basin in 1709.

In the late 19th century, the Taipei area, where the major Han settlements in northern Taiwan and one of the designated foreign trade port, Tamsui, were located, gained economic importance due to the boosting foreign trade, especially that of tea exportation.

In 1875, the northern part of Taiwan was separated from Taiwan Prefecture (臺灣府) and incorporated into the new Taipei Prefecture (臺北府). Having been established adjoining the flourishing townships of Bangkah and Twatutia, the new prefectural capital was known as Chengnei (城內), "the inner city", and government buildings were erected there. From 1875 (during the Qing Dynasty) until the beginning of Japanese rule in 1895, Taipei was part of Tamsui County (淡水縣) of Taipei Prefecture and the prefectural capital. Taipei remained a temporary provincial capital before it officially became the capital of Taiwan in 1894.

Taipei City (/ˌtaɪˈpeɪ/; [tʰǎipèi]; Chinese: 臺北市 or 台北市; pinyin: Táiběi Shì) is the capital of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Situated at the northern tip of the island of Taiwan, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River; it is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, a port city on the Pacific Ocean. It lies in the two relatively narrow valleys of the Keelung (基隆河) and Xindian (新店溪) rivers, which join to form the Tamsui River along the city's western border. The city proper (Taipei City) is home to an estimated 2,618,772 people. Taipei, New Taipei, and Keelung together form the Taipei metropolitan area with a population of 6,900,273. However, they are administered under different local governing bodies. "Taipei" sometimes refers to the whole metropolitan area, while "Taipei City" refers to the city proper. Taipei City proper is surrounded on all sides by New Taipei.

Taipei is the political, economic, and cultural center of Taiwan. The National Palace Museum which has one of the largest collections of Chinese artifacts and artworks in the world is located in Taipei. Considered to be a global city, Taipei is part of a major 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.