Anping District in the context of "District (Taiwan)"

Fort Zeelandia (Chinese: 熱蘭遮城; pinyin: Rèlánzhē Chéng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ji̍at-lân-jia Siâⁿ) was a fortress built over ten years from 1624 to 1634 by the Dutch East India Company (VOC), in the town of Anping (now Anping District of Tainan) on Formosa, the former name of central island of Taiwan, during their 38-year rule over the western part of the island. The site had been renamed several times as Fort Orange (奧倫治城), Fort Anping (安平城) and Taiwan City (臺灣城) . The current name of the site in Chinese means Anping Old Fort (Chinese: 安平古堡; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: An-pêng Kó͘-pó).

During the seventeenth century, when Europeans from many countries sailed to Asia to develop trade, Formosa became one of East Asia's most important transit sites, and Fort Zeelandia an international business center. As trade at the time depended on "military force to control the markets", the value of Formosa to the Dutch was mainly in its strategic position. "From Formosa the Spanish commerce between Manila and China, and the Portuguese commerce between Macau and Japan could by constant attacks be made so precarious that much of it would be thrown into the hands of the Dutch, while the latter's dealings with China and Japan would be subject to no interruptions."

Santísima Trinidad (meaning "Holy Trinity") was a bay on the northeast coast of Taiwan at Keelung, where in 1626 the Spanish established a settlement and built Fort San Salvador [zh]. They occupied the site until 1642 when they were driven out by the Dutch. The Dutch re-shaped the Spanish fort, reduced its size and renamed it Fort Noort-Holland [zh].

In 1661, Koxinga, a Southern Ming loyalist, with 400 warships and 25,000 men laid siege to the main Dutch fortress (Zeelandia in Anping). Defended by 2,000 Dutch soldiers, the Dutch left their fort in Keelung, when it became clear that no reinforcements were forthcoming from Zeelandia or Batavia (present day Jakarta, Indonesia).