World Atlas: Taiwan

Information about Taiwan

Here you can find online selected information about the geography, inhabitants, government, economy and history of Taiwan. Included are selected statistics, an overview map and the detailed map of Taiwan. But let's start with the flag of Taiwan here:

Taiwan - Overview:

What you should know about Taiwan? Let's start with this: First inhabited by Austronesian people, Taiwan became home to Han immigrants beginning in the late Ming Dynasty (17th century). In 1895, military defeat forced China's Qing Dynasty to cede Taiwan to Japan, which then governed Taiwan for 50 years. Taiwan came under Chinese Nationalist (Kuomintang, KMT) control after World War II. With the communist victory in the Chinese civil war in 1949, the Nationalist-controlled Republic of China government and 2 million Nationalists fled to Taiwan and continued to claim to be the legitimate government for mainland China and Taiwan based on a 1947 Constitution drawn up for all of China. Until 1987, however, the Nationalist government ruled Taiwan under a civil war martial law declaration dating to 1948. Beginning in the 1970s, Nationalist authorities gradually began to incorporate the native population into the governing structure beyond the local level. The democratization process expanded rapidly in the 1980s, leading to the then illegal founding of Taiwan’s first opposition party (the Democratic Progressive Party or DPP) in 1986 and the lifting of martial law the following year. Taiwan held legislative elections in 1992, the first in over forty years, and its first direct presidential election in 1996. In the 2000 presidential elections, Taiwan underwent its first peaceful transfer of power with the KMT loss to the DPP and afterwards experienced two additional democratic transfers of power in 2008 and 2016. Throughout this period, the island prospered, became one of East Asia's economic "Tigers," and after 2000 became a major investor in mainland China as cross-Strait ties matured. The dominant political issues continue to be economic reform and growth as well as management of sensitive relations between Taiwan and China.

Geography of Taiwan

Where on the globe is Taiwan? The location of this country is Eastern Asia, islands bordering the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, South China Sea, and Taiwan Strait, north of the Philippines, off the southeastern coast of China. Total area of Taiwan is 35,980 sq km, of which 32,260 sq km is land. So this is not a large country. How could we describe the terrain of the country? This way: eastern two-thirds mostly rugged mountains; flat to gently rolling plains in west. The lowest point of Taiwan is South China Sea 0 m, the highest point Yu Shan 3,952 m. And the climate is tropical; marine; rainy season during southwest monsoon (June to August); persistent and extensive cloudiness all yea.

Inhabitants of Taiwan

Let's take a look how many people live in Taiwan. The number is: 23,508,428 (July 2017 est.). So quite a lot people live here. Who lives here? more than 95% Han Chinese (including Hoklo, who compose approximately 70% of Taiwan's population, Hakka, and other groups originating in mainland China), 2.3% indigenous Malayo-Polynesian peoples. What are the languages in Taiwan? Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects. And the religions: Buddhist 35.3%, Taoist 33.2%, Christian 3.9%, Taoist or Confucian folk religionist approximately 10%, none or unspecified 18.2% (2005 est.). How old are the people in average? 40.7 years. We have to add that this number is the median - so one half of the people is older than this, one half is younger. And what is their life expectancy (at birth)? This: 80.2 years. Where the people live in Taiwan? Here: distribution exhibits a peripheral coastal settlement pattern, with the largest populations on the north and west coasts. The major urban areas of Taiwan are: Taipei (capital) 2.666 million; Kaohsiung 1.523 million; Taichung 1.225 million; Tainan 815,000 (2015).

Government and Economy of Taiwan

The capital of Taiwan is Taipei and the government type semi-presidential republic. Let's take a look at the administrative divisions - includes main island of Taiwan plus smaller islands nearby and off coast of China's Fujian Province; Taiwan is divided into 13 counties (xian, singular and plural), 3 cities (shi, singular and plural), and 6 special municipalities directly under the jurisdiction of the Executive Yuan. Regarding the economy of Taiwan, important industrial products are electronics, communications and information technology products, petroleum refining, chemicals, textiles, iron and steel, machinery, cement, food processing, vehicles, consumer products, pharmaceuticals. Important agricultural products are rice, vegetables, fruit, tea, flowers; pigs, poultry; fish. The most important export commodities are semiconductors, petrochemicals, automobile/auto parts, ships, wireless communication equipment, flat display displays, steel, electronics, plastics, computers and the most important export partners are unknown. The most important import commodities are oil/petroleum, semiconductors, natural gas, coal, steel, computers, wireless communication equipment, automobiles, fine chemicals, textiles and the most important import partners are unknown. How rich is Taiwan and how rich are people in this country? The most important number here is GDP per capita (PPP): $49,800 (2017 est.). This means the people are rich on average here. Let's add that this means Gross Domestic Product per person, which is recalculated with respect to the relative cost of local goods and services. And one more important number - population below poverty line: 1.5% (2012 est.).

Map of Taiwan