Taiwan

Taiwan, an island in East Asia, is commonly used to refer to the territories governed by the Republic of China and sometimes to ROC itself. The island groups of Taiwan and Penghu are governed as Taiwan Province of the ROC. Taiwan, formerly known as Formosa, is situated to the east of mainland China and southwest of the main islands of Japan. The city of Taipei is the capital of Taiwan.

HISTORY:- The Portuguese explored the region in 1590. In 1624, the northern part of the region was possessed by the Spanish and the southern part was possessed by the Dutch. The island came under complete Dutch control in 1641 and remained under Dutch possession until 1661 when Chinese general Koxinga established an independent kingdom in Taiwan. The Manchus gained the possession of the island in 1683 and retained its authority until 1895. In 1895, following the first Sino-Japanese War, the island was ceded to Japan. After the World War II, Taiwan again came under Chinese control. Chiang Kai-shek, retreating from Mainland China, governed the island until 1975. Taiwan remained a one-party state. During the 1960s and 1970s and during the Cold War, most Western nations and the United Nations regarded the Republic of China (ROC) as the only legitimate government of China and the de-facto government of Taiwan. In the 1970s, most nations recognized the authority of the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.). In Taiwan’s first free presidential election, Lee Teng-hui won.

Taiwan is currently claimed by the People's Republic of China (P.R.C) although the P.R.C has never controlled Taiwan or any of the ROC territory. The P.R.C justifies its claim by pointing out that the ROC had ruled Taiwan for 5 years from 1945 to 1949 and in 1949, the P.R.C succeeded the ROC.

GEOGRAPHY:- Taiwan is located at 23 30 N, 121 00 E in Eastern Asia, spanning through 35,980 sq km area in which 32,260 sq km area is covered with land and 3,720 sq km area is covered with internal waters. The Pescadores, Matsu, and Quemoy islands are included in the territory of Taiwan. The coastline is 1,566.3 km long along with the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, South China Sea, and Taiwan Strait. The lowest point is South China Sea (0 m) and the highest point is Yu Shan (3,952 m). The eastern half is mostly constituted by rugged mountains while the western half is formed of flat to gently rolling plains.

CLIMATE:- The predominant climate of Taiwan is Maritime subtropical. The sky remains cloudless through out the year.

GOVERNMENT:- Taiwan has a multiparty democracy. The constitution was adopted on 25 December 1946 which came into force on 25th December 1947. The constitution went through several amendments in 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, and 2005. The legal system is based on the civil law system. The three major branches of the government are:

Executive branch comprises the President (chief of state), the Vice President, the Premier (head of government), the Vice Premier, and the Executive Yuan. The president and the vice president are elected on the same ticket by a popular vote on 4-year terms. The premier is appointed by the president and the vice premier is appointed by the president on the recommendation of the premier. The Premier is the President of the Executive Yuan. The ministers of the Executive Yuan are appointed by president on the recommendation of the premier.

Legislative branch comprises the unicameral Legislative Yuan (113 seats).

Judicial branch comprises the Judicial Yuan. The justices are appointed by the president with consent of the Legislative Yuan.

There are two major political parties of Taiwan: the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Suffrage is universal at the age of 20.

President                               Ma Ying-jeou

Vice President                        Vincent Siew

Premier                                  Lio Chao-hsuan

Vice Premier                           Paul Chiu

Legislative Yuan President     Wang Jin-pyng

Judicial Yuan President           Weng Yueh-sheng

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS:- Taiwan is divided into 18 counties and 2 special municipalities.

CULTURE:- The culture of Taiwan is a fusion of Confucianist Han Chinese cultures, Japanese, European, American, global, local and indigenous cultures. Basketball and baseball are the most popular sports of Taiwan. Cheerleading, billiards, and Badminton are also greatly watched.

ECONOMY:- Taiwan has a dynamic capitalist economy based on electronics, petroleum, armaments, chemicals, textiles, iron and steel, machinery, cement, food processing, vehicles, consumer products, and pharmaceuticals. Taiwan’s foreign reserves are one of the largest in the world. Agriculture accounts for 2% of GDP.

GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $695.4 billion; per capita $30,100.

Real growth rate: 5.7%.

Inflation: 1.8%.

Unemployment: 3.9%.

Arable land: 24%.

Agriculture: Rice, corn, vegetables, fruit, tea; pigs, poultry, beef, milk; fish.

Labor force: 10.78 million; agriculture 5.3%, industry 36.8%, services 57.9%.

Budget:  

Revenues: $76.2 billion

Expenditures: $75.65 billion (2007 est.)

Public debt: 27.9% of GDP (2007 est.)

Debt - external: $98.44 billion (31 December 2007)

Industries: Electronics, petroleum refining, armaments, chemicals, textiles, iron and steel, machinery, cement, food processing, vehicles, consumer products, pharmaceuticals.

Natural resources: Small deposits of coal, natural gas, limestone, marble, asbestos.

Exports: $189.4 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): computer products and electrical equipment, metals, textiles, plastics and rubber products, chemicals (2002).

Exports - partners: China 32.3%, US 12.8%, Hong Kong 8.8%, Japan 6.4%, Singapore 5% (2007 est.)

Imports: $181.6 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): machinery and electrical equipment 44.5%, minerals, precision instruments (2002).

Imports - partners: Japan 22.1%, US 13%, China 10.9%, South Korea 7.3%, Saudi Arabia 4.8%, Singapore 4.5% (2007 est.)

Major trading partners: China, U.S., Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea (2005).

Monetary unit: Taiwan dollar

LANGUAGE:- Mandarin Chinese is the official language of Taiwan but Taiwanese (Min) and Hakka dialects are also widely spoken.

CITIES:- The capital of Taiwan is Taipei and it is also the largest city of the island. Other large cities are Kaohsiung, Tai Chung, Tainan, and Keelung.

POPULATION:- The population of Taiwan is estimated 23,174,294 with an average growth rate of 0.6%.

Density per sq mi: 1,860

Literacy rate: 96.1% (2003)

RACE:-

Taiwanese (including Hakka) 84%

Mainland Chinese 14%

Indigenous 2%

RELIGION:-

Mixture of Buddhist and Taoist 93%

Christian 4.5%

Other 2.5%

HEALTH:-

Birth rate: 8.99 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate: 6.65 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 5.45 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 77.76 years

Total fertility rate: 1.13 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA

TRANSPORTATION:-

Railways: total: 1,108 km (519 km electrified) (2002).

Highways: total: 35,931 km; paved: 31,583 km (including 608 km of expressways); unpaved: 4,348 km (2000).

Ports and harbors: Chi-lung (Keelung), Hua-lien, Kao-hsiung, Su-ao, T'ai-chung.

Airports: 39 (2002).