In 1895, military defeat forced China to cede Taiwan to Japan. Taiwan reverted to Chinese control after World War II. Following the Communist victory on the mainland in 1949, 2 million Nationalists fled to Taiwan and established a government using the 1946 constitution drawn up for all of China. Over the next five decades, the ruling authorities gradually democratized and incorporated the local population within the governing structure. In 2000, Taiwan underwent its first peaceful transfer of power from the Nationalist to the Democratic Progressive Party. Throughout this period, the island prospered and became one of East Asia's economic "Tigers." The dominant political issues continue to be the relationship between Taiwan and China - specifically the question of eventual unification - as well as domestic political and economic reform.
Location
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
Geographic coordinates
23 30 N, 121 00 E
Map references
Southeast Asia
Area
total
35,980 sq km
land
32,260 sq km
water
3,720 sq km
note
includes the Pescadores, Matsu, and Quemoy islands
Area - comparative
slightly smaller than Maryland and Delaware combined
Land boundaries
0 km
Coastline
1,566.3 km
Maritime claims
territorial sea
12 nm
exclusive economic zone
200 nm
Climate
tropical; marine; rainy season during southwest monsoon (June to August); cloudiness is persistent and extensive all year
Terrain
eastern two-thirds mostly rugged mountains; flat to gently rolling plains in west
Elevation extremes
lowest point
South China Sea 0 m
highest point
Yu Shan 3,952 m
Natural resources
small deposits of coal, natural gas, limestone, marble, and asbestos
Land use
arable land
24%
permanent crops
1%
other
75% (2001)
Irrigated land
NA
Natural hazards
earthquakes and typhoons
Environment - current issues
air pollution; water pollution from industrial emissions, raw sewage; contamination of drinking water supplies; trade in endangered species; low-level radioactive waste disposal
Environment - international agreements
party to
none of the selected agreements because of Taiwan's international status
signed, but not ratified
none of the selected agreements because of Taiwan's international status
Geography - note
strategic location adjacent to both the Taiwan Strait and the Luzon Strait
example - he or she is from Taiwan; they are from Taiwan
adjective
Taiwan
Ethnic groups
Taiwanese (including Hakka) 84%, mainland Chinese 14%, indigenous 2%
Religions
mixture of Buddhist and Taoist 93%, Christian 4.5%, other 2.5%
Languages
Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects
Literacy
definition
age 15 and over can read and write
total population
96.1%
male
NA%
female
NA% (2003)
Country name
conventional long form
none
conventional short form
Taiwan
local long form
none
local short form
T'ai-wan
former
Formosa
Government type
multiparty democracy
Capital
name
Taipei
geographic coordinates
25 03 N, 121 30 E
time difference
UTC+8 (13 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions
includes main island of Taiwan plus smaller islands nearby and off coast of China's Fujian Province; Taiwan is divided into 18 counties (hsien, singular and plural), 5 municipalities (shih, singular and plural), and 2 special municipalities (chuan-shih, singular and plural)
note: Taiwan uses a variety of romanization systems; while the Wade-Giles system still dominates, city of Taipei has adopted standard Pinyin romanization for street and place names within its boundaries; other local authorities use different romanization systems; names for administrative divisions that follow are in Wade-Giles system with Pinyin equivalents in parentheses
special municipalities: Kao-hsiung (Kaohsiung) [city], T'ai-pei (Taipei) [city]
National holiday
Republic Day (Anniversary of the Chinese Revolution), 10 October (1911)
Constitution
25 December 1947; amended in 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2005
note: constitution adopted on 25 December 1946; went into effect on 25 December 1947
Legal system
based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage
20 years of age; universal
Executive branch
chief of state
President CHEN Shui-bian (since 20 May 2000); Vice President Annette LU (LU Hsiu-lien) (since 20 May 2000)
head of government
Premier (President of the Executive Yuan) CHANG Chun-hsiung (since 21 May 2007); Vice Premier (Vice President of the Executive Yuan) CHIOU I-jen (since 21 May 2007)
cabinet
Executive Yuan - (ministers appointed by president on recommendation of premier)
elections
president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms (eligible for a second term); election last held 20 March 2004 (next to be held in March 2008); premier appointed by the president; vice premiers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the premier
unicameral Legislative Yuan (225 seats; 168 members elected by popular vote, 41 elected on basis of proportion of islandwide votes received by participating political parties, 8 elected from overseas Chinese constituencies on basis of proportion of islandwide votes received by participating political parties, 8 elected by popular vote among aboriginal populations; to serve three-year terms)
note: as a result of constitutional amendments approved by the now defunct National Assembly in June 2005, number of seats in legislature will be reduced from 225 to 113 beginning with election in 2007; amendments also eliminated National Assembly thus giving Taiwan a unicameral legislature
elections: Legislative Yuan - last held 11 December 2004 (next to be held in December 2007)
election results: Legislative Yuan - percent of vote by party - DPP 38%, KMT 35%, PFP 15%, TSU 8%, other parties and independents 4%; seats by party - DPP 89, KMT 79, PFP 34, TSU 12, other parties 7, independents 4
Judicial branch
Judicial Yuan (justices appointed by the president with consent of the Legislative Yuan)
Political parties and leaders
Democratic Progressive Party or DPP [YU Shyi-kun]; Kuomintang or KMT (Nationalist Party) [WU Po-hsiung]; People First Party or PFP [James SOONG]; Taiwan Solidarity Union or TSU [HUANG Kun-hui]; other minor parties including the Chinese New Party or NP
Political pressure groups and leaders
Taiwan independence movement, various business and environmental groups
none; unofficial commercial and cultural relations with the people of the US are maintained through an unofficial instrumentality, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), which has its headquarters in Taipei and in the US in Washington, DC; there are also branch offices called Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in 12 other US cities
Diplomatic representation from the US
none; unofficial commercial and cultural relations with the people on Taiwan are maintained through an unofficial instrumentality - the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) - which has offices in the US and Taiwan; US office at 1700 N. Moore St., Suite 1700, Arlington, VA 22209-1996, telephone: [1] (703) 525-8474, FAX: [1] (703) 841-1385); Taiwan offices at #7 Lane 134, Hsin Yi Road, Section 3, Taipei, Taiwan, telephone: [886] (2) 2162-2000, FAX: [886] (2) 2162-2251; #2 Chung Cheng 3rd Road, 5th Floor, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, telephone: [886] (7) 238-7744, FAX: [886] (7) 238-5237; and the American Trade Center, Room 3208 International Trade Building, Taipei World Trade Center, 333 Keelung Road Section 1, Taipei, Taiwan 10548, telephone: [886] (2) 2720-1550, FAX: [886] (2) 2757-7162
Flag description
red with a dark blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white sun with 12 triangular rays
Economy - overview
Taiwan has a dynamic capitalist economy with gradually decreasing guidance of investment and foreign trade by government authorities. In keeping with this trend, some large, government-owned banks and industrial firms are being privatized. Exports have provided the primary impetus for industrialization. The island runs a trade surplus, and foreign reserves are the world's third largest. Despite restrictions on cross-strait links, China has overtaken the US to become Taiwan's largest export market and, in 2006, its second-largest source of imports after Japan. China is also the island's number one destination for foreign direct investment. Strong trade performance in 2006 pushed Taiwan's GDP growth rate above 4%, and unemployment is below 4%. Consumer spending recovered following a slowdown early in 2006, when banks tightened lending to address a sharp increase in delinquent consumer debt.
GDP (purchasing power parity)
$680.5 billion (2006 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate)
$346.4 billion (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate
4.6% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP)
$29,500 (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector
agriculture
1.5%
industry
25.2%
services
73.3% (2006 est.)
Labor force
10.46 million (2006 est.)
Labor force - by occupation
agriculture
5.5%
industry
36%
services
58.5% (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate
3.9% (2006 est.)
Population below poverty line
0.9% (2006 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share
lowest 10%
6.7%
highest 10%
41.1% (2002 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
1% (2006 est.)
Investment (gross fixed)
18.4% of GDP (2006 est.)
Budget
revenues
$67.33 billion
expenditures
$77.93 billion (2006 est.)
Public debt
34.6% of GDP (2006 est.)
Agriculture - products
Industries
electronics, petroleum refining, armaments, chemicals, textiles, iron and steel, machinery, cement, food processing, vehicles, consumer products, pharmaceuticals
Industrial production growth rate
6.5% (2006 est.)
Electricity - production
189.7 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - production by source
fossil fuel
71.4%
hydro
6%
nuclear
22.6%
other
0% (2001)
Electricity - consumption
175.3 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports
0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports
0 kWh (2005)
Oil - production
7,755 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - consumption
965,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - exports
NA bbl/day
Oil - imports
NA bbl/day
Oil - proved reserves
3 million bbl (2006 est.)
Natural gas - production
1.1 billion cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - consumption
10.7 billion cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - exports
0 cu m (2005)
Natural gas - imports
9.6 billion cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves
76.46 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.)
Current account balance
$9.7 billion (2006 est.)
Exports
$215 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Exports - commodities
computer products and electrical equipment, metals, textiles, plastics and rubber products, chemicals (2002)
Exports - partners
China 22.5%, Hong Kong 15.7%, US 15%, Japan 7.3% (2006 est.)
Imports
$205.3 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Imports - commodities
machinery and electrical equipment 44.5%, minerals, precision instruments (2002)
Imports - partners
Japan 23%, China 11.9%, US 10.9%, South Korea 7.2%, Saudi Arabia 4.9% (2006 est.)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold
$280.6 billion (2006 est.)
Debt - external
$93.06 billion (2006 est.)
Currency (code)
new Taiwan dollar (TWD)
Currency code
TWD
Exchange rates
new Taiwan dollars per US dollar - 32.534 (2006), 31.71 (2005), 34.418 (2004), 34.575 (2003), 33.8 (2002)
Fiscal year
1 July - 30 June
Telephones - main lines in use
13.615 million (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular
22.17 million (2005)
Telephone system
general assessment
provides telecommunications service for every business and private need
domestic
thoroughly modern; completely digitalized
international
country code - 886; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean); submarine cables to Japan (Okinawa), Philippines, Guam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia, Middle East, and Western Europe (1999)
Radio broadcast stations
AM 218, FM 333, shortwave 50 (1999)
Radios
16 million (1994)
Television broadcast stations
29 (plus 2 repeaters) (1997)
Televisions
8.8 million (1998)
Internet country code
.tw
Internet hosts
4.32 million (2006)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
8 (2000)
Internet users
13.21 million (2005)
Airports
42 (2006)
Airports - with paved runways
total
38
over 3,047 m
8
2,438 to 3,047 m
9
1,524 to 2,437 m
11
914 to 1,523 m
8
under 914 m
2 (2006)
Airports - with unpaved runways
total
4
1,524 to 2,437 m
1
under 914 m
3 (2006)
Heliports
3 (2006)
Pipelines
condensate 25 km; gas 661 km (2006)
Railways
total
2,497 km
narrow gauge
1,097 km 1.067-m gauge (685 km electrified)
note
1,400 km .762-m gauge (belonging to the Taiwan Sugar Corporation and to the Taiwan Forestry Bureau) used to carry products and limited numbers of passengers (2005)
Roadways
total
37,299 km
paved
35,621 km (includes 789 km of expressways)
unpaved
1,678 km (2002)
Merchant marine
total
112 ships (1000 GRT or over) 2,798,992 GRT/4,652,921 DWT
by type
bulk carrier 35, cargo 22, chemical tanker 2, container 25, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 16, refrigerated cargo 7, roll on/roll off 2
foreign-owned
3 (Hong Kong 3)
registered in other countries
463 (Bolivia 1, Cambodia 2, Honduras 2, Hong Kong 6, Italy 10, Liberia 69, Malta 2, Panama 308, Singapore 59, UK 1, US 1, unknown 2) (2006)
Army, Navy (includes Marine Corps), Air Force, Coast Guard Administration, Armed Forces Reserve Command, Combined Service Forces Command, Armed Forces Police Command
Military service age and obligation
19-35 years of age for military service; service obligation 16 months (to be shortened to 14 months as of July 2007 and to 12 months in 2008); women in Air Force service are restricted to noncombat roles (2007)
Manpower available for military service
males age 19-49
5,883,828
females age 19-49
5,680,773 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service
males age 19-49
4,749,537
females age 19-49
4,644,607 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually
males age 18-49
174,173
females age 19-49
163,683 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP
2.2% (2006; to increase to 2.85% in 2007)
Disputes - international
involved in complex dispute with China, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei over the Spratly Islands; the 2002 "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea" has eased tensions but falls short of a legally binding "code of conduct" desired by several of the disputants; Paracel Islands are occupied by China, but claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam; in 2003, China and Taiwan became more vocal in rejecting both Japan's claims to the uninhabited islands of the Senkaku-shoto (Diaoyu Tai) and Japan's unilaterally declared exclusive economic zone in the East China Sea where all parties engage in hydrocarbon prospecting
Illicit drugs
regional transit point for heroin, methamphetamine, and precursor chemicals; transshipment point for drugs to Japan; major problem with domestic consumption of methamphetamine and heroin; rising problems with use of ketamine and club drugs
