Guide to Taiwan Introduction Background: 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 native 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.
Geography 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
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Maryland and Delaware combined
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 1,566.3 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea
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
Natural resources: small deposits of coal, natural gas, limestone, marble, and asbestos
Land use: arable land
Irrigated land: NA sq km
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
Geography - note: strategic location adjacent to both the Taiwan Strait and the Luzon Strait
People Population: 22,894,384 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years
Median age: total
Population growth rate: 0.63% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 12.64 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 6.38 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth
Infant mortality rate: total
Life expectancy at birth: total population
Total fertility rate: 1.57 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA
HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA
Nationality: noun
Ethnic groups: Taiwanese (including Hakka) 84%, mainland Chinese 14%, aborigine 2%
Religions: mixture of Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist 93%, Christian 4.5%, other 2.5%
Languages: Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects
Literacy: definition
Government Country name: conventional long form
Government type: multiparty democratic regime headed by popularly-elected president and unicameral legislature
Capital: Taipei
Administrative divisions: includes central island of Taiwan plus numerous smaller islands near central island 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)
National holiday: Republic Day (Anniversary of the Chinese Revolution), 10 October (1911)
Constitution: 25 December 1946; amended in 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, and 2000
Legal system: based on civil law system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage: 20 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state
Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Yuan (225 seats - 168 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 island-wide votes received by participating political parties, 8 elected by popular vote among aboriginal populations; members serve three-year terms) and unicameral National Assembly (300 seat nonstanding body; delegates nominated by parties and elected by proportional representation six to nine months after Legislative Yuan calls to amend Constitution, impeach president, or change national borders) note
Judicial branch: Judicial Yuan (justices appointed by the president with consent of the Legislative Yuan)
Political parties and leaders: Democratic Progressive Party or DPP [SU Tseng-chang, chairman]; Kuomintang or KMT (Nationalist Party) [MA Ying-jeou, chairman]; People First Party or PFP [James SOONG (SOONG Chu-yu), chairman]; Taiwan Solidarity Union or TSU [SU Chin-chiang, chairman]; other minor parties including the Chinese New Party or CNP
Political pressure groups and leaders: Taiwan independence movement, various business and environmental groups note
International organization participation: APEC, AsDB, BCIE, ICC, ICFTU, IOC, WCL, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US: 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) in the US with headquarters in Taipei and field offices in Washington and 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
Flag description: red with a dark blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white sun with 12 triangular rays
Economy 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 trade surplus is substantial, and foreign reserves are the world's third largest. Agriculture contributes less than 2% to GDP, down from 32% in 1952. Taiwan is a major investor throughout Southeast Asia. China has overtaken the US to become Taiwan's largest export market. Because of its conservative financial approach and its entrepreneurial strengths, Taiwan suffered little compared with many of its neighbors from the Asian financial crisis in 1998. The global economic downturn, combined with problems in policy coordination by the administration and bad debts in the banking system, pushed Taiwan into recession in 2001, the first year of negative growth ever recorded. Unemployment also reached record levels. Output recovered moderately in 2002 in the face of continued global slowdown, fragile consumer confidence, and bad bank loans; and the essentially vibrant economy pushed ahead in 2003-04. Growing economic ties with China are a dominant long-term factor, e.g., exports to China of parts and equipment for the assembly of goods for export to developed countries.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $576.2 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 6% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $25,300 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture
Labor force: 10.22 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 8%, industry 35%, services 57% (2001 est.)
Unemployment rate: 4.5% (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line: 1% (2000 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.7% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 18% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget: revenues
Public debt: 32.4% of GDP (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products: rice, corn, vegetables, fruit, tea; pigs, poultry, beef, milk; fish
Industries: electronics, petroleum refining, armaments, chemicals, textiles, iron and steel, machinery, cement, food processing, vehicles, consumer products, pharmaceuticals
Industrial production growth rate: 12.2% (2004 est.)
Electricity - production: 158.5 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel
Electricity - consumption: 147.4 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2002)
Oil - production: 500 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - consumption: 988,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: NA
Oil - imports: NA
Oil - proved reserves: 2.9 million bbl (2004 est.)
Natural gas - production: 750 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 6.64 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports: 410 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports: 6.3 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves: 38.23 billion cu m (2004)
Current account balance: $21.16 billion (2004 est.)
Exports: $170.5 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities: computer products and electrical equipment, metals, textiles, plastics and rubber products, chemicals (2002)
Exports - partners: China, including Hong Kong 37%, US 16%, Japan 7.7% (2004)
Imports: $165.4 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and electrical equipment 44.5%, minerals, precision instruments (2002)
Imports - partners: Japan 26%, US 13%, China, including Hong Kong 11%, South Korea 6.9% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $246.5 billion (2004 est.)
Debt - external: $55.5 billion (2004 est.)
Currency (code): new Taiwan dollar (TWD)
Currency code: TWD
Exchange rates: new Taiwan dollars per US dollar - 33.422 (2004), 34.418 (2003), 34.575 (2002), 33.8 (2001), 33.09 (2000)
Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June (up to FY98/99); 1 July 1999 - 31 December 2000 for FY00; calendar year (after FY00)
Communications Telephones - main lines in use: 13.355 million (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 25,089,600 (2003)
Telephone system: general assessment
Radio broadcast stations: AM 218, FM 333, shortwave 50 (1999)
Radios: 16 million (1994)
Television broadcast stations: 29 (plus two repeaters) (1997)
Televisions: 8.8 million (1998)
Internet country code: .tw
Internet hosts: 2,777,085 (2003)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 8 (2000)
Internet users: 13.8 million (2005)
Transportation Railways: total
Highways: total
Pipelines: condensate 25 km; gas 435 km (2004)
Ports and harbors: Chi-lung (Keelung), Hua-lien, Kao-hsiung, Su-ao, T'ai-chung
Merchant marine: total
Airports: 40 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total
Airports - with unpaved runways: total
Heliports: 3 (2004 est.)
Military Military branches: 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: 19-40 years of age for military service (being lowered to 35 years of age in July 2005); service obligation 22 months (being shortened to 18 months in July 2005 and 12 months in 2008) (2005)
Manpower available for military service: males age 19-49
Manpower fit for military service: males age 19-49
Manpower reaching military service age annually: males
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $7.574 billion (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.6% (2004)
Transnational Issues 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 and methamphetamine; major problem with domestic consumption of methamphetamine and heroin; renewal of domestic methamphetamine production is a problem
Last updated: 20 October, 2005
| Weather Statistics | Kaohsiung |
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| Source: Global Historical Climatology Network |
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