Map of Taiwan | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
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Background: In 1895, military defeat forced China to cede Taiwan to Japan, however it 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 that over five decades has gradually democratized and incorporated native Taiwanese within its structure. Throughout this period, the island has prospered as one of East Asia's economic tigers. The dominant political issue continues to be the relationship between Taiwan and Mainland China and the question of eventual reunification.


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Location: Eastern Asia, off the southeastern coast of China, between Japan and the Philippines

Geographic coordinates

Map reference: Asia, Oceania, Southeast Asia

Area
Total area total: 35,980 km²
Land: 32,260 km²

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 1,448 km

Maritime claims
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 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

Natural resources: small deposits of coal, natural gas, limestone, marble, and asbestos

Land use
Arable land: 24%
Permanent crops: 1%
Meadows and pastures: 5%
Forest and woodland: 55%
Other: 15%

Irrigated land: NA km²

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: subject to earthquakes and typhoons

Geography


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Population: 21,298,930 (July 1994 est.)
Growth rate: 0.96% (1994 est.)

Nationality: noun:Chinese (singular and plural)

Ethnic groups: Taiwanese 84%, mainland Chinese 14%, aborigine 2%

Languages: Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects

Religions: mixture of Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist 93%, Christian 4.5%, other 2.5%

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 0.96% (1994 est.)

Birth rate: 15.6 births/1000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate: 5.63 deaths/1000 population (1994 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.38 migrant(s)/1000 population (1994 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: water pollution from industrial emissions, untreated sewage; air pollution; contamination of drinking water supplies
International agreements: signed, but not ratified - Marine Life Conservation

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 5.7 deaths/1000 live births (1994 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 75.25 years
Male: 72.01 years
Female: 78.66 years (1994 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.81 children born/woman (1994 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1980)
Total population: 86%
Male: 93%
Female: 79%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: none
Conventional short form:

Government type: multiparty democratic regime; opposition political parties legalized in March, 1989

Capital: Taipei

Administrative divisions: some of the ruling party in Taipei claim to be the government of all China; in keeping with that claim, the central administrative divisions include 2 provinces (sheng, singular and plural) and 2 municipalities* (shih, singular and plural) - Fu-chien (some 20 offshore islands of Fujian Province including Quemoy and Matsu), Kao-hsiung*, T'ai-pei*, and Taiwan (the island of Taiwan and the Pescadores islands); the more commonly referenced administrative divisions are those of Taiwan Province - 16 counties (hsien, singular and plural), 5 municipalities* (shih, singular and plural), and 2 special municipalities** (chuan-shih, singular and plural); Chang-hua, Chia-i, Chia-i*, Chi-lung*, Hsin-chu, Hsin-chu*, Hua-lien, I-lan, Kao-hsiung, Kao-hsiung**, Miao-li, Nan-t'ou, P'eng-hu, P'ing-tung, T'ai-chung, T'ai-chung*, T'ai-nan, T'ai-nan*, T'ai-pei, T'ai-pei**, T'ai-tung, T'ao-yuan, and Yun-lin; the provincial capital is at Chung-hsing-hsin-ts'un
Note: Taiwan uses the Wade-Giles system for romanization

Dependent areas

Independence

National holiday: National Day, 10 October (1911) (Anniversary of the Revolution)

Constitution: 1 January 1947, amended in 1992, presently undergoing revision

Legal system: based on civil law system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 20 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President LI Teng-hui (since 13 January 1988); Vice President LI Yuan-zu (since 20 May 1990)
Head of government: Premier (President of the Executive Yuan) LIEN Chan (since 23 February 1993); Vice Premier (Vice President of the Executive Yuan) HSU Li-teh (since 23 February 1993) presidential election last held 21 March 1990 (next to be held NA March 1996); results - President LI Teng-hui was reelected by the National Assembly; vice presidential election last held 21 March 1990 (next election will probably be a direct popular election and will be held NA March 1996); results - LI Yuan-zu was elected by the National Assembly

Legislative branch: Army, Navy (including Marines), Air Force, Coastal Patrol and Defense Command, Armed Forces Reserve Command, Military Police Command
Legislative Yuan: elections last held 19 December 1992 (next to be held near the end of 1995); results - KMT 60%, DPP 31%, independents 9%; seats - (304 total, 161 elected) KMT 96, DPP 50, independents 15
National Assembly: elections - first National Assembly elected in November 1946 with a supplementary election in December 1986; second and present National Assembly elected in December 1991; seats - (403 total) KMT 318, DPP 75, other 10; (next election to be held in 1997)

Judicial branch: Judicial Yuan

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: expelled from UN General Assembly and Security Council on 25 October 1971 and withdrew on same date from other charter-designated subsidiary organs; expelled from IMF/World Bank group April/May 1980; seeking to join GATT; attempting to retain membership in INTELSAT; suspended from IAEA in 1972, but still allows IAEA controls over extensive atomic development, APEC, AsDB, BCIE, ICC, IOC, COCOM (cooperating), WCL

Diplomatic representation
From the us:

Flag description: red with a dark blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white sun with 12 triangular rays

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: Taiwan has a dynamic capitalist economy with considerable government guidance of investment and foreign trade and partial government ownership of some large banks and industrial firms. Real growth in GNP has averaged about 9% a year during the past three decades. Export growth has been even faster and has provided the impetus for industrialization. Agriculture contributes about 4% to GDP, down from 35% in 1952. Taiwan currently ranks as number 13 among major trading countries. Traditional labor-intensive industries are steadily being replaced with more capital- and technology-intensive industries. Taiwan has become a major investor in China, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam. The tightening of labor markets has led to an influx of foreign workers, both legal and illegal.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 6% (1993 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $10,600 (1993 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for 4% of GNP and 16% of labor force (includes part-time farmers; heavily subsidized sector; major crops - vegetables, rice, fruit, tea; livestock - hogs, poultry, beef, milk; not self-sufficient in wheat, soybeans, corn; fish catch increasing, reached 1.4 million metric tons in 1988

Industries: electronics, textiles, chemicals, clothing, food processing, plywood, sugar milling, cement, shipbuilding, petroleum refining

Industrial production growth rate: 3.6% (1993 est.), accounts for more than 40% of GDP

Labor force: 7.9 million
By occupation industry and commerce: 53%
By occupation services: 22%
By occupation agriculture: 15.6%
By occupation civiladministration: 7% (1989)

Unemployment rate: 1.5% (1992 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues:$30.3 billion

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $85 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
Commodities: electrical machinery 19.7%, electronic products 19.6%, textiles 10.9%, footwear 3.3%, foodstuffs 1.0%, plywood and wood products 0.9% (1993 est.)
Partners: US 27.6%, Hong Kong 21.7%, EC countries 15.2%, Japan 10.5% (1993 est.)

Imports: $77.1 billion (c.i.f., 1993 est.)
Commodities: machinery and equipment 15.7%, electronic products 15.6%, chemicals 9.8%, iron and steel 8.5%, crude oil 3.9%, foodstuffs 2.1% (1993 est.)
Partners: Japan 30.1%, US 21.7%, EC countries 17.6% (1993 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $620 million (1992 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: New Taiwan dollars per US$1 - 26.6 (1993), 25.4 (1992), 25.748 (1991), 27.108 (1990), 26.407 (1989)


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Electricity
Capacity: 18,382,000 kW
Production: 98.5 billion kWh
Consumption per capita: 4,718 kWh (1992)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 40
Usable: 38
With permanentsurface runways: 36
With runways over 3659 m: 3
With runways 2440-3659 m: 16
With runways 1220-2439 m: 7

Heliports

Pipelines: petroleum products 615 km; natural gas 97 km

Railways

Roadways

Waterways

Merchant marine: 212 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,910,453 GRT/9,098,315 DWT, bulk 54, cargo 38, chemical tanker 1, combination bulk 2, combination ore/oil 2, container 85, oil tanker 17, passenger-cargo 1, refrigerated cargo 11, roll-on/roll-off cargo 1

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: involved in complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with China, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; Paracel Islands occupied by China, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai) claimed by China and Taiwan

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: an important heroin transit point; also a major drug money laundering center