Taiwan

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
• strategic location adjacent to both the Taiwan Strait and the Luzon Strait

Population

Notable Population Centers

City	Population	Note
Taipei	7,871,900	Capital
New Taipei City	4,004,367
Taichung	2,850,285
Kaohsiung	2,737,660
Tainan	1,856,642
Banqiao	551,221
Taoyuan	475,798
Hsinchu	453,536
Taoyuan City	402,014
Keelung	362,487

Size

• 13,892 square miles
• 35,980 square kilometers
• slightly smaller than Maryland and Delaware combined

History

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 the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwan’s first opposition party, in 1986 and the lifting of martial law the following year. Taiwan held legislative elections in 1992, the first in over 40 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 and turned into one of East Asia's economic "Tigers," becoming a major investor in mainland China after 2000 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.

Climate

tropical; marine; rainy season during southwest monsoon (June to August); persistent and extensive cloudiness all year

Terrain

eastern two-thirds mostly rugged mountains; flat to gently rolling plains in west

Languages

Mandarin (official), Min Nan, Hakka dialects, approximately 16 indigenous languagesmajor-language sample(s): 世界概況  –  不可缺少的基本消息來源 (Mandarin)The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

Religions

Buddhist 35.3%, Taoist 33.2%, Christian 3.9%, folk religion (includes Confucian) approximately 10%, none or unspecified 18.2% (2005 est.)

Government

semi-presidential republic

• Constitution: history: previous 1912, 1931; latest adopted 25 December 1946, promulgated 1 January 1947, effective 25 December 1947amendment process: proposed by at least one fourth of the Legislative Yuan membership; passage requires approval by at least three-fourths majority vote of at least three fourths of the Legislative Yuan membership and approval in a referendum by more than half of eligible voters
• Political Parties and Leaders: n/a
• Suffrage: 20 years of age; universal
• Legal System: civil law system
• Executive Branch: chief of state: President LAI Ching-te (since 20 May 2024)head of government: Premier CHO Jung-tai (President of the Executive Yuan) (since 20 May 2024)cabinet: Executive Yuan; ministers appointed by president on recommendation of premierelection/appointment process: president and vice president directly elected on the same ballot by simple-majority popular vote for a 4-year term (eligible for a second term); premier appointed by the president; vice premiers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the premiermost recent election date: 13 January 2024election results: 2024:LAI Ching-te elected president; percent of vote - LAI Ching-te (DPP) 40.1%, HOU Yu-ih (KMT) 33.5%, KO Wen-je (TPP) 26.5%)2020: TSAI Ing-wen reelected president; percent of vote - TSAI Ing-wen (DPP) 57.1%, HAN Kuo-yu (KMT) 38.6%, James SOONG (PFP) 4.3%expected date of next election: 2028
• Judicial Branch: highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of the court president, vice president, and approximately 100 judges organized into civil and criminal panels, each with a chief justice and 4 associate justices); Constitutional Court (consists of the court president, vice president, and 13 justices)judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court justices appointed for life by the president; Constitutional Court justices appointed by the president, with approval of the Legislative Yuan, for 8-year terms, with half the membership renewed every 4 yearssubordinate courts: high courts; district courts; hierarchy of administrative courts
• Legislative Branch: legislature name: Legislative Yuanlegislative structure: unicameralnumber of seats: 113 (directly elected)electoral system: plurality/majorityscope of elections: full renewalterm in office: 4 yearsmost recent election date: 13 January 2024parties elected and seats per party: Kuomintang (KMT) 52, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) 51, Taiwan People's Party (TPP) 8, independent 2percentage of women in chamber: 41.6%expected date of next election: January 2028

Demographic Profile

n/a

Economy

• high-income East Asian economy; most technologically advanced computer microchip manufacturing; increasing Chinese interference threatens market capabilities; minimum wages rising; longstanding regional socioeconomic inequality
• Budget: revenues: $94.943 billion (2019 est.)expenditures: $105.833 billion (2019 est.)
• Credit Rating: n/a
• Natural Resources: small deposits of coal, natural gas, limestone, marble, asbestos, arable land
• Industries: electronics, communications and information technology products, petroleum refining, chemicals, textiles, iron and steel, machinery, cement, food processing, vehicles, consumer products, pharmaceuticals
• Agricultural Products: rice, vegetables, pork, chicken, cabbages, milk, sugarcane, tropical fruits, pineapples, eggs (2023)note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage
• Land Use: agricultural land: 22% (2022 est.)arable land: 16.7% (2022 est.)permanent crops: 5.4% (2022 est.)permanent pasture: 0% (2022 est.)forest: 0% (2022 est.)other: 78% (2022 est.)
• Labor Force by Occupation: n/a
• Imports
• Imported Commodities: integrated circuits, crude petroleum, machinery, natural gas, coal (2023)note: top five import commodities based on value in dollars
• Import Partners: China 21%, Japan 13%, USA 11%, S. Korea 9%, Australia 5% (2023)note: top five import partners based on percentage share of imports
• Exports
• Exported Commodities: integrated circuits, machine parts, broadcasting equipment, computers, plastics (2023)note: top five export commodities based on value in dollars
• Export Partners: China 20%, USA 17%, Hong Kong 13%, Singapore 9%, Japan 7% (2023)note: top five export partners based on percentage share of exports