Taiwan Country Facts

中華民國 – Zhōnghua Minguó
Capital city Taipei
Surface 36,191 km²
Population 23,451,000
Road network length 38,197 km
Length of highway network 872 km
First highway 1978
Motorway name Gāosù Gōnglù
Traffic drives Right
License plate code RC

The Republic of China (Chinese: 中華民國Zhōnghuá mínguó), commonly known as Taiwan, is a country and island in Asia. The country has an area of ​​36,191 square kilometers and is therefore about the same size as the Netherlands. The country has 23 million inhabitants and the capital is Taipei.

The Republic of China (Taiwan).

Geography

Taiwan is an island in the South China and East China Seas, 150 kilometers off the coast of the People’s Republic of China. Also nearby are some islands of Japan, 350 kilometers to the south are the Philippines. The island of Taiwan is oval-shaped and measures up to 380 kilometers along its longitudinal axis and up to 140 kilometers across. Taiwan also includes some small islands. The island is highly mountainous, although in the southwest and northwest there is a flatter and more densely populated coastal region. The interior has large mountain ranges with peaks of more than 3,000 meters, the highest point is the 3,952 meters high Yushan. Wild rivers drain a short distance to the coast.

The island has a tropical maritime climate, the north is subtropical and the south tropical. The average maximum temperature in Taipei ranges from 19°C in January to 34°C in July. There is approximately 2400 mm of precipitation throughout the year with a peak in the period May-September. The island is prone to the impact of typhoons.

Demographics

The population of Taiwan grew from 3 million around 1900 to 9 million around 1950 and 22 million in 2000. Population growth has slowed sharply since the 1990s. Taiwan has 6 cities with more than 1 million inhabitants. The capital Taipei is divided into two cities, the actual city of Taipei with 2.7 million inhabitants and the suburbs called New Taipei, which together have 4 million inhabitants. As a result, the urban area has almost 7 million inhabitants, about a third of all Taiwanese.

Taiwan is mainly populated by Han Chinese. Most of the population originated in Fujian Province and migrated to the island in the 17th century. In Taiwan, Chinese is spoken, which, unlike China, uses the traditional script.

Economy

Taiwan is one of the most developed high-income countries in Asia. The country has traditionally been industry-oriented, ‘Made in Taiwan’ has long been a well-known trademark. However, unlike Japan or Korea, Taiwan mainly has small family businesses and few large, dominant companies. Since the 1990s, the labour-intensive manufacturing industry has given way to a more technological industry. The switch was not an easy one for Taiwanese standards, in 2001 was the first year of economic contraction since 1947 and unemployment rose to above 4%. In Taiwan there is a north-south contrast, the north is more prosperous than the south. Population growth has also mainly occurred in the north, making this the most important area.

History

In the 17th century, the Dutch and Spaniards established trading posts in Taiwan, which also marked the beginning of the migration of Han Chinese to the island. Dutch Formosa existed for a long time in southern Taiwan between 1624 and 1662. The name Formosa was common for Taiwan for a long time. In 1683 it was annexed by the Qing dynasty. It was ceded to Japan by the Qing in 1895. The island was then under Japanese rule for a long time. At the end of World War II, Japan was defeated and the island was governed as part of the Republic of China. The Republic of China then lost the mainland to the communists, so that this Republic of China only consisted of the island of Taiwan. The Republic of China still claims to be the legitimate government of all of China, but since the 1970s, most countries have recognized the People’s Republic of China as the legitimate government. Countries associated with the People’s Republic often have no official ties to the Republic of China and vice versa. The People’s Republic of China claims Taiwan as a renegade province.