Nearby Users
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Taiwan
local long form: none
local short form: T'ai-wan
former: Formosa
35,980 km²
Taipei
new Taiwan dollar (TWD)
886
.tw
Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, Hakka dialects
mixture of Buddhist, Taoist, Christian
22,858,872
multiparty democracy
red with a dark blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white sun with 12 triangular rays
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.
tropical; marine; rainy season during southwest monsoon (June to August); cloudiness is persistent and extensive all year
