10 Interesting Facts about Taiwan

One of these following facts about Taiwan might probably give you much information about this country. Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, is a state in East Asia. Neighboring states include the People’s Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east and northest, and the Philippines to the south. Taipei is the seat of the central government. New Taipei, encompassing the metropolitan area surrounding Taipei proper, is the most populous city. To get to know more about this country, here are some other facts about Taiwan you might be interested in. 

Facts about Taiwan 1: Prehistoric Taiwan

Taiwan was joined to the Asian mainland in the Late Pleitocene, until sea levels rose about 10,000 years ago. Fragmentary human remains have been found on the island, dated 20,000 to 30,000 years ago, as well as later artifacts of a Paleolithic culture.

Facts about Taiwan 2: Name

The island of Taiwan (formerly known as “Formosa”) was mainly inhabited by Taiwanese aborigines until the Dutch and Spanish settlement during the Age of Discovery in the 17th century, when Han Chinese people began immigrating to the island. In 1662, the pro-Ming loyalist Koxinga expelled the Dutch and established the first Han Chinese polity to rule on the island, the Kingdom of Tungning. The Qing Dynasty of China later conquered Taiwan in 1683.

Facts about Taiwan 3: Economy

During the latter half of the 20th century, Taiwan experienced rapid economic growth and industrialization and is now an advanced industrial economy. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Taiwan evolved into a multi-party democracy with universal suffrage. Taiwan is one of the Four Asian Tigers and a member of the WTO and APEC.

Facts about Taiwan 4: Geography

The island of Taiwan lies some 180 kilometres (110 mi) off the southeastern coast of mainland China, which lies across the Taiwan Strait, has an area of area of 35,883 square kilometers. The East China Sea lies to the north, the Phillipine Sea to the east, the Bashi Channel of the Luzon strait directly to the south, and the South China Sea to the southwest. All are arms of the Pacific Ocean.

Facts about Taiwan 5: Geology

The island of Taiwan lies in a complex tectonic area between the Yangtze Plate to the west and north, the Okinawa Plate on the north-east, and the Phillipine Mobile Belt on the east and south. The upper part of the crust on the island is primarily made up of a series of terranes, mostly old island arcs which have been forced together by the collision of the forerunners of the Eurasian Plate and Phillipine Sea Plate.

Facts about Taiwan 6: Political and Legal Status

The political and legal statuses of Taiwan are contentious issues. The People Republic of China (PRC) claims that the Republic of China government is illegitimate, referring to it as the “Taiwan Authority”. The ROC, however, with its own constitution, independently elected president and armed forces, continues to view itself as a sovereign state. The present territory of the state has never been controlled by the PRC.

Facts about Taiwan 7: Foreign Relations

Before 1928, the foreign policy of Republican China was complicated by a lack of internal unity—competing centers of power all claimed legitimacy. This situation changed after the defeat of the Peiyang Government by the Kuomintang, which led to widespread diplomatic recognition of the Republic of China.

Facts about Taiwan 8: Government

The government of the Republic of China was founded on the Constitution of the ROC and its Three Principles of the People,  which states that the ROC “shall be a democratic republic of the people, to be governed by the people and for the people”. The government is divided into five administrative branches: the Executive Yuan (cabinet), the Legislative Yuan, the Judicial Yuan, the Control Yuan (audit agency), and the Examination Yuan (civil service examination agency).

Facts about Taiwan 9: Politics

The constitution of the Republic of China was drafted before the fall of mainland China to the Communist Party of China. It was created by the KMT for the purpose of all of its claimed territory, including Taiwan, even though the Communist Party boycotted the drafting of the constitution. The constitution went into effect on 25 December 1947.

Facts about Taiwan 10: Military

The Republic of China Army takes its roots in the National Revolutionary Army, which was established by Sun Yat-sen in 1925 in Guangdong with a goal of reunifying China under the Kuomintang. When the People’s Liberation Army won the Chinese Civil War, much of the National Revolutionary Army retreated to Taiwan along with the government. It was later reformed into the Republic of China Army. Units which surrendered and remained in mainland China were either disbanded or incorporated into the People’s Liberation Army.

Hope you would find those Taiwan facts really interesting and useful for you to read an additional reading.