Population
23.782.448 (2018)
National currency
New Taiwan Dollar
Conditional reduction of currency
TWD
Climate, average max and min t°
subtropical in the north and tropical monsoon in the south. The amount of precipitation in the lowland part is 1500—2500 mm and more than 5000 mm in the mountains. Typhoons are typical of August and September. It is a rainy season from June to august in Taiwan. The northern part of the island is cloudy through the year. In the south 90% of precipitation falls out during the rainy season.
Time difference from Moscow
+ 5 hours
Ethnic groups
98% of Taiwan's population is of Han Chinese ethnicity, 2 % is Taiwanese aborigines
History
Throughout history thanks to its geographic position and rich natural resources Taiwan has always attracted invaders. In the 12th century it was officially included into mainland China’s territories as province Fujian what stimulated the process of island’s reclamation. From the late 16th – 17th centuries Portugal, Holland and Spain took turns in controlling Taiwan. In 1661 Taiwan became the part of China again. In 1895 the island was ceded to Japan. After World War Two Taiwan became a part of the Republic of China (ROC) which was established in 1911. Following the Chinese civil war, the Communist Party of China took full control of mainland China and founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. The ROC with its head of state Chang Kaishek and Guomingdang party relocated its government to Taiwan, and its jurisdiction became limited to Taiwan and its surrounding islands. Since then till 1987 the island was in a military state which was introduced to fight separatism in Taiwan. The supremacy of one-party system is typical of this period. Guomindang was the only legal political party in the country, therefore economy, national administration and ideology were under its complete dictate. Due to preserved infrastructure after Japanese colonization and modernization measures taken by the Guomindang government in the 1960-70s Taiwan gradually developed into a prosperous industrial country and became one of the “Four Asian Tigers”. In the meantime domestic political climate was mitigated. In 1996 direct president election was introduced, and in 2000 for the first time in half a century opposition candidate of Democratic Progressive Party – Chen Shuibian was elected president. Meanwhile, ROC, or Taiwan, is still a partially recognized state, and most countries take the side of PRC considering Taiwan one of the provinces of PRC.
Government type
republic, multiparty democracy
Executive branch
President, Executive Yuan (Government) with the Premier as its head
Legislative branch
Legislative Yuan (unicameral body with 113 seats), elected for 4 years
Judicial branch
Judicial Yuan and subject Supreme Court, High courts, district courts and Administrative court
GDP per capita rank
17 (2020)
Corruption perceptions index rank
68 (2022)
