Introduction

Taiwan, officially theRepublic of China (ROC), is a country inEast Asia. The mainisland of Taiwan, also known asFormosa, lies between theEast andSouth China Seas in the northwesternPacific Ocean, with thePeople's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest,Japan to the northeast, and thePhilippines to the south. It has an area of 35,808 square kilometres (13,826 square miles), with mountain ranges dominating the eastern two-thirds and plains in the western third, where itshighly urbanized population is concentrated. The combinedterritories under ROC control consist of168 islands in total covering 36,193 square kilometres (13,974 square miles). Thelargest metropolitan area is formed byTaipei (the capital),New Taipei City, andKeelung. With around 23.9 million inhabitants, Taiwan is among themost densely populated countries.

Taiwan has been settled for at least 25,000 years. Ancestors ofTaiwanese indigenous peoples settled the island around 6,000 years ago. In the 17th century, large-scaleHan Chinese immigration began underDutch colonial rule and continued under theKingdom of Tungning, the first predominantly Han Chinese state inTaiwanese history. The island wasannexed in 1683 by theQing dynasty andceded to theEmpire of Japan in 1895. TheRepublic of China, which hadoverthrown the Qing in 1912 under the leadership ofSun Yat-sen, assumed control following thesurrender of Japan inWorld War II. But with the loss ofmainland China to theCommunists in theChinese Civil War, thegovernment moved to Taiwan in 1949 under theKuomintang (KMT).

From the early 1960s, Taiwan saw rapid economic growth and industrialization known as the "Taiwan Miracle". In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the ROC transitioned from aone-party state undermartial law to amulti-party democracy, with democratically elected presidents beginning in1996. Taiwan'sexport-oriented economy is the21st-largest in the world by nominal GDP and the20th-largest by PPP measures, with a focus on steel, machinery, electronics, and chemicals manufacturing. Taiwan is adeveloped country. It is ranked highly in terms ofcivil liberties,healthcare, andhuman development.

Thepolitical andinternational status of Taiwan is contentious. Despite being a founding member, the ROC no longer represents China as a member of theUnited Nations after UN members voted in 1971 torecognize the PRC instead. The ROC maintained its claim to be the solelegitimate representative of China and its territory until 1991, when it ceased toregard the Chinese Communist Party as a rebellious group and acknowledged its control over mainland China. Taiwan is claimed by the PRC, which refuses to establish diplomatic relations with countries that recognise the ROC. Taiwanmaintains official diplomatic relations with 11 out of 193 UN member states and theHoly See. Many others maintain unofficial diplomatic ties throughrepresentative offices and institutions that function asde facto embassies and consulates. International organizations in which the PRC participates either refuse to grant membership to Taiwan or allow it to participate on a non-state basis. Domestically, the major political contention is between thePan-Blue Coalition, which favors eventualChinese unification under the ROC and promoting apan-Chinese identity, contrasted with thePan-Green Coalition, which favors eventualTaiwanese independence and promoting aTaiwanese identity; in the 21st century, both sides have moderated their positions to broaden their appeal. (Full article...)

Selected article -show another

TheSunflower Student Movement is associated with aprotestmovement driven by a coalition of students andcivic groups that came to a head between March 18 and April 10, 2014, in theLegislative Yuan and later, theExecutive Yuan ofTaiwan. The activists protested the passage of theCross-Strait Service Trade Agreement (CSSTA) by the then-rulingKuomintang (KMT) at the legislature without a clause-by-clause review.

The protesters perceived the trade pact with thePeople's Republic of China would hurtTaiwan's economy and leave it vulnerable to political pressure from Beijing, while advocates of the treaty argued that increased Chinese investment would provide a "necessary boost" to Taiwan's economy, that the still-unspecified details of the treaty's implementation could be worked out favorably for Taiwan, and that to "pull out" of the treaty by not ratifying it would damageTaiwan's international credibility. The protesters initially demanded the clause-by-clause review of the agreement be reinstated but later changed their demands toward the rejection of the trade pact, the passing of legislation allowing close monitoring of future agreements with China, and citizen conferences discussingconstitutional amendments. While the Kuomintang was open to a line-by-line review at a second reading of the agreement, the party rejected the possibility that the pact be returned for a committee review. (Full article...)

Selected biography

Teng in 1969

Teng Li-Chun (Chinese:鄧麗君;pinyin:Dèng Lìjūn; 29 January 1953 – 8 May 1995), commonly known asTeresa Teng, was a Taiwanese singer, television personality, musician, and philanthropist. Widely regarded as one of the most culturally significant figures in theChinese-speaking world of the 20th century, she is considered to be one of the most successful and influential Asian musicians of all time. Her contributions toChinese pop has given birth to the phrase, "Wherever there are Chinese-speaking people, there is music of Teresa Teng." Apolyglot, Teng's music has transcended geographical, linguistic, and political boundaries across Asia for several decades.

With a career spanning almost 30 years, Teng established herself as a dominant and influential force in Asia throughout most of her career, particularly inEast andSoutheast Asia, and to some extentSouth Asia. Teng is credited as theFar East's first pop superstar and a pioneer of modernChinese pop music — a major force in the development of the Chinese music industry by incorporating western and eastern styles into her music, replacing the mostlyrevolutionary songs then prevalent in mainland China and laying the foundation for modern Chinese popular music. (Full article...)

Selected picture -show another

Good article -show another

Official portrait, 2019

Chen Chi-mai (Chinese:陳其邁;pinyin:Chén Qímài;Wade–Giles:Ch'ên² Ch'i²-mai⁴;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Tân Kî-māi; born December 23, 1964), also known asComay Chen, is a Taiwanese politician and physician who has served as themayor of Kaohsiung since August 24, 2020. He has served as spokesperson of theDemocratic Progressive Party and the chief executive officer of its Policy Research and Coordinating Committee. A physician fromKeelung, Chen started his political career by becoming member of theLegislative Yuan in 1996 and served as legislator for almost eight years before becoming the spokesperson of theExecutive Yuan.

In 2005, Chen succeeded to the mayoralty ofKaohsiung afterFrank Hsieh's appointment as premier. Chen became the deputy secretary-general of the Presidential Office in 2007 and served until the inauguration of PresidentMa Ying-jeou. Following his December 2018 loss in the Kaohsiung mayoral election, Chen was appointed Vice Premier of the Republic of China by PresidentTsai Ing-wen. Chen yielded the vice premiership toShen Jong-chin in June 2020, and won the Kaohsiung mayoralty in aby-election on August 15, 2020 after previous mayorHan Kuo-yu wasrecalled. (Full article...)

Did you know -show different entries

• ... thatShilin Night Market(pictured) is the largest and most well knownnight market inTaiwan having been established as a day market in1909 and since expanded to encompass two district sections?

• ... thatTaiwanese hot springs has been developed since1893 and that undersea spas can only be found inItaly,Japan, andTaiwan?

• ... thatTaihoku Imperial University was the first institution ofhigher education in Taiwan and was founded by theEmpire of Japan in1928?

General images

On this day...

• 

  Commons
  Free media repository

• 

  Wikibooks
  Free textbooks and manuals

• 

  Wikidata
  Free knowledge base

• 

  Wikinews
  Free-content news

• 

  Wikiquote
  Collection of quotations

• 

  Wikisource
  Free-content library

• 

  Wikiversity
  Free learning tools

• 

  Wikivoyage
  Free travel guide

• 

  Wiktionary
  Dictionary and thesaurus