TheRepublic of China (ROC;Chinese: 中華民國;pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó), commonly known asTaiwan, is a disputed self-governing region off the coast ofmainland China inEast Asia. The Republic of China once governed all of China (from 1911 to 1949) but moved to the island of Taiwan after their defeat in a Chinesecivil war.
Taiwan has also been calledFormosa, a Portuguese name which means "beautiful" inPortuguese.
Most people living in Taiwan (called Taiwanese) areHan. Taiwan has three large Han groups. They speak differentdialects (variations) of Chinese, and their ancestors came from different places: the Southern Fujianese (from China'sFujian Province), theHakka (from China), and Mainlanders (fromMainland China after 1948).
There are also Taiwanese Aborigines (native tribes) who lived in Taiwan before the Han came to live there.
The largest cities in Taiwan are the capital,Taipei, and the port city ofKaohsiung.
In AD 230, Taiwan described as "Yizhou" in the account of an expedition undertaken by the Eastern Wu dynasty of China.[22]
In 1517, APortuguese discovery ship sees this island and renames it "Ilha Formosa", or "Beautiful Island" inPortuguese.
17th century: From 1624 until 1661Dutch colonize the southern part of Formosa and set up a colonial administration inFort Zeelandia, and theSpanish colonize the north and set up a colonial administration in Fuerte Santo Domingo orFort Santo Domingo. The Dutch later defeat theSpaniards and take full control of Formosa.
1683, Shi Lang,[24] the commander-in-chief of theQing China fleets destroy the power of Zheng Chenggong's descendants in the 1660s, and lead the conquest of the Zheng family's Kingdom of Tungning. Taiwan becomes Qing territory.
1874:Japan invades southern Taiwan, seemingly to "punish" the natives there for the murder of ship-wrecked Okinawan fishermen in 1871, but actually to establish a colony. Japanese forces withdraw later in the year after theMeiji andQing empires nearly went to war.
1884-1885: Taiwan is blockaded by French navy during theSino-Franco War.
1911: The Xinhai Revolution ends China's last imperial dynasty, theQing dynasty, and leads to the establishment of theRepublic of China.
1927: Start of theChinese Civil War between theKuomintang (KMT) party and theCommunist Party of China (CCP). The war would later be put on hold, so the two sides could fight Japan together during World War II.
1945: Japan losesWorld War II to the U.S. and its allies
The Nationalists (KMT) lose the civil war, which resumed after World War II, and escape to the disputed island of Taiwan. They set upTaipei as the temporary capital of Republic of China (ROC).
The Communist Party of China (CCP) establishes Beijing as the capital of ThePeople's Republic of China (PRC).
1951: Japan signs theTreaty of San Francisco (1951) with the U.S. and 47 other countries, formally denouncing any claim to Taiwan.
1952: Japan and the ROC sign the Treaty of Taipei, which is similar to the Treaty of San Francisco.
1971: Taiwan is expelled from the United Nations and replaced by thePRC.
1986: TheDemocratic Progressive Party (DPP) is formed; it is the first party to form in the ROC other than the KMT. It remains illegal for the first year, but the KMT government does not try to ban it.
1987: The KMT government liftsmartial law after almost 40 years.
2004: Chen Shui-bian is re-elected after a controversial assassination attempt, in which many KMT-supporters believed, was staged by Chen. However, after unwillingness to cooperate about his medical records the investigation was inconclusive.
2008: Former president Chen Sui-bian and his wife are arrested for corruption and money laundering.
2008:Ma Ying-jeou (KMT) was elected as the president of the Republic of China and thus creating a change of political parties for the second time.
2009: Kaohsiung hosts the 2009 World Games.
2016:Tsai Ing-wen (DPP) was elected as the first female president of Taiwan.
2024:Lai Ching-te (DPP) is elected as the president that made a history for a political party to govern for three consecutive terms after the first presidential election of 1996.
There are twoChinese governments: ThePeople's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC). Today, in reality, the PRC government controls mainland China, and the ROC government governs Taiwan. The ROC government governed most of China mainland from 1911 to 1949, before losing control of China mainland to the PRC. The ROC constitution still claims ownership of all of China, and does not recognise China as an independent country.
The People's Republic of China claims ownership of Taiwan, but it has never ruled over the island of Taiwan. The last time Taiwan and the mainland were united under one government was under the rule of the ROC.
Although Taiwan's status prevents it from participating in some international organizations, polls show that most Taiwanese prefer to keep things as they are (referred to as thestatus quo), rather than declare formal independence (and risk inviting an attack by communist China), or to be "reunified" with China.
Most countries of the world recognize the People's Republic of China as China. Although Taiwan is not recognized by the UN as a sovereign nation,[26] most countries still have close economic and cultural relations with Taiwan. Countries often set upde facto embassies in Taiwan — officially non-government organizations — that perform the same functions as anembassy.
In 1992, the ROC and PRC agreed to aconsensus that there was only "one China" but that both sides could continue to disagree on what that meant.
InMarch 2004, China's government passed a law called the Anti-Secession Law. The law requests the Chinesemilitary toinvade Taiwan immediately if they declareindependence.[27] Tsai Ing-wen, the elected President of Taiwan, made a controversial statement that Taiwan is already an independent country and does not need to declare independence.[28]
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist PartyXi Jinping, has vowed "reunification" with Taiwan by any means, including through military force.[29] Joe Biden, Former President of The United States, has said that the US will defend Taiwan from Chinese attack, despite not recognising Taiwan as independent.[30] Australia has said they would join the US,[31] and Japan has indicated they may as well.
Polls show a majority of people in Taiwan want to never be a part of thePeople's Republic of China. Some of these people believe in completeTaiwan independence and want to rename the ROC (Taiwan) to "Republic of Taiwan" so Taiwan can participate in international affairs. Most others want thestatus quo, which means keeping everything the way it is now. However, a minority also wishes to someday unite with the People's Republic of China; they wantChinese reunification.
Taiwan is mostly mountainous in the east, with gently sloping plains in the west. ThePenghu Islands are west of the main island.
The island of Taiwan is about 180 kilometers off the southeastern coast of China. It is across theTaiwan Strait. It has an area of35,883km2 (13,855sqmi).[32]
Taiwan's highest point isYu Shan (Jade Mountain). It is 3,952 meters high (12,966ft). There are five other peaks over 3,500 meters.
West of Taiwan Island, there are three smallgroups of islands that also belong to ROC. They are:
ThePescadores (Penghu, 澎湖列島): They also are part of Taiwan Province.
Quemoy (Kinmen, 金門): A part ofFujian province, called Kinmen County(金門縣).
Matsu (馬祖列島): the smallest county, called Lienchiang County(連江縣), also part ofFujian province
Diaoyutai Islands:The Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚臺列嶼|Diàoyútái Lièyû|ㄉㄧㄠˋㄩˊㄊㄞˊㄌㄧㄝˋㄩˊ) are a group of islands where nobody lives that the Republic of China (ROC) claims belong to them, but also claimed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Japan. In Japanese, the islands are known as theSenkaku Islands (尖閣諸島, Senkaku Shotō?). The islands are now under the control of Japan.
Dong-Sha Islands:The Pratas Islands or Dong-Sha Islands (東沙羣島) consists of three islands in the northeastern South China Sea, 340km southeast of Hong Kong.
Taiping (Traditional Chinese: 太平島|Tàipíngdǎo|ㄊㄞˋㄆㄧㄥˊㄉㄠˇ), also known as Itu Aba, is the largest of the Nansha Islands (Spratly Islands) in the South China Sea.
157 Districts (區 qū ㄑㄩ), 17 Country-controlled cities (縣轄市 xiànxiáshì ㄒㄧㄢˋㄒㄧㄚˊㄕˋ), 41 Urban Townships (鎮 zhèn ㄓㄣˋ), and 153 Rural Townships (鄉 xiāng ㄒㄧㄤ) stand the 3rd level. Districts stand under either Special municipalities or Provincial cities; Country-controlled cities, Urban Townships, and Rural Townships stand under Counties.
Villages (里 lǐ ㄌㄧˇ or 村 cūn ㄘㄨㄣ) stand the 4th level, and Neighborhoods (鄰 lín ㄌㄧㄣˊ) stand the 5th level.
Most Taiwanese people speakStandard Chinese known asMandarin, and others speak local dialects such asMin Nan (Taiwanese) orHakka. TheCantonese language, spoken in parts of southern China (for example, the province ofGuangdong,Hong Kong andMacau), is not spoken in Taiwan. A small percentage of Aboriginal Taiwanese speakaboriginal languages, but the rest of the Chinese people have treated them badly, and many of these people and their languages, struggle to survive. Some older Taiwanese people who went to school while the country was under Japanese rule can speakJapanese.
After the Nationalist government fled the Mainland in 1949, they brought Mandarin and promoted it in Taiwan. Then everyone in the ROC had to learn Mandarin. But, unlike the people in Mainland China, the Taiwanese never changed tosimplified Chinese characters and so they have always usedtraditional Chinese characters. In the past, students were not allowed to speak theirfirst language in school and were expected to speak onlyMandarin. Taiwanese,Hakka, and native languages were considered bad until the early 1990s, when education in these languages began to be taught in some school systems. They were promoted, but by this time, many young people could speak only Mandarin.
Currently, nearly one third of Taiwanese report knowing some amount ofEnglish. FullEnglish fluency is not common, however. The government plans to expand English education and make it an official language by 2030.
United States: In February 2025, theState Department (USA) removed a statement from its website that said that it does not support Taiwan independence; The website also added support for Taiwan's membership in international organizations.[34] Taiwan has no embassy in the United States (as of the 2020s).
↑The Republic of China Yearbook 2016. Executive Yuan, R.O.C. 2016. p.10.ISBN9789860499490. Archived fromthe original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved31 May 2020.Ethnicity: Over 95 percent Han Chinese (including Holo, Hakka and other groups originating in mainland China); 2 percent indigenous Austronesian peoples
↑"Taiwan Monthly Earnings (1983 - 2024) – CEIC Data".ceicdata.com. 2024-12-31. Retrieved2025-04-15. - South Korea Monthly Earnings stood at 3,200 USD in Dec 2024, compared with the previous figure of 2,724 USD in Nov 2024.
↑"國情統計通報（第 014 號）"(PDF). Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan, Taiwan (ROC). 21 January 2021. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 10 May 2021. Retrieved26 January 2021.
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