Taiwan

one-party presidential regime

Taiwan as the 1990 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 67 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalTaipei
Area35,980 km2
1990

Every edition of Taiwan

Populationas each edition published it
20.55 million July 1990 · 23.6m in 2025
Population growth% a year
Not in this edition 1% in 1993
Median ageyears
Not in this edition 33.2 yrs in 2003
Life expectancyyears at birth
Not in this edition 75.04 yrs in 1993
Fertility ratechildren per woman
1.7 children per woman 1990 · 1.12 in 2025
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
17 deaths per 1,000 live births 1990 · 3.8 in 2025
GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars
Not in this edition $10,000 in 1993
GDP real growth% a year
Not in this edition 6.7% in 1993

Corrected. The 1990 edition's appendices (the UN system, international organizations, weights and measures, geographic names) follow the last entry in the file, Taiwan, and the source parser made them fields of that entry. All corrections

Geography

12 fields
Total area
35,980km2
land area: 32,260 km2; includes the Pescadores, Matsu, and QuemoyComparative area: slightly less than three times the size of Connecticut
Coastline
1,448km
land boundaries: noneTerritorial sea: 12 nm

Disputes

  • involved in complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with China, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam;
  • Paracel Islands occupied by China, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan;
  • Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands) claimed by China and Taiwan

Climate

  • tropical;
  • marine;
  • rainy season during southwest monsoon (June to August);
  • cloudiness is persistent and extensive all year

Terrain

eastern two-thirds mostly rugged mountains; flat to gently rolling plains in west

Natural resources

small deposits of coal, natural gas, limestone, marble, and asbestos

Land use

  • 24% arable land;
  • 1% permanent crops;
  • 5% meadows and pastures;
  • 55% forest and woodland;
  • 15% other;
  • 14% irrigated

Environment

subject to earthquakes and typhoons

People

14 fields
Population
20,546,664
(July 1990), growth rate 1.1% (1990)

Per 1,000 population(1990)

Birth
16Death
5

Ethnic divisions

Taiwanese 84%mainland Chinese 14%aborigine 2%

Religion

mixture of Buddhist 93%Christian 4.5%other 2.5%Confucian; and Taoist

Net migration rate

NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate

17 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth

72 years male, 77 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate

1.7 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality

noun--Chinese (sing., pl.); adjective--Chinese

Language

Mandarin Chinese (official); Taiwanese and Hakka dialects also used

Labor force

7,880,000; 41% industry and commerce, 32% services, 20% agriculture, 7% civil administration (1986)

Organized labor

1,300,000 or about 18.4% (government controlled) (1983)

Administration

One-party presidential regime

15 fields

Legislative Yuan, 102 seats, elected 2 December 1989one dot, one seat

(304 total, 102 elected) KMT 78DPP 21independents 3

Percent of vote

KMT 65%DPP 33%independents 2%

Type

one-party presidential regime; opposition political parties legalized in March, 1989

Capital

Taipei

Administrative divisions

  • 16 counties (hsien, singular and plural), 5 municipalities* (shih, singular and plural), 2 special municipalities** (chuan-shih, singular and plural);
  • Chang-hua, Chia-i, Chia-i*, Chi-lung*, Hsin-chu, Hsin-chu*, Hua-lien, I-lan, Kao-hsiung, Kao-hsiung**, Miao-li, Nan-t'ou, P'eng-hu, P'ing-tung, T'ai-chung, T'ai-chung*, T'ai-nan, T'ai-nan*, T'ai-pei, T'ai-pei**, T'ai-tung, T'ao-yuan, Yun-lin;
  • note--the Wade-Giles system is used for romanization

Constitution

25 December 1947

National holiday

National Day (Anniversary of the Revolution), 10 October (1911)

Executive branch

president, vice president, premier of the Executive Yuan, vice premier of the Executive Yuan, Executive Yuan

Legislative branch

unicameral Legislative Yuan

Judicial branch

  • Judicial Yuan Chief of State--President LI Teng-hui (since 13 January 1988);
  • Vice President LI Yuan-tzu (will take office 20 May 1990);
  • Head of Government--Premier (President of the Executive Yuan) HAO Po-ts'un (since 2 May 1990);
  • Vice Premier (Vice President of the Executive Yuan) SHIH Ch'i-yang (since NA July 1988)

Political parties and leaders

  • Kuomintang (Nationalist Party), LI Teng-hui, chairman;
  • Democratic Socialist Party and Young China Party controlled by Kuomintang;
  • Democratic Progressive Party (DPP);
  • Labor Party;
  • 27 other minor parties

Suffrage

  • universal at age 20 President--last held 21 March 1990 (next to be held March 1996);
  • results--President Li Teng-hui was elected by the National Assembly;
  • Vice President--last held 21 March 1990 (next to be held March 1996);
  • results--Li Yuan-tzu was elected by the National Assembly;
  • Legislative Yuan--last held 2 December 1989 (next to be held December 1992);
  • results--KMT 65%, DPP 33%, independents 2%;
  • seats--(304 total, 102 elected) KMT 78, DPP 21, independents 3

Member of

  • expelled from UN General Assembly and Security Council on 25 October 1971 and withdrew on same date from other charter-designated subsidiary organs;
  • expelled from IMF/World Bank group April/May 1980;
  • member of ADB and PECC, seeking to join GATT and/or MFA;
  • attempting to retain membership in ICAC, ISO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IWC--International Wheat Council;
  • suspended from IAEA in 1972, but still allows IAEA controls over extensive atomic development

Diplomatic representation

  • none;
  • unofficial commercial and cultural relations with the people of the US are maintained through a private instrumentality, the Coordination Council for North American Affairs (CCNAA) with headquarters in Taipei and field offices in Washington and 10 other US cities with all addresses and telephone numbers NA;
  • US--unofficial commercial and cultural relations with the people of Taiwan are maintained through a private institution, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), which has offices in Taipei at 7 Lane 134, Hsin Yi Road, Section 3 with telephone 002 886o (2) 709-2000 and in Kao-hsiung at 88 Wu Fu 3rd Road with telephone NA

Flag

red with a dark blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white sun with 12 triangular rays

Economy

Taiwan has a dynamic capitalist economy with considerable government guidance of investment and foreign trade and partial government ownership of some large banks and industrial firms.

16 fields
External debt
$1.0billion
(December 1989 est.)

Exports $66.2 billion (f.o.b., 1989)commodities, where a share is given

textiles
9.7%electrical machinery
19.0%general machinery and equipment
14%telecommunications equipment
9%basic metals and metal products
7.4%foodstuffs
0.9%plywood and wood products
1.3%
; partners--US 36.2%, Japan 13.7%

Imports $52.2 billion (c.i.f., 1989)

machinery and equipment
15.9%crude oil
5%chemical and chemical products
11.1%basic metals
7.4%foodstuffs
2.0%
; partners--Japan 31%, US 23%, Saudi Arabia 8.6%

Budget

Revenues
$25.9 billionExpenditures
$33.2 billion
expenditures, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY89)

Overview

Taiwan has a dynamic capitalist economy with considerable government guidance of investment and foreign trade and partial government ownership of some large banks and industrial firms. Real growth in GNP has averaged about 9% a year during the past three decades. Export growth has been even faster and has provided the impetus for industrialization.

Agriculture contributes about 6% to GNP, down from 35% in 1952. Taiwan currently ranks as number 13 among major trading countries. Traditional labor-intensive industries are steadily being replaced with more capital- and technology-intensive industries.

GNP

$121.4 billion, per capita $6,000; real growth rate 7.2% (1989)

Industrial production

growth rate 4.1% (1988)

Electricity

17,000,000 kW capacity; 68,000 million kWh produced, 3,360 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries

textiles, clothing, chemicals, electronics, food processing, plywood, sugar milling, cement, shipbuilding, petroleum

Agriculture

  • accounts for 6% of GNP and 20% of labor force (includes part-time farmers);
  • heavily subsidized sector;
  • major crops--rice, sugarcane, sweet potatoes, fruits, vegetables;
  • livestock--hogs, poultry, beef, milk, cattle;
  • not self-sufficient in wheat, soybeans, corn;
  • fish catch expanding, 1.1 million metric tons in (1987)

Aid

US, including Ex-Im (FY46-82), $4.6 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $439 million

Currency

new Taiwan dollar (plural--dollars); 1 new Taiwan dollar (NT$) = 100 cents

Exchange rates

new Taiwan dollars per US$1--26.3 (March 1990), 26.156 (December 1989), 28.589 (1988), 31.845 (1987), 37.838 (1986), 39.849 (1985)

Fiscal year

1 July-30 June

Communications

7 fields

Merchant marine, 218 ships by type

short-sea passenger 1cargo 61refrigerated cargo 13container 71petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker 14combination ore/oil 3specialized tanker 1bulk 54218 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,061,960 GRT/7,634,074 DWT

Airports, 38 total, 37 usable

permanent-surface runways
32runways over 3,659 m
3runways 2,440-3,659 m
16runways 1,220-2,439 m
8

Networkskm

Highways
18,800Pipelines
615
Highways: ; 15,800 km bituminous or concrete, 2,500 km crushed stone or gravel, 500 km graded earth · Pipelines: , 97 km natural gas

Railroads

  • about 1,075 km common carrier lines and over 3,800 km industrial lines;
  • common carrier lines consist of the 1.067-meter gauge 708 km West Line and the 367 km East Line;
  • a 98.25 km South Link Line connection is under construction;
  • common carrier lines owned by the government and operated by the Railway Administration under Ministry of Communications;
  • industrial lines owned and operated by government enterprises

Highways

18,800 km total; 15,800 km bituminous or concrete, 2,500 km crushed stone or gravel, 500 km graded earth

Pipelines

615 km refined products, 97 km natural gas

Ports

Kao-hsiung, Chi-lung, Hua-lien, Su-ao, T'ai-tung

Telecommunications

  • best developed system in Asia outside of Japan;
  • 6,000,000 telephones;
  • extensive microwave transmission links on east and west coasts;
  • stations--91 AM, 23 FM, 15 TV (13 relays);
  • 8,000,000 radio receivers;
  • 6,000,000 TV sets (5,300,000 color, 700,000 monochrome);
  • satellite earth stations--1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT;
  • submarine cable links to Japan (Okinawa), the Philippines, Guam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia, Middle East, and Western Europe

Defense Forces

Army, Navy (including Marines), Air Force, Garrison Command

3 fields

Military manpower

males 15-49
5,809,354fit for military service
4,534,950about currently reach military age (19) annually
185,235
Defense expenditures
6.8%of GNP
or $8.2 billion (FY90 est.)

Branches

Army, Navy (including Marines), Air Force, Garrison Command

Central Intelligence Agency. “Taiwan.” The World Factbook 1990. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/taiwan/1990.

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