Taiwan

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

• air pollution;
• water pollution from industrial emissions, raw sewage;
• contamination of drinking water supplies;
• trade in endangered species;
• low-level radioactive waste disposal

party to:

none of the selected agreements because of Taiwan's international status

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements because of Taiwan's international status

at birth:

1.1 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.09 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.99 male(s)/female

total population:

1.04 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

noun:

Taiwan (singular and plural)

note: example - he or she is from Taiwan; they are from Taiwan

adjective:

Taiwan

definition:

age 15 and over can read and write

total population:

96.1%

male:

NA%

female:

NA% (2003)

conventional long form:

none

conventional short form:

Taiwan

local long form:

none

local short form:

T'ai-wan

former:

Formosa

name:

Taipei

geographic coordinates:

25 03 N, 121 30 E

time difference:

UTC+8 (13 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

chief of state:

President CHEN Shui-bian (since 20 May 2000) and Vice President Annette LU (LU Hsiu-lien) (since 20 May 2000)

head of government:

Premier (President of the Executive Yuan) SU Tseng-chang (since 25 January 2006) and Vice Premier (Vice President of the Executive Yuan) TSAI Ing-wen (since 25 January 2006)

cabinet:

Executive Yuan appointed by the president

elections:

• president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms (eligible for a second term);
• election last held 20 March 2004 (next to be held in March 2008);
• premier appointed by the president;
• vice premiers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the premier

election results:

CHEN Shui-bian re-elected president; percent of vote - CHEN Shui-bian (DPP) 50.1%, LIEN Chan (KMT) 49.9%

• Democratic Progressive Party or DPP [YU Shyi-kun];
• Kuomintang or KMT (Nationalist Party) [MA Ying-jeou];
• People First Party or PFP [James SOONG (SOONG Chu-yu)];
• Taiwan Solidarity Union or TSU [SU Chin-chiang];
• other minor parties including the Chinese New Party or NP

• none;
• unofficial commercial and cultural relations with the people on Taiwan are maintained through an unofficial instrumentality - the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) - which has offices in the US and Taiwan;
• US office at 1700 N. Moore St., Suite 1700, Arlington, VA 22209-1996, telephone: [1] (703) 525-8474, FAX: [1] (703) 841-1385);
• Taiwan offices at #7 Lane 134, Hsin Yi Road, Section 3, Taipei, Taiwan, telephone: [886] (2) 2162-2000, FAX: [886] (2) 2162-2251;
• #2 Chung Cheng 3rd Road, 5th Floor, Kao-hsiung, Taiwan, telephone: [886] (7) 238-7744, FAX: [886] (7) 238-5237;
• and the American Trade Center, Room 3208 International Trade Building, Taipei World Trade Center, 333 Keelung Road Section 1, Taipei, Taiwan 10548, telephone: [886] (2) 2720-1550, FAX: [886] (2) 2757-7162

agriculture:

6%

industry:

35.8%

services:

58.2% (2005 est.)

lowest 10%:

6.7%

highest 10%:

41.1% (2002 est.)

• rice, corn, vegetables, fruit, tea;
• pigs, poultry, beef, milk;
• fish

• 1 July - 30 June (up to FY98/99);
• 1 July 1999 - 31 December 2000 for FY00;
• calendar year (after FY00)

general assessment:

provides telecommunications service for every business and private need

domestic:

thoroughly modern; completely digitalized

international:

• country code - 886;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean);
• submarine cables to Japan (Okinawa), Philippines, Guam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia, Middle East, and Western Europe (1999)

total:

2,497 km

narrow gauge:

1,097 km 1.067-m gauge (685 km electrified)

note: 1,400 km .762-m gauge (belonging to the Taiwan Sugar Corporation and to the Taiwan Forestry Bureau) used to carry products and limited numbers of passengers (2005)

total:

37,299 km

paved:

35,621 km (including 1,789 km of expressways)

unpaved:

1,678 km (2002)

• 19-35 years of age for military service;
• service obligation 16 months (to be shortened to 12 months in 2008);
• women in Air Force service are restricted to noncombat roles (2005)

males age 19-49:

5,883,828

females age 19-49:

5,680,773 (2005 est.)

males age 19-49:

4,749,537

females age 19-49:

4,644,607 (2005 est.)

males age 18-49:

174,173

females age 19-49:

163,683 (2005 est.)

• involved in complex dispute with China, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei over the Spratly Islands;
• the 2002 "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea" has eased tensions but falls short of a legally binding "code of conduct" desired by several of the disputants;
• Paracel Islands are occupied by China, but claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam;
• in 2003, China and Taiwan became more vocal in rejecting both Japan's claims to the uninhabited islands of the Senkaku-shoto (Diaoyu Tai) and Japan's unilaterally declared exclusive economic zone in the East China Sea where all parties engage in hydrocarbon prospecting

current situation:

• Taiwan is primarily a destination for men, women, and children trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation;
• women from China and Southeast Asian countries are trafficked for sexual exploitation and forced labor;
• women and children, primarily from Vietnam, are trafficked through the use of fraudulent marriages, deceptive employment offers, and illegal smuggling for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor;
• a significant share of foreign workers - primarily from Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines - are recruited legally for low-skilled jobs, and are subjected to forced labor or involuntary servitude by labor agencies or employers upon arrival in Taiwan;
• to a much lesser extent, there is internal trafficking of children for sexual exploitation and trafficking of a small and declining number of Taiwanese women to Japan for commercial sexual exploitation

tier rating:

Tier 2 Watch List - Taiwan is placed on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts over the past year to address trafficking, despite ample resources to do so, particularly the serious level of forced labor and sexual servitude among legally migrating Southeast Asian contract workers and brides

• regional transit point for heroin and methamphetamine;
• major problem with domestic consumption of methamphetamine and heroin;
• renewal of domestic methamphetamine production is a problem