Taiwan

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

noun:

Taiwan (singular and plural)

adjective:

Taiwan (or Taiwanese)

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

total:

44 years (2023 est.)

male:

43 years

female:

45 years

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.82 male(s)/female

total population:

0.97 male(s)/female (2023 est.)

total:

3.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)

male:

4.2 deaths/1,000 live births

female:

3.6 deaths/1,000 live births

total population:

81.4 years (2023 est.)

male:

78.4 years

female:

84.5 years

improved:

urban: NA

rural:

NA

total:

NA

unimproved:

urban: NA

rural:

NA

total:

NA

improved:

urban: NA

rural:

NA

total:

NA

unimproved:

urban: NA

rural:

NA

total:

NA

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

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

urban population:

80.1% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization:

0.65% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

conventional long form:

none

conventional short form:

Taiwan

local long form:

none

local short form:

Taiwan

former:

Formosa

etymology:

• "Tayowan" was the name of the coastal sandbank where the Dutch erected their colonial headquarters on the island in the 17th century;
• the former name "Formosa" means "beautiful" in Portuguese

name:

Taipei

geographic coordinates:

25 02 N, 121 31 E

time difference:

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

etymology:

the Chinese meaning is "Northern Taiwan," reflecting the city's position in the far north of the island

• includes main island of Taiwan plus smaller islands nearby and off coast of China's Fujian Province;
• Taiwan is divided into 13 counties (xian, singular and plural), 3 cities (shi, singular and plural), and 6 special municipalities directly under the jurisdiction of the Executive Yuan

counties:

Changhua, Chiayi, Hsinchu, Hualien, Kinmen, Lienchiang, Miaoli, Nantou, Penghu, Pingtung, Taitung, Yilan, Yunlin

cities:

Chiayi, Hsinchu, Keelung

special municipalities:

Kaohsiung (city), New Taipei (city), Taichung (city), Tainan (city), Taipei (city), Taoyuan (city)

note: Taiwan uses a variety of romanization systems; while a modified Wade-Giles system still dominates, the city of Taipei has adopted a Pinyin romanization for street and place names within its boundaries; other local authorities use different romanization systems

history:

previous 1912, 1931; latest adopted 25 December 1946, promulgated 1 January 1947, effective 25 December 1947

amendments:

• proposed by at least one fourth of the Legislative Yuan membership;
• passage requires approval by at least three-fourths majority vote of at least three fourths of the Legislative Yuan membership and approval in a referendum by more than half of eligible voters;
• revised several times, last in 2005

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Taiwan

dual citizenship recognized:

yes, except that citizens of Taiwan are not recognized as dual citizens of the People's Republic of China

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years

• 20 years of age;
• universal;
• note - in March 2022, the Legislative Yuan approved lowering the voting age to 18, but the change will require a constitutional amendment that must be submitted to a referendum

chief of state:

President TSAI Ing-wen (since 20 May 2016); Vice President LAI Ching-te (since 20 May 2020)

head of government:

• Premier CHEN Chien-jen (President of the Executive Yuan) (since 25 January 2023);
• Vice Premier CHENG Wen-tsan (Vice President of the Executive Yuan) (since 25 January 2023)

cabinet:

Executive Yuan - ministers appointed by president on recommendation of premier

elections/appointments:

• president and vice president directly elected on the same ballot by simple majority popular vote for a 4-year term (eligible for a second term);
• election last held on 11 January 2020 (next to be held on 13 January 2024);
• premier appointed by the president;
• vice premiers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the premier

election results:

• 2020: TSAI Ing-wen reelected president;
• percent of vote - TSAI Ing-wen (DPP) 57.1%, HAN Kuo-yu (KMT) 38.6%, James SOONG (PFP) 4.2%;
• note - TSAI is the first woman elected president of Taiwan

; 2016 : TSAI Ing-wen elected president; percent of vote - TSAI Ing-wen (DPP) 56.1%, Eric CHU (KMT) 31%, James SOONG (PFP) 12.8%

description:

unicameral Legislative Yuan (113 seats; 73 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote, 34 directly elected in a single island-wide constituency by proportional representation vote, and 6 directly elected in multi-seat aboriginal constituencies by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)

elections:

last held on 11 January 2020 (next to be held on 13 January 2024)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) 34.0%, Kuomintang (KMT) 33.4%, Taiwan People's Party (TPP) 11.2%, New Power Party (NPP) 7.5%;
• seats by party - DPP 61, KMT 38, TPP 5, NPP 3;
• composition as of early 2020 - men 64, women 48, percent of women 42.5%

highest court(s):

• Supreme Court (consists of the court president, vice president, and approximately 100 judges organized into 8 civil and 12 criminal divisions, each with a division chief justice and 4 associate justices);
• Constitutional Court (consists of the court president, vice president, and 13 justices)

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court justices appointed by the president;
• Constitutional Court justices appointed by the president, with approval of the Legislative Yuan;
• Supreme Court justices serve for life;
• Constitutional Court justices appointed for 8-year terms, with half the membership renewed every 4 years

subordinate courts:

• high courts;
• district courts;
• hierarchy of administrative courts

• Democratic Progressive Party or DPP [LAI Ching-te]
• Kuomintang or KMT (Nationalist Party) [Eric CHU Chi-luan]
• New Power Party or NPP [CHEN Jiau-hua]
• People First Party or PFP [James SOONG]
• Taiwan People's Party or TPP [KO Wen-je]
• Taiwan Statebuilding Party or TSP [CHEN Yi-chi]

note: the DPP and the KMT are the two major political parties; there are hundreds of registered minor parties

chief of mission:

• the US does not have an embassy in Taiwan;
• commercial and cultural relations with the people of Taiwan are maintained through an unofficial instrumentality, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), a private nonprofit corporation that performs citizen and consular services similar to those at diplomatic posts;
• it is managed by Director Sandra OUDKIRK (since July 2021)

mailing address:

4170 AIT Taipei Place, Washington DC 20521-4170

telephone:

[886] 2-2162-2000

FAX:

[886] 2-2162-2251

email address and website:

[email protected]; https://www.ait.org.tw/

branch office(s):

American Institute in Taiwan; No. 100, Jinhu Road,; Neihu District 11461, Taipei City

other offices:

Kaohsiung (Branch Office)

• red field with a dark blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white sun with 12 triangular rays;
• the blue and white design of the canton (symbolizing the sun of progress) dates to 1895;
• it was later adopted as the flag of the Kuomintang Party;
• blue signifies liberty, justice, and democracy, red stands for fraternity, sacrifice, and nationalism, and white represents equality, frankness, and the people's livelihood;
• the 12 rays of the sun are those of the months and the twelve traditional Chinese hours (each ray equals two hours)

note: similar to the flag of Samoa

• high-income East Asian economy;
• most technologically advanced computer microchip manufacturing;
• increasing Chinese interference threatens market capabilities;
• minimum wages rising;
• longstanding regional socioeconomic inequality

Fitch rating:

AA- (2016)

Moody's rating:

Aa3 (1994)

Standard & Poors rating: AA- (2002)

note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.

agriculture:

4.9%

industry:

35.9%

services:

59.2% (2016 est.)

on food:

14.7% of household expenditures (2018 est.)

on alcohol and tobacco:

2.3% of household expenditures (2018 est.)

lowest 10%:

6.4% (2010)

highest 10%:

40.3% (2010)

Number of operational nuclear reactors:

2 (2023)

Number of nuclear reactors under construction:

0

Net capacity of operational nuclear reactors:

1.87GW (2023)

Percent of total electricity production:

11% (2021)

Percent of total energy produced:

63.9% (2021)

Number of nuclear reactors permanently shut down:

2

production:

5.955 million metric tons (2020 est.)

consumption:

67.985 million metric tons (2020 est.)

exports:

118,000 metric tons (2020 est.)

imports:

63.523 million metric tons (2020 est.)

proven reserves:

1 million metric tons (2019 est.)

total petroleum production:

800 bbl/day (2021 est.)

refined petroleum consumption:

998,100 bbl/day (2019 est.)

crude oil and lease condensate exports:

0 bbl/day (2018 est.)

crude oil and lease condensate imports:

886,200 bbl/day (2018 est.)

crude oil estimated reserves:

2.4 million barrels (2021 est.)

production:

150.589 million cubic meters (2019 est.)

consumption:

22,002,493,000 cubic meters (2019 est.)

exports:

0 cubic meters (2021 est.)

imports:

22,172,507,000 cubic meters (2019 est.)

proven reserves:

6.23 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)

• 5 nationwide television networks operating roughly 22 TV stations;
• more than 300 satellite TV channels are available;
• about 60% of households utilize multi-channel cable TV;
• 99.9% of households subscribe to digital cable TV;
• national and regional radio networks with about 171 radio stations (2019)

total:

1,613.1 km (2018)

standard gauge:

345 km (2018) 1.435-m gauge (345 km electrified)

narrow gauge:

1,118.1 km (2018) 1.067-m gauge (793.9 km electrified); 150 0.762-m gauge note: the 0.762-gauge track belongs to three entities: the Forestry Bureau, Taiwan Cement, and TaiPower

total:

43,206 km (2017)

paved:

42,793 km (2017) (includes 1,348 km of highways and 737 km of expressways)

unpaved:

413 km (2017)

major seaport(s):

Keelung (Chi-lung), Kaohsiung, Hualian, Taichung

container port(s) (TEUs):

Kaohsiung (9,864,448), Taichung (1,979,222), Taipei (2,091,132) (2021)

LNG terminal(s) (import):

Yung An (Kaohsiung), Taichung

• the military is armed mostly with secondhand weapons and equipment provided by the US, and the US has continued to be the largest provider of arms in recent years;
• Taiwan also has a domestic defense industry capable of building and upgrading a range of weapons systems, including surface ships and submarines (2023)

• Taiwan Space Agency (TASA; renamed from the National Space Program Organization, which was renamed in 2005 from the National Space Program Office, established in 1991);
• TASA is subordinate to the National Science and Technology Council (2023)

• space program focused on the acquisition of satellites and the development of independent space capabilities;
• manufactures and operates remote sensing (RS) and scientific/research satellites;
• manufactures and tests sounding rockets and small satellite launch vehicles (SLVs);
• researching and developing other space technologies, including communications satellites, small satellites, satellite payloads and ground station components, spacecraft components, optical RS and telecommunications, navigational control, and rocket propulsion systems;
• has bi-lateral relations with the space programs of India and the US but is blocked from participating in most international and regional space organizations due to political pressure from China;
• has a commercial space industry that provides components and expertise for TASA and is independently developing satellites and satellite launch vehicles (2023)

note: further details about the key activities, programs, and milestones of the country’s space program, as well as government spending estimates on the space sector, appear in Appendix S

Taiwan-Brunei-China-Malaysia-Philippines-Vietnam :

• involved in complex dispute over the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea that are thought to have large oil and natural gas reserves, as well as being located amidst prime fishing grounds and busy commercial shipping traffic;
• the Spratly Islands also are in a strategic position for establishing a military presence to monitor activity in the South China Sea;
• 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

Taiwan-China-Philippines :

• border dispute over the Scarborough Reef in the South China Sea;
• Scarborough Reef, like the Spratly Islands, is strategically located and is surrounded by abundant fishing grounds;
• it may also be ripe for oil and natural gas exploration

Taiwan-China-Vietnam :

the Paracel Islands are occupied by China but claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam

Taiwan-Japan-China :

• 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;
• Senkaku-shoto is situated near key shipping lanes, rich fishing grounds, and possibly significant oil and natural gas reserves