Taiwan
President: Ma Ying-jeou (2008)
Prime Minister: Liu Chao-shiuan (2008)
Land area: 12,456 sq mi (32,261 sq km); total area: 13,892 sq mi (35,980 sq km)
Population (2007 est.): 23,174,294 (growth rate: 0.6%); birth rate: 12.5/1000; infant mortality rate: 6.2/1000; life expectancy: 77.6; density per sq mi: 1,860
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Taipei, 7,871,900 (metro. area), 2,722,600 (city proper)
Other large cities: Kaohsiung, 1,514,900; Tai Chung, 1,069,900; Tainan, 755,800; Keelung, 410,500
Monetary unit: Taiwan dollar
Republic of China
National name: Zhonghua Minguo
Current government officials
Languages: Chinese (Mandarin, official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects
Ethnicity/race: Taiwanese (including Hakka) 84%, mainland Chinese 14%, aborigine 2%
Religions: mixture of Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist 93%, Christian 4.5%, other 2.5%
Literacy rate: 96.1% (2003)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $695.4 billion; per capita $30,100. Real growth rate: 5.7%. Inflation: 1.8%. Unemployment: 3.9%. Arable land: 24%. Agriculture: rice, corn, vegetables, fruit, tea; pigs, poultry, beef, milk; fish. Labor force: 10.78 million; agriculture 5.3%, industry 36.8%, services 57.9%. Industries: electronics, petroleum refining, armaments, chemicals, textiles, iron and steel, machinery, cement, food processing, vehicles, consumer products, pharmaceuticals. Natural resources: small deposits of coal, natural gas, limestone, marble, asbestos. Exports: $189.4 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): computer products and electrical equipment, metals, textiles, plastics and rubber products, chemicals (2002). Imports: $181.6 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): machinery and electrical equipment 44.5%, minerals, precision instruments (2002). Major trading partners: China, U.S., Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea (2005).
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 12.49 million (Sept. 2000); mobile cellular: 16 million (Sept. 2000). Radio broadcast stations: AM 218, FM 333, shortwave 50 (1999). Radios: 16 million (1994). Television broadcast stations: 29 (plus two repeaters) (1997). Televisions: 8.8 million (1998). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 8 (2000). Internet users: 11.6 million (2001).
Transportation: Railways: total: 1,108 km (519 km electrified) (2002). Highways: total: 35,931 km; paved: 31,583 km (including 608 km of expressways); unpaved: 4,348 km (2000). Ports and harbors: Chi-lung (Keelung), Hua-lien, Kao-hsiung, Su-ao, T'ai-chung. Airports: 39 (2002).
International disputes: involved in complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with China, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; claimants in November 2002 signed the “Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea,” a mechanism to ease tension but which fell short of a legally binding “code of conduct”; Paracel Islands occupied by China, but claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam; claims Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai), as does China.