Taiwan

Facts

Background: In 1895, military defeat forced China to cede Taiwan to Japan. Taiwan reverted to Chinese control after World War II. Following the Communist victory on the mainland in 1949, 2 million Nationalists fled to Taiwan and established a government using the 1947 constitution drawn up for all of China. Over the next five decades, the ruling authorities gradually democratized and incorporated the local population within the governing structure. In 2000, Taiwan underwent its first peaceful transfer of power from the Nationalist to the Democratic Progressive Party. Throughout this period, the island prospered and became one of East Asia's economic "Tigers." The dominant political issues continue to be the relationship between Taiwan and China - specifically the question of Taiwan's eventual status - as well as domestic political and economic reform.
Location: Eastern Asia, islands bordering the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, South China Sea, and Taiwan Strait, north of the Philippines, off the southeastern coast of China
Area land: 32,260 sq km
Area water: 3,720 sq km
Coastline: 1,566.3 km
Country name conventional long form: none
Country name conventional short form: Taiwan
Country name former: Formosa
Population: 23,071,779 (July 2011 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 15.6% (male 1,875,359/female 1,732,007); 15-64 years: 73.4% (male 8,538,881/female 8,406,716); 65 years and over: 10.9% (male 1,198,591/female 1,320,225) (2011 est.);
Population growth rate: 0.193% (2011 est.)
Birth rate: 8.9 births/1,000 population (2011 est.)
Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.)
Net migration rate: 0.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2011 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.084 male(s)/female; under 15 years: 1.08 male(s)/female; 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female; 65 years and over: 0.92 male(s)/female; total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2011 est.);
Infant mortality rate: total: 5.18 deaths/1,000 live births; male: 5.46 deaths/1,000 live births; female: 4.88 deaths/1,000 live births (2011 est.);
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 78.32 years; male: 75.5 years; female: 81.36 years (2011 est.);
Total fertility rate: 1.15 children born/woman (2011 est.);
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA;
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA;
HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA;
Nationality: noun: Taiwan (singular and plural);

adjective: Taiwan;
Ethnic groups: Taiwanese (including Hakka) 84%, mainland Chinese 14%, indigenous 2%;
Religions: mixture of Buddhist and Taoist 93%, Christian 4.5%, other 2.5%;
Languages: Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects;
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write; total population: 96.1%; male: NA; female: NA (2003);
GDP (purchasing power parity): $823.6 billion (2010 est.); $745.4 billion (2009 est.); $759.8 billion (2008 est.);
GDP (official exchange rate): $427 billion (2010 est.);
GDP - real growth rate: 10.5% (2010 est.); -1.9% (2009 est.); 0.7% (2008 est.);
GDP - per capita (PPP): $35,800 (2010 est.); $32,400 (2009 est.); $33,100 (2008 est.);
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 1.4%; industry: 31.1%; services: 67.5% (2010 est.);
Population below poverty line: 1.16% (2010 est.);
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA; highest 10%: 40.3% (2010);
Labor force: 11.07 million (2010 est.);
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 5.2%; industry: 35.9%; services: 58.8% (2010 est.);
Unemployment rate: 5.2% (2010 est.); 5.9% (2009 est.);
Budget: revenues: $72.24 billion; expenditures: $79.65 billion (2010 est.);
Industries: electronics, communications and information technology products, petroleum refining, armaments, chemicals, textiles, iron and steel, machinery, cement, food processing, vehicles, consumer products, pharmaceuticals ;
Industrial production growth rate: 26.4% (2010 est.);
Electricity - production: 229.1 billion kWh (2009);
Electricity - consumption: 220.8 billion kWh (2009);
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2009 est.);
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2009 est.);

Statistics: CIA World Factbook.

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