Republic of China

National name: Zhonghua Minguo

President: Chen Shui-bian (2000)

Prime Minister: Su Tseng-chang (2006)

Land area: 12,456 sq mi (32,261 sq km); total area: 13,892 sq mi (35,980 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 23,036,087 (growth rate: 0.6%); birth rate: 12.6/1000; infant mortality rate: 6.3/1000; life expectancy: 77.4; density per sq mi: 1,849

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

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: 86% (1980)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $611.5 billion; per capita $26,700. Real growth rate: 3.8%. Inflation: 2.3%. Unemployment: 4.2%. Arable land: 24%. Agriculture: rice, corn, vegetables, fruit, tea; pigs, poultry, beef, milk; fish. Labor force: 10.6 million; agriculture 6%, industry 35.8%, services 58.2%. 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.


 

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