Taiwan History, Geography, Economy and Important Events

Taiwanese indigenous people inhabited the island of Taiwan about 6,000 years ago. In the 17th century, a partial Dutch colony opened the island to large-scale Han immigration. The island was removed by the Qing Dynasty of China in 1683, following the brief rule of southwestern Taiwan by the state of Tunging, and ceded to the Empire of Japan in 1895. After the surrender of Japan in 1945, Taiwan was controlled by the Allied countries of World War II. The re-start of the Chinese Civil War caused the ROC to suffer losses to the Chinese Communist Party of mainland China and Taiwan to retreat in 1949. Although the ROC government continued to claim to be the legitimate representative of China, its effective jurisdiction has been limited to Taiwan and several small islands since 1950.

Taiwan is an island country in East Asia. The main island, historically known as Formosa, makes up 99% of the area controlled by the ROC, measuring 35,808 square kilometers (13,826 square miles) and 180 kilometers across the Taiwan Strait off mainland China's southeast coast. (112 mi). The East China Sea lies to its north, the Philippine Sea to its east, the Luzon Strait directly to its south, and the South China Sea to its southwest. Smaller islands include a number in the Taiwan Strait that includes the Pangu Islands, the Kinmen and Matsu Islands near the Chinese coast and the South China Sea Islands. The average temperature in Taiwan in the last 100 years has risen by 1.4 degrees Celsius, double the worldwide temperature rise. The Taiwan government aims to cut carbon emissions by 20% in 2030 compared to 2005 levels, and 50% in 2050 compared to 2005 levels. Between 2005 and 2016, carbon emissions increased by 0.92%.

Taiwan's accelerated industrialization and rapid development during the second half of the 20th century has been called the "Taiwan Miracle". Taiwan is one of the "Four Asian Tigers" along with Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore. In 1974, Chiang Ching-kuo implemented Ten Major Construction Projects, the founding foundation that helped transform Taiwan into its current export-driven economy. Since the 1990s, many Taiwan-based technology companies have expanded their reach worldwide.

Mandarin is the primary language used in business and education, and is spoken by the majority of the population. Traditional Chinese is used as a writing system. 70% of the population is of the Hokolo ethnic group and speaks Hokkin natively in addition to Mandarin. The Hakka group, comprising about 14–18% of the population, speaks the Hakka language. Although Mandarin is the language of instruction in schools and is also used on television and radio.

Brunei [M] , China [M] , Indonesia [M] , Japan [M] , Malaysia [M] , Philippines [M] , Vietnam [M] ,
Definition of international border: L = Land Border | M = Maritime Border