About the Country
Republic of China
Capital : Taipei City
Taiwan, official name is Republic of China (ROC), is an East Asian country, strategically located in the West Pacific. Therefore, the security and prosperity of Taiwan are intimately related to the peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific, and in turn they serve the interests of all the nations in the region. Taiwan works to promote regional integration in a number of venues. The most important is APEC, of which Taiwan is a full member. Taiwan launches a lot of projects in economic-wise and IT industry transform to establish an important role in APEC, as a future Economic and IT center of the region.
Government Structure
The Republic of China was founded by Dr. Sun Yat-Sen in 1912 and is a sovereign state, which is described in the Constitution as " a democratic republic of the poeple, by the people, and for the people.
There are three distinct levels of government in the ROC. The central level consists of the presidency, the five Yuan (Executive, Legislative, Judicial, Examination, adn Control), and the National Assembly.
People
Taiwan's population surpassed 22.45million in June 2002. Taipei City is the largest and most densely populated metropolitan area, followed by Kaohsiunh City in the south. About 60 percent of Taiwan's population is concentrated in four metropolitan - Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung and Tainan.
With the exception of over 413,519 indigenous people in 2001, Taiwan's population is composed almost entirely of Han Chines. Early Han Chinese immigrants(Taiwanese), are of two groups: the Hakka, mostly from Guangdong Province; and the Fujian. These two groups comprise about 85 percent of the Han population, with the Fujianese outnumbering the Hakka by about three to one. The last group of immigrants came to Taiwan from various parts of China with the ROC government in 1949. They are generally referred to as "mainlanders", and account for less than 15 percent of the Han population. Intermarriage between all four groups - indigenous peoples, Hakkas, Fujianese and mainlanders - is quite common, so the distinguishing characteriestics of these groups have become fainter over time.
Statistical Data on the Republic of China - Taiwan
Category |
Subcategory |
Units |
Data |
Time Period |
|
Population |
Registered Persons |
-- |
22,484,000 |
as of Sept. 2002 |
|
" |
Crude Birth Rate |
per thousand |
11.22 |
as of Sept. 2002 |
|
" |
Crude Death Rate |
per thousand |
5.37 |
as Sept. 2002 |
|
Economy |
Per Capita GNP (P) |
US$ |
12,941 |
2001 |
|
" |
Average National Income (P) |
US$ |
11,820 |
2001 |
|
" |
Economic Grwoth Rate |
percent |
-1.91 |
2001 |
|
" |
Savings Rate |
percent |
27.03 |
2001 |
|
" |
Exports |
billion US$ |
122.866 |
2001 |
|
" |
Imports |
billion US$ |
107.237 |
2001 |
|
" |
Foreign Exchange Reserves (P) |
billion US$ |
157.03 |
as Sept. 2002 |
|
" |
Trips Abroad by ROC Citizens |
-- |
7,189,000 |
2001 |
|
" |
Trips to the ROC by Foreign Nationals |
-- |
2,617,000 |
2001 |
|
Culture, Education and Media |
Education Share of GNP |
percent |
5.50 |
SY 2000 |
|
" |
Public Libraries |
-- |
504 |
as of 2001 |
|
" |
Newspapers |
-- |
474 |
as of Sept. 2002 |
|
" |
Magazines |
-- |
8,140 |
as of Sept. 2002 |
|
" |
News Agentcies |
-- |
273 |
as of Sept. 2002 |
|
" |
Publishing Houses |
-- |
7,810 |
as of Sept. 2002 |
|
" |
Record Companies |
-- |
2,791 |
as of Sept. 2002 |
|
" |
Radio Stations |
-- |
174 |
as of Sept. 2002 |
|
Politics and Foreign Affairs |
Political Parties |
-- |
99 |
as of the 2nd quarter, 2002 |
|
" |
Social Groups |
-- |
4,633 |
as of the 2nd quarter, 2002 |
|
" |
Vocational Groups |
-- |
239 |
as of the 2nd quarter , 2002 |
|
" |
Countries with Diplomatic Ties |
-- |
27 |
as of Aug. 2002 |
|
" |
Membership in International Non-governmental Organizations |
-- |
1,065 |
as of July 2002 |
|
" |
Membership in International Governmental Organizations |
-- |
18 |
as of July 2002 |
|
Work Force |
Total Labor Force |
-- |
10,010,000 |
as of Aug. 2002 |
|
" |
Labor Participation Rate |
percent |
57.49 |
as of Aug. 2002 |
|
" |
Unemployment Rate |
percent |
5.35 |
as of Aug. 2002 |
Note: (P) indicates preliminary estimates. Source: The Monthly Bulletin of Statistics of the Republic of China and the Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of China publised by the Executive Yuan.