TAIWAN

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Population:

• 22,370,461 (July 2001 est.)  

Net migration rate:

• -0.34 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

• 6.93 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

• total population: 76.54  years
• male: 73.81 years
• female: 79.51 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate:

• 1.76 children born/woman (2001 est.)

Nationality:

• noun: Chinese (singular and plural)
• adjective: Chinese

Ethnic groups:

• Taiwanese (including Hakka) 84%, mainland Chinese 14%, aborigine 2%

Religions:

• mixture of Buddhist, Confucian, 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: 86%
• male: 93%
• female: 79% (1980 est.)
• note: literacy for the total population increased to 92.65% in 1997

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Country name:

• conventional long form: none
• conventional short form: Taiwan
• local long form: none
• local short form: T'ai-wan

Government type:

• multiparty democratic regime headed by popularly elected president

National capital:

• Taipei

Administrative divisions:

• since in the past the authorities claimed to be the government of all China, the central administrative divisions include the provinces of Fu-chien (some 20 offshore islands of Fujian Province including Quemoy and Matsu) and Taiwan (the island of Taiwan and the Pescadores islands); note—the more commonly referenced administrative divisions are those of Taiwan Province - 16 counties (hsien, singular and plural), 5 municipalities.

National holiday:

• National Day, 10 October (1911) (Anniversary of the Chinese Revolution)

Constitution:

• 1 January 1947, amended in 1992, 1994, and 1997

Legal system:

• based on civil law system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage:

• 20 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

• chief of state: President CHEN Shui-bian (since May 2000); Vice President Lu Hsiu-lien
• head of government: Premier (President of the Executive Yuan) Vincent SIEW (since 1 September 1997) and Vice Premier (Vice President of the Executive Yuan) LIU Chao-shiuan (since 10 December 1997)
• cabinet: Executive Yuan appointed by the president
• elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 18 March 2000 (next to be held NA March 2004); premier appointed by the president; vice premiers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the premier
• election results: CHEN Shui-bian elected president; percent of vote - CHEN Shui-bian (DPP) 39.3%, James SOONG (independent) 36.84%, LIEN Chan (KMT) 23.1%, HSU Hsin-liang (independent) .63%, LEE Ao (CNP) .13% 

Legislative branch:

• unicameral Legislative Yuan (225 seats - 168 elected by popular vote, 41 elected on the basis of the proportion of nationwide votes received by participating political parties, eight elected from overseas Chinese constituencies on the basis of the proportion of nationwide votes received by participating political parties, eight elected by popular vote among the aboriginal populations; members serve three-year terms) and unicameral National Assembly (334 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
• elections: Legislative Yuan - last held 5 December 1998 (next to be held NA December 2001); National Assembly - last held 23 March 1996 (next to be held NA 2000)
• election results: Legislative Yuan - percent of vote by party - KMT 46%, DPP 29%, CNP 7%, independents 10%, other parties 8%; seats by party - KMT 123, DPP 70, CNP 11, independents 15, other parties 6; National Assembly - percent of vote by party - KMT 55%, DPP 30%, CNP 14%, other 1%; seats by party - KMT 183, DPP 99, CNP 46, other 6

Judicial branch:

• Judicial Yuan, justices appointed by the president with the consent of the National Assembly

Political parties and leaders:

• Chinese New Party or CNP [CHOU Yang-sun]; Democratic Progressive Party or DPP [LIN Yi-hsiung, chairman]; Kuomintang or KMT (Nationalist Party) [LIEN Chan, acting chairman]; Taiwan Independence Party or TAIP [CHENG Pang-chen]; other minor parties

Political pressure groups and leaders:

• Taiwan independence movement, various environmental groups
• note: debate on Taiwan independence has become acceptable within the mainstream of domestic politics on Taiwan; political liberalization and the increased representation of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan's legislature have opened public debate on the island's national identity; advocates of Taiwan independence, including within the DPP, oppose the ruling party's traditional stand that the island will eventually reunify with mainland China; goals of the Taiwan independence movement include establishing a sovereign nation on Taiwan and entering the UN; other organizations supporting Taiwan independence include the World United Formosans for Independence and the Organization for Taiwan Nation Building

Diplomatic representation in the US:

• none; unofficial commercial and cultural relations with the people of the US are maintained through a private instrumentality, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) with headquarters in Taipei and field offices in Washington and 12 other US cities

Diplomatic representation from the US:

• none; unofficial commercial and cultural relations with the people on Taiwan are maintained through a private institution, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), which has its headquarters in Rosslyn, Virginia (telephone: [1] (703) 525-8474 and FAX: [1] (703) 841-1385) and offices in Taipei at #7 Lane 134, Hsin Yi Road, Section 3, telephone [886] (22) 709-2000, FAX [886] (22) 702-7675, and in Kao-hsiung at #2 Chung Cheng 3d Road, telephone [886] (7) 224-0154 through 0157, FAX [886] (7) 223-8237, and the American Trade Center at Room 3207 International Trade Building, Taipei World Trade Center, 333 Keelung Road Section 1, Taipei 10548, telephone [886] (22) 720-1550, FAX [886] 757-7162

Taiwan Government Server

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Economy—overview:

• Taiwan has a dynamic capitalist economy with gradually decreasing guidance of investment and foreign trade by government authorities. In keeping with this trend, some large government-owned banks and industrial firms are being privatized. Real growth in GDP has averaged about 8% during the past three decades. Exports have grown even faster and have provided the primary impetus for industrialization. Inflation and unemployment are low; the trade surplus is substantial; and foreign reserves are the world's third largest. Agriculture contributes 3% to GDP, down from 35% in 1952. Traditional labor-intensive industries are steadily being moved off-shore and replaced with more capital- and technology-intensive industries. Taiwan has become a major investor in China, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam. The tightening of labor markets has led to an influx of foreign workers, both legal and illegal. Because of its conservative financial approach and its entrepreneurial strengths, Taiwan suffered little compared with many of its neighbors from the Asian financial crisis in 1998-99. Growth in 2001 will depend largely on conditions in Taiwan's export markets and may be about 5%.

GDP:

• purchasing power parity: $386 billion (2000 est.)
• real growth rate: 6.3% (2000 est.)
• per capita: purchasing power parity—$17,400 (2000 est.) 
• composition by sector: agriculture: agriculture: 3% industry: 33% services: 64% (1999 est.)

Inflation rate—consumer price index:

• 0.4% (1999 est.)

Labor force:

• total: 1.3% (2000 est.)
• by occupation: services 55%, industry 37%, agriculture 8% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate:

• 3% (2000 est.)

Budget:

• revenues: $42.74 billion 
• expenditures: $48.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)

Exports:

• total value: $148.38 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
• commodities: electronics, electric and machinery equipment 52%, metals, textiles, plastics, chemicals
• partners: US 24.2%, Hong Kong 23.5%, Europe 15.1%, Japan 9.6% (1997)

Imports:

• total value: $114.4 billion (c.i.f., 1997)
• commodities: machinery and electrical equipment 16.5%, electronic products 16.3%, chemicals 10.0%, precision instrument 5.6% (1997)
• partners: US 23.5%, Hong Kong 21.1%, Europe 16%, ASEAN 12.2%, Japan 11.2% (2000)

Debt—external:

• $40 billion (2000)

Economic aid:

• $NA

Currency:

• 1 New Taiwan dollar (NT $) = 100 cents

Exchange rates:

• New Taiwan dollars per US $1—33.082 (yearend 2000), 31.395 (yearend 1999), 32.216 (1998), 32.052 (1997), 27.5 (1996), 27.5 (1995) 

Council for Economic Planning and Development

Taiwan Related Links, provided by the ROC Government Information Office

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Military branches:

• Army, Navy (includes Marines), Air Force, Coastal Patrol and Defense Command, Armed Forces Reserve Command, Combined Service Forces

Military manpower—military age:

• 19 years of age

Military manpower—availability:

• males age 15-49: 6,575,689 (2001 est.) 

Military manpower—fit for military service:

• males: 5,025,856 (2001 est.)

Military manpower—reaching military age annually:

• males: 201,413 (2000 est.)

Military expenditures—dollar figure:

• $8.042 billion (FY98/99)

Military expenditures—percent of GDP:

• 2.8% (FY98/99)

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Disputes—international:

• Involved in complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with China, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei
• Paracel Islands occupied by China, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan
• Claims Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai), as does China

Illicit drugs:

• considered an important heroin transit point; major problem with domestic consumption of methamphetamines and heroin