Taiwan

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

23 30 N, 121 00 E

Southeast Asia

35,980 sq km

32,260 sq km

3,720 sq km

Slightly smaller than Maryland and Delaware combined

0 km

1,566.3 km

12 nm

200 nm

Tropical; marine; rainy season during southwest monsoon (June to August); persistent and extensive cloudiness all year

Eastern two-thirds mostly rugged mountains; flat to gently rolling plains in west

Yu Shan 3,952 m

South China Sea 0 m

1,150 m

Small deposits of coal, natural gas, limestone, marble, asbestos, arable land

22% (2023 est.)

Arable land: 16.6% (2023 est.)

Permanent crops: 5.4% (2023 est.)

Permanent pasture: 0% (2022 est.)

0% (2022 est.)

78% (2022 est.)

3,820 sq km (2012)

Distribution exhibits a peripheral coastal settlement pattern, with the largest populations on the north and west coasts

Earthquakes; typhoons volcanism: Kueishantao Island (401 m), east of Taiwan, is the only historically active volcano, but it has not erupted in centuries

Strategic location adjacent to both the Taiwan Strait and the Luzon Strait

23,600,776 (2025 est.)

11,596,835

12,003,941

Taiwan (singular and plural)

Taiwan (or Taiwanese)

Han Chinese (including Holo, who compose approximately 70% of Taiwan's population, Hakka, and other groups originating in mainland China) more than 95%, indigenous Malayo-Polynesian peoples 2.3%

Mandarin (official), Min Nan, Hakka dialects, approximately 16 indigenous languages

世界概況 – 不可缺少的基本消息來源 (Mandarin) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

Buddhist 35.3%, Taoist 33.2%, Christian 3.9%, folk religion (includes Confucian) approximately 10%, none or unspecified 18.2% (2005 est.)

12.1% (male 1,472,059/female 1,391,031)

69% (male 8,132,356/female 8,155,582)

18.8% (2024 est.) (male 2,002,076/female 2,442,170)

46.5 (2025 est.)

17.7 (2025 est.)

28.7 (2025 est.)

3.5 (2025 est.)

45.1 years (2025 est.)

43.6 years

45.5 years

0.02% (2025 est.)

7.22 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)

8.18 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)

1.17 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)

Distribution exhibits a peripheral coastal settlement pattern, with the largest populations on the north and west coasts

80.1% of total population (2023)

0.65% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

4.504 million New Taipei City, 2.754 million TAIPEI (capital), 2.319 million Taoyuan, 1.553 million Kaohsiung, 1.369 million Taichung, 863,000 Tainan (2023)

1.06 male(s)/female

1.06 male(s)/female

1 male(s)/female

0.82 male(s)/female

0.97 male(s)/female (2024 est.)

3.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)

4.2 deaths/1,000 live births

3.5 deaths/1,000 live births

81.6 years (2024 est.)

78.6 years

84.7 years

1.12 children born/woman (2025 est.)

0.54 (2025 est.)

Air pollution; water pollution from industrial emissions, raw sewage; contamination of drinking water supplies; trade in endangered species; low-level radioactive waste disposal

Tropical; marine; rainy season during southwest monsoon (June to August); persistent and extensive cloudiness all year

22% (2023 est.)

Arable land: 16.6% (2023 est.)

Permanent crops: 5.4% (2023 est.)

Permanent pasture: 0% (2022 est.)

0% (2022 est.)

78% (2022 est.)

80.1% of total population (2023)

0.65% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

289.109 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)

140.734 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)

92.014 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)

56.361 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)

7.336 million tons (2015 est.)

13.8% (2022 est.)

67 cubic meters (2011)

None

Taiwan

None

Taiwan

Formosa

The name may derive from the Chinese words tai (terrace) and wan (bay), referring to the island's terrain; in 1590, the Portuguese named it Formosa, meaning "beautiful"

Semi-presidential republic

Taipei

25 02 N, 121 31 E

UTC+8 (13 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

The name means "Northern Taiwan," from the Chinese words tai (a short form of Taiwan) and bei (north), reflecting the city's position in the far north of the island

Includes main island of Taiwan, plus smaller islands nearby and off coast of China's Fujian Province; Taiwan is divided into 13 counties (xian, singular and plural), 3 cities (shi, singular and plural), and 6 special municipalities directly under the jurisdiction of the Executive Yuan counties: Changhua, Chiayi, Hsinchu, Hualien, Kinmen, Lienchiang, Miaoli, Nantou, Penghu, Pingtung, Taitung, Yilan, Yunlin cities: Chiayi, Hsinchu, Keelung special municipalities: Kaohsiung (city), New Taipei (city), Taichung (city), Tainan (city), Taipei (city), Taoyuan (city)

Civil law system

Previous 1912, 1931; latest adopted 25 December 1946, promulgated 1 January 1947, effective 25 December 1947

Proposed by at least one fourth of the Legislative Yuan membership; passage requires approval by at least three-fourths majority vote of at least three fourths of the Legislative Yuan membership and approval in a referendum by more than half of eligible voters

Has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

No

At least one parent must be a citizen of Taiwan

Yes, except that citizens of Taiwan are not recognized as dual citizens of the People's Republic of China

5 years

20 years of age; universal

President LAI Ching-te (since 20 May 2024)

Premier CHO Jung-tai (President of the Executive Yuan) (since 20 May 2024)

Executive Yuan; ministers appointed by president on recommendation of premier

President and vice president directly elected on the same ballot by simple-majority popular vote for a 4-year term (eligible for a second term); premier appointed by the president; vice premiers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the premier

13 January 2024

2024: LAI Ching-te elected president; percent of vote - LAI Ching-te (DPP) 40.1%, HOU Yu-ih (KMT) 33.5%, KO Wen-je (TPP) 26.5%) 2020: TSAI Ing-wen reelected president; percent of vote - TSAI Ing-wen (DPP) 57.1%, HAN Kuo-yu (KMT) 38.6%, James SOONG (PFP) 4.3%

2028

Legislative Yuan

Unicameral

113 (directly elected)

Plurality/majority

Full renewal

4 years

13 January 2024

Kuomintang (KMT) 52, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) 51, Taiwan People's Party (TPP) 8, independent 2

41.6%

January 2028

Supreme Court (consists of the court president, vice president, and approximately 100 judges organized into civil and criminal panels, each with a chief justice and 4 associate justices); Constitutional Court (consists of the court president, vice president, and 13 justices)

Supreme Court justices appointed for life by the president; Constitutional Court justices appointed by the president, with approval of the Legislative Yuan, for 8-year terms, with half the membership renewed every 4 years

High courts; district courts; hierarchy of administrative courts

Democratic Progressive Party or DPP Kuomintang or KMT (Nationalist Party) Taiwan People's Party or TPP

None

Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver (CO), Hagatna (Guam), Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC

The US does not have an embassy in Taiwan; commercial and cultural relations with the people of Taiwan are maintained through an unofficial instrumentality, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), a private nonprofit corporation that performs citizen and consular services similar to those at diplomatic posts; it is managed by Director Raymond F. GREENE (since 8 July 2024)

4170 AIT Taipei Place, Washington DC 20521-4170

[886] 2-2162-2000

[886] 2-2162-2251

TaipeiACS@state.gov https://www.ait.org.tw/

American Institute in Taiwan No. 100, Jinhu Road, Neihu District 11461, Taipei City

Kaohsiung (Branch Office)

ADB (Chinese Taipei), APEC (Chinese Taipei), BCIE, CABEI, IOC, ITUC (NGOs), SICA (observer), WTO (Chinese Taipei)

Republic Day (National Day), 10 October (1911)

Description: red field with a dark blue rectangle in the upper-left corner, bearing a white sun with 12 triangular rays meaning: blue stands for liberty, justice, and democracy; red for fraternity, sacrifice, and nationalism; white for equality, frankness, and the people's livelihood; the 12 rays represent the months of the year and the traditional Chinese hours (each ray equals two hours) history: the blue-and-white design of the canton (symbolizing the sun of progress) dates to 1895

White sun with 12 rays on a blue field

Blue, white, red

"Zhonghua Minguo guoge" (National Anthem of the Republic of China)

HU Han-min, TAI Chi-t'ao, and LIAO Chung-k'ai/CHENG Mao-yun

Adopted 1937; also the song of the Kuomintang Party; informally known as "San Min Chu I" or "San Min Zhu Yi" (Three Principles of the People); the anthem is banned from performance in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau

High-income East Asian economy; most technologically advanced computer microchip manufacturing; increasing Chinese interference threatens market capabilities; minimum wages rising; longstanding regional socioeconomic inequality

$1.743 trillion (2023 est.)

$1.664 trillion (2022 est.)

$1.512 trillion (2021 est.)

1.28% (2023 est.)

2.59% (2022 est.)

6.62% (2021 est.)

$32,300 (2023 est.)

$32,600 (2022 est.)

$32,900 (2021 est.)

$611.391 billion (2023 est.)

2.2% (2024 est.)

2.5% (2023 est.)

2.9% (2022 est.)

48.3% (2023 est.)

13.3% (2023 est.)

23.7% (2023 est.)

-0.6% (2023 est.)

64% (2023 est.)

-49.1% (2023 est.)

Rice, vegetables, pork, chicken, cabbages, milk, sugarcane, tropical fruits, pineapples, eggs (2023)

Electronics, communications and information technology products, petroleum refining, chemicals, textiles, iron and steel, machinery, cement, food processing, vehicles, consumer products, pharmaceuticals

3.4% (2024 est.)

3.5% (2023 est.)

3.7% (2022 est.)

33.9 (2023 est.)

13.8% of household expenditures (2023 est.)

2.5% of household expenditures (2023 est.)

$94.943 billion (2019 est.)

$105.833 billion (2019 est.)

35.7% of GDP (2017 est.)

$105.076 billion (2023 est.)

$101.032 billion (2022 est.)

$118.298 billion (2021 est.)

$432.432 billion (2023 est.)

$479.415 billion (2022 est.)

$446.371 billion (2021 est.)

China 20%, USA 17%, Hong Kong 13%, Singapore 9%, Japan 7% (2023)

Integrated circuits, machine parts, broadcasting equipment, computers, plastics (2023)

$351.441 billion (2023 est.)

$428.083 billion (2022 est.)

$381.958 billion (2021 est.)

China 21%, Japan 13%, USA 11%, S. Korea 9%, Australia 5% (2023)

Integrated circuits, crude petroleum, machinery, natural gas, coal (2023)

New Taiwan dollars (TWD) per US dollar -

32.108 (2024 est.)

31.15 (2023 est.)

29.777 (2022 est.)

28.022 (2021 est.)

28.211 (2020 est.)

64.535 million kW (2023 est.)

270.648 billion kWh (2023 est.)

7.907 billion kWh (2023 est.)

84.2% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)

6.4% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)

4.6% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)

2.2% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)

1.2% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)

1.3% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)

1 (2025)

0.94GW (2025 est.)

6.9% (2023 est.)

5 (2025)

5.212 million metric tons (2023 est.)

64.609 million metric tons (2023 est.)

47,000 metric tons (2023 est.)

58.15 million metric tons (2023 est.)

1 million metric tons (2023 est.)

800 bbl/day (2023 est.)

954,000 bbl/day (2023 est.)

2.38 million barrels (2021 est.)

60.761 million cubic meters (2023 est.)

27.222 billion cubic meters (2023 est.)

26.997 billion cubic meters (2023 est.)

6.23 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)

206.102 million Btu/person (2023 est.)

10 million (2023 est.)

43 (2023 est.)

29.8 million (2024 est.)

128 (2024 est.)

5 national TV networks with about 22 stations; over 300 satellite TV channels available; about half of households use multi-channel cable TV; almost all subscribe to digital cable TV; national and regional radio networks with about 171 radio stations (2023)

.tw

90% (2021 est.)

5,831,470 (2019 est.)

25 (2019 est.)

B

57 (2025)

56 (2025)

1,613.1 km (2018)

345 km (2018) 1.435-m gauge (345 km electrified)

1,118.1 km (2018) 1.067-m gauge (793.9 km electrified)

465 (2023)

Bulk carrier 29, container ship 53, general cargo 58, oil tanker 35, other 290

8 (2024)

1

3

2

2

8

Chi-Lung, Hua-Lien Kang, Kao-Hsiung, Su-Ao

Taiwan Armed Forces: Army, Navy (includes Marine Corps), Air Force, Information Communication and Electronic Force (ICEF) Ocean Affairs Council: Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Ministry of Interior: National Police (2025)

2.4% of GDP (2024 est.)

2.5% of GDP (2023 est.)

2.1% of GDP (2022 est.)

2.1% of GDP (2021 est.)

2.1% of GDP (2020 est.)

Approximately 170,000 active duty Armed Forces (2025)

The military's inventory is a mix of domestically produced and foreign-supplied armaments, mostly from the US either as secondhand or direct acquisitions; Taiwan's domestic defense industry produces weapons systems such as aircraft, armored vehicles, missiles, and naval platforms (2025)

Men 18-36 years of age may volunteer or must complete 12 months of compulsory military service; civil service can be substituted for military service in some cases; women can volunteer (2025)

The military’s primary responsibility is external security, including the defense and protection of the country’s air space, maritime claims, sea lines of communications, sovereignty, and territory; its main focus is the challenge posed by the People’s Republic of China (2025)

Taiwan Space Agency (TASA; renamed and reorganized in 2023 from the former National Space Program Organization or NSPO, which was established in 1991) (2025)

Sounding rockets launched from Jui Peng Air Base (Pingtung); has announced intentions to build a future national space port on the southeast coast (Pingtung) (2025)

Has had a national space program since the early 1990s, with a focus on acquiring satellites and developing independent space capabilities, such as rocket manufacturing and satellite launch services; manufactures and operates satellites and sounding rockets; researching and developing other space technologies, including remote sensing, telecommunications, small satellites, satellite payloads and ground station components, spacecraft components, navigational control, and rocket propulsion systems; has bilateral relations with the space programs of France, India, Japan, Paraguay, Poland, the UK, and the US; has a commercial space industry that provides components and expertise for the Taiwan Space Agency and is independently developing satellites and a small satellite launch vehicle; the government passed a space promotion act in 2021 to encourage private investment in the space industry (2025)

1997 - launched first sounding rocket 1999 - first scientific satellite (FORMOSAT-1) built and launched by the US 2004 - first remote sensing (RS) satellite (FORMOSAT-2) built by France and launched by US 2017 - first domestically built RS satellite (FORMOSAT-5) launched by US 2021 - initiated development of a commercial 3-stage, hybrid-engine rocket (Hapith-5) 2023 - first domestically made RS/meteorological satellite (FormoSat-7R/Triton) launched on European rocket

380 (2024 est.)

Major precursor-chemical producer (2025)