Taiwan Travel Podcast with Cheng-Han Lin

Location

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

Terrain

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

Climate

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

Elevation

Highest point

Yu Shan 3,952 m

Lowest point

South China Sea 0 m

Mean elevation

1,150 m

Area

Total

35,980 sq km

Land

32,260 sq km

Water

3,720 sq km

Size comparison

Slightly smaller than Maryland and Delaware combined

Coastline

1,566.3 km

Land borders

Total 0 km

Natural resources

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

Land use

Agricultural land

22% (2023 est.)

Arable land

16.6% (2023 est.)

Permanent crops

5.4% (2023 est.)

Permanent pasture

0% (2022 est.)

Forest

0% (2022 est.)

Other

78% (2022 est.)

Natural hazards

Earthquakes; typhoons

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

Note

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

Population

Total

23,600,776 (2025 est.)

Male

11,596,835

Female

12,003,941

Nationality

Noun

Taiwan (singular and plural)

Adjective

Taiwan (or Taiwanese)

Ethnic groups

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%

Languages

Languages

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

Major-language sample(s)

世界概況 – 不可缺少的基本消息來源 (Mandarin)

Religions

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

Median age

Total

45.1 years (2025 est.)

Male

43.6 years

Female

45.5 years

Life expectancy

Total population

81.6 years (2024 est.)

Male

78.6 years

Female

84.7 years

Urbanisation

Urban population

80.1% of total population (2023)

Rate of urbanization

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

Where people live

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

Largest cities

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)

Background

First inhabited by Austronesian people, Taiwan became home to Han immigrants beginning in the late Ming Dynasty (17th century). In 1895, military defeat forced China's Qing Dynasty to cede Taiwan to Japan, which then governed Taiwan for 50 years. Taiwan came under Chinese Nationalist (Kuomintang, KMT) control after World War II. With the communist victory in the Chinese civil war in 1949, the Nationalist-controlled Republic of China government and 2 million Nationalists fled to Taiwan and continued to claim to be the legitimate government for mainland China and Taiwan, based on a 1947 constitution drawn up for all of China. Until 1987, however, the Nationalist Government ruled Taiwan under a civil war martial law declaration dating to 1948. Beginning in the 1970s, Nationalist authorities gradually began to incorporate the native population into the governing structure beyond the local level.

The democratization process expanded rapidly in the 1980s, leading to the then-illegal founding of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwan’s first opposition party, in 1986 and the lifting of martial law the following year. Taiwan held legislative elections in 1992, the first in over 40 years, and its first direct presidential election in 1996. In the 2000 presidential elections, Taiwan underwent its first peaceful transfer of power with the KMT loss to the DPP and afterwards experienced two additional democratic transfers of power in 2008 and 2016. Throughout this period, the island prospered and turned into one of East Asia's economic "Tigers," becoming a major investor in mainland China after 2000 as cross-Strait ties matured. The dominant political issues continue to be economic reform and growth, as well as management of sensitive relations between Taiwan and China.

Government

Semi-presidential republic

Capital

Taipei

Time zone

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

Local name

None

National day

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

Overview

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

GDP per capita

Real GDP per capita 2023

$32,300 (2023 est.)

Real GDP per capita 2022

$32,600 (2022 est.)

Real GDP per capita 2021

$32,900 (2021 est.)

Inflation

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2024

2.2% (2024 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2023

2.5% (2023 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2022

2.9% (2022 est.)

Unemployment

Unemployment rate 2024

3.4% (2024 est.)

Unemployment rate 2023

3.5% (2023 est.)

Unemployment rate 2022

3.7% (2022 est.)

Exchange rate

Currency

New Taiwan dollars (TWD) per US dollar -

Exchange rates 2024

32.108 (2024 est.)

Exchange rates 2023

31.15 (2023 est.)

Exchange rates 2022

29.777 (2022 est.)

Exchange rates 2021

28.022 (2021 est.)

Exchange rates 2020

28.211 (2020 est.)

Main industries

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

Agriculture

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

Airports

57 (2025)

Railways

Total

1,613.1 km (2018)

Standard gauge

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

Narrow gauge

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

Ports

Total ports

8 (2024)

Large

1

Medium

3

Small

2

Very small

2

Ports with oil terminals

8

Key ports

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

Internet domain

.tw

Internet users

Percent of population 90% (2021 est.)

Mobile subscriptions

Total subscriptions

29.8 million (2024 est.)

Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

128 (2024 est.)

Environmental issues

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

Fresh water

67 cubic meters (2011)