Location
Chinese Taipei is situated between the world's largest continent (Asia) and largest ocean (Pacific). It is located in the western Pacific between temperate Japan to the north, subtropical southern China to the west, and the tropical Philippines to the south. It lies on major air and sea transportation routes in the region. The island of Chinese Taipei is about 394 km long and 144 km at the widest points. Total land area is only about 3,6000 square kilometers. It is shaped like a tobacco leaf that is narrow at both ends.

Chinese Taipei lies on the western edge of the Pacific "rim of fire," and continuous tectonic movements have created majestic peaks, rolling hills and plains, basins, coastlines, and other wonders. Lush green hills and mountains occupy two-thirds of the island, with the highest elevation of 3,952 m at Jade Mountain. The mountains are mostly forested, with some minerals, chiefly coal, at the northern end. On the east coast, the mountains rise steeply from the Pacific. To the west, level sediments lie just below the surface of the sea. As a result, river deposits have filled the shallow waters and extended the land 15 to 30 km westward from the foothills, giving Chinese Taipei a larger proportion of arable level land than either Japan or the Philippines.

There are about 18,400 species of wildlife on the island, with more than 20% belonging to rare or endangered species; among these are the land-locked salmon, mountain goat, Formosan rock monkey, Formosan black bear, blue magpie, Mikado pheasant, Hsuehshan grass lizard, and many more. Natural resources and agricultural potential make this coastal plain of great importance.

Size	36,000 square kilometers
Location	Eastern Asia, islands bordering the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, South China Sea, and north of the Philippines, off the southeastern coast of China
Climate	tropical; marine; rainy season during southwest monsoon (June to August); cloudiness is persistent and extensive all year
Agricultural products	rice, corn, vegetables, fruit, tea; pigs, poultry, beef, milk; fish
Natural Resources	small deposits of coal, natural gas, limestone, marble, and asbestos
Population	22,879,510 (January 2007 est.)
Major City	Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung
Language	Taiwanese(major)/ Mandarin(official) /Hakka(minor)/ Aboriginal(minor)
Literacy	96.1% of total population ( definition: age 15 and over can read and write)
Religion	mixture of Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist 93%, Christian 4.5%, other 2.5%
GDP	US$345,900 Million
GNP	US $15676/per capita

Climate
Chinese Taipei's local climate is greatly influenced by the East Asian monsoon. The Tropic of Cancer (23.5° N) running across its middle section divides the island into two climates, the tropical monsoon climate in the south and subtropical monsoon climate in the north with temperate which provides clear differentiation between the different seasons.

High temperature and humidity, massive rainfall and tropical cyclones in summer characterize the climate of Chinese Taipei. The temperature variations in Chinese Taipei are mild with annual average temperature of about 24 degrees Celsius in the south and 22°C in the north. Chinese Taipei enjoys warm weather all year round. The strongest fluctuations in weather conditions are during spring and winter, while during summer and autumn, the weather is relatively stable.

Religion
Over hundreds of years, Chinese Taipei's religious environment has developed into a polytheistic one. For the most part, the traditional religions practiced in Chinese Taipei are Buddhism, Daoism, and folk religions. Except for a small number of purely Buddhist temples, however, most of the island's traditional places of worship combine all three traditions.

Chinese Taipei’s religious landscape began to evolve in the 17th century as Han people migrated from southeastern provinces of China in large numbers. These early settlers brought Buddhism, Taoism and traditional Chinese popular religion with them to the island where the existing predominant religious practices were those of the aborigines.

People in the island not only respect traditional faiths but also open arms to other types of religious thoughts from the outside.? Around the same time, Christianity was introduced to the island following the arrival of Dutch and Spanish missionaries. Although dominated by ancestor worship, Buddhism, and Taoism, Chinese Taipei has never prohibited the introduction or development of other indigenous and foreign religions.

Chinese Taipei's religious landscape was further enriched by the relocating of traditional Chinese religions to the island. Although each religion appears to postulate an independent doctrine, some have similar philosophies, practices, and formats of religious services and even share the same deities. For example, Guan Yu, the legendary general in the Period of Three Kingdoms around the early third century, is worshiped as a deity in both Yi Guan Dao and Taoism. Guan Yin, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, is also worshiped in Yi Guan Dao and Li-ism.

Statistics on Major Religions in Chinese Taipei

Religion	Temples & Churches	Members	Universities & Colleges	Hospitals
Taoism	18,274	7,600,000	1	3
Buddhism	4,038	5,486,000	8	3
Yi Guan Dao	3,218	791,000	--	--
Protestantism	3,609	605,000	7	14
Catholicism	1,139	298,451	3	11
Lord of Universe Church	50	279,232	--	--
Tian De Jiao	14	200,000	--	--
Li-ism	138	182,000	--	--
Syuan Yuan Jiao	22	152,500	--	--
Islam	6	58,000	--	--
Maitreya Great Tao	2,150	110,000	--	--
Total	33,026	15,853,533	19	31

1.	Number of temples includes 8,753 home shrines.
2.	Including Tantric Buddhism
3.	Figures include those of the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.)
4.	The survey does not include Chinese Heritage and Mission Religion, which was recognized after the completion of the survey. Information provided by the religion shows that it has four temples and 4,500 believers.
Source: Civil Affairs Department, Ministry of the Interior

Economics
Chinese Taipei is known as one of the East Asian Dragons alone with Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong. From the early 1960s to 1980s, Chinese Taipei gradually changed from an agriculture-based economy to an industry-based economy. Agriculture contributes less than 2% to GDP, down from 32% in 1952.The average GDP is 15,640 USD in 2006 and the goal is 30,000USD in 2015. During the past twenty years, Chinese Taipei's economic transition from labor-intensive to technology- and capital-intensive industries has created further changes in production ratios for our economic sectors. Chinese Taipei today enjoys excellent public infrastructure, convenient transportation and comprehensive communications services, making it one of the most developed regions in the Asia-Pacific. Chinese Taipei’s drastic industrialization and rapid growth during the latter-half of the 20th century made it often considered an economic miracle.

Major Economic Indicators

Item	Unit	2004	2005	2006
Economic growth rate (real GDP increase)	%	6.07	4.09	4.62
Gross national product (GNP)	US$ billion	322	346	356
Per capita GNP	US$	14,271	15,676	15,640
Changes in consumer price index (CPI)	%	1.6	2.3	0.6
Exchange rate (average)	NT$ per US$	31.9	32.9	32.53
Unemployment rate	%	4.44	4.13	3.91
Foreign exchange reserves (year end)	US$ billion	241.7	253.3	266.1

Source: Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics

Chinese Taipei has a dynamic capitalist economy with gradually decreasing guidance of investment and foreign trade by government authorities. Some large, public-owned banks and industrial firms are being privatized. Exports have provided the primary impetus for industrialization. The trade surplus is substantial, and foreign reserves are the world's third largest. Chinese Taipei is a major investor throughout Southeast Asia. Chinese Taipei has benefited from cross-Strait economic integration and a sharp increase in world demand to achieve substantial growth in its export sector. The service sector, which accounts for 69% of Chinese Taipei's GDP, has continued to expand, while unemployment and inflation rates have declined. Foreign trade has been the major impetus behind Chinese Taipei's economic development. By actively expanding foreign trade opportunities for Chinese Taipei's businesses, the government strives to achieve its policy goal and to create an environment conducive to sustainable business operation. In response to globalization, increasing regional economic integration, and the formation of free trade areas, Chinese Taipei has been actively joining various trade talks through international trade organizations. To enhance the island's competitiveness and avoid being marginalized from international supply chain, the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) has formulated plans and promoted the establishment of free trade port zones (FTPZs). Chinese Taipei's FTPZs allow both value-added processing of goods, thereby taking advantage of the island's manufacturing prowess, and easy access for foreign businesspeople. In the past, not much attention was paid to developing the cultural creative industry. The government, however, has designated 13 cultural creative industries for development, including film, design, video games, and other forms of entertainment. The plan calls for increasing the industry's production value by 150 percent, doubling the number of locally produced, award-winning works at international competitions, and vastly increasing the number of international brands.

Society construction
Chinese Taipei has a population of 23 million. Chinese Taipei society is characterized by harmonious interaction between the Han majority and indigenous minority, and is being further enriched and diversified by a gradual increase in foreign marriages. Archaeologists have found evidence of prehistoric human habitation in Chinese Taipei that dates back to 12,000 and 15,000 years ago, which suggests that the earliest ancestors of Chinese Taipei's present inhabitants came from at least two places: southern China and Austronesia. Large numbers of Han people from China's coastal provinces of Fujian and Guangdong began immigrating to the island in the 16th century. Most early Han immigrants were Southern Fujianese and Hakka, two groups which still constitute about 85 percent of the island's population.

When the Kuomintang (KMT) government relocated to Taipei in 1949, it brought a new influx of Han immigrants of numerous cultural backgrounds to the island. Together, these various Han groups make up around 98 percent of Chinese Taipei's population and can be considered, therefore, its largest ethnic group. Chinese Taipei's population also includes almost 60 other non-Han minorities. These include Mongolians, Tibetans, and 12 major indigenous peoples in Chinese Taipei. Accounting for over one third of 12 major indigenous, the Amis was most numerous, followed by the Atayal and Paiwan. Besides, the number of foreign citizens living in Chinese Taipei has been rising and it exceeded 400,000 in 2003. Furthermore, more than 80,000 persons from China and 51,000 from Hong Kong and Macau received permission to settle in Chinese Taipei between 1987 and 2003.

Culture
This small island of 36,000 square kilometers has so many different peoples and cultures. If you have been thinking that Chinese Taipei’s culture is a subculture transplanted from the Chinese culture, it is not true. Rich historical background has provided Chinese Taipei with a multifaceted culture. People come from many different places and backgrounds, such as indigenous people, the southern Fujianese from early China, Hakka immigrants, the Dutch, Spanish, Japanese and also the recent immigrants from mainland China. All of them play a role in Chinese Taipei's development. While gradually developing a new culture indigenous to Chinese Taipei, they also held on to their respective customs and traditions. As a result, you will notice a variety of cultures and even find traces left by the Dutch and the Japanese.

Because the different ethnic groups have fairly well integrated, differences that originally existed between people from different provinces have gradually disappeared. Even so, their original cultural aspects are still preserved. The blending of multifaceted cultures has produced a plethora of cultural and social colors. The greatest feature of Chinese Taipei’s culture lies in its open and broad receptiveness. Because of this receptive character, it integrates various foreign cultures with the local elements and expresses its own distinctive culture. Whether it is about religion, architecture, language, living habits, or food, it's just one big exciting melting pot.

Source:
The website of Tourism Bureau
The website of Industrial Development and Investment Center, Ministry of Economic Affairs
The website of Government Information Office
The website of Council for Culture Affairs
The website of The E-Government
The website of Ministry of Economic Affairs