A brief history of Taiwan

In 1895, military defeat forced China to cede Taiwan to Japan. Taiwan reverted to Chinese control after World War II.

Following the Communist victory on the mainland in 1949, 2 million Nationalists withdrew to Taiwan and established a government based on the Chinese Constitution of 1946.

During the five decades which followed, the Kuomintang regime, which originally governed by martial law, progressively democratised and the local population were increasingly integrated in governmental structures. Throughout this period, the island prospered and became one of the Asian Economic Tigers.

In 2000, Taiwan underwent the first peaceful transition of power between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

The dominant political issue is the relationship between Taiwan and China – specifically the question of possible reunification.

Source: The World Fact Book (CIA)

Main ethnicities in Taiwan:

Taiwan’s population is 85% “Taiwanese”, Han Chinese immigrants, mainly Fujianese (from the coastal province of Fujian) and Hakka Chinese (Guangdong province); 13% mainland Chinese, who arrived with the Kuomintang in 1949; and 2% indigenous population.

Languages

The official language is Mandarin; a significant proportion of the population also speaks the local Taiwanese dialect. In addition, several aboriginal dialects are spoken in the mountainous regions, as well as Hakka, on the south of the island.

The writing is based on traditional Chinese characters (as opposed to simplified Chinese); Romanisation is not standardised.