Provinces of The People's Republic of China

Thursday, 13 December 2012

Little-known past of China's 'next leader'

Sino-American Exchange Concert at Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China

Heilongjiang Province: Tourist Attractions

Mosu & Naxi Matriarchal tribes, Yunnan province, China

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Abkhazia
Abkhazia (Abkhaz: Аҧсны́ Apsny, IPA /apʰsˈnɨ/; Georgian: აფხაზეთი Apkhazeti; Russian: Абхазия Abkhaziya) is a disputed territory on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.
Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny. This status is recognised by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru, Tuvalu and Vanuatu and also by the partially recognised states of South Ossetia, Transnistria and Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Georgian government and the majority of the world's governments consider Abkhazia a part of Georgia's territory. Under Georgia's official designation it is an autonomous republic, called the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, whose government sits in exile in Tbilisi. On 28 August 2008, the Parliament of Georgia passed a resolution declaring Abkhazia a "Russian-occupied territory".
The status of Abkhazia is a central issue of the Georgian–Abkhazian conflict. The wider region formed part of the Soviet Union until 1991. As the Soviet Union began to disintegrate towards the end of the 1980s, ethnic tensions grew between Abkhaz and Georgians over Georgia's moves towards independence. This led to the 1992–1993 War in Abkhazia that resulted in a Georgian military defeat, de facto independence of Abkhazia and the mass exodus and ethnic cleansing of the Georgian population from Abkhazia. In spite of the 1994 ceasefire agreement and years of negotiations, the status dispute has not been resolved, and despite the long-term presence of a United Nations monitoring force and a Russian-dominated Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) peacekeeping operation, the conflict has flared up on several occasions. In August 2008, the sides again fought during the South Ossetia War, which was followed by the formal recognition of Abkhazia by Russia, the annulment of the 1994 cease fire agreement and the termination of the UN and CIS missions.^{[citation needed]}

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Afghanistan
Afghanistan ⁱ/æfˈɡænɨstæn/ (Persian/Pashto: افغانستان, Afġānistān), officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming part of South Asia, Central Asia, and Greater Middle East, it is also considered to be part of a broader West Asia. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of 647,500 km² (250,001 sq mi), making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and the east, Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the far northeast.
Afghanistan has been an ancient focal point of the Silk Road and human migration. Archaeologists have found evidence of human habitation from as far back as 50,000 BC. Urban civilization may have begun in the area as early as 3,000 to 2,000 BC. Sitting at an important geostrategic location that connects the Middle East with Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, the land has been home to various peoples through the ages and witnessed many military campaigns, notably by Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and in modern era Western forces. The land also served as a source from which the Greco-Bactrians, Kushans, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Timurids, Mughals and many others have risen to form major empires.

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Anping, Tainan
Anping District (Chinese: 安平區; pinyin: ĀnpíngQū; Wade–Giles: An-p'ing Ch'ü; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: An-pêng-khu) is a district of Tainan City. In March 2012, it was named one of the Top 10 Small Touist Towns by the Tourism Bureau of Taiwan.
The history of Anping dates back to the 17th century, when the Dutch East India Company occupied Tayuan/Tayoan/Tayouan/Tayowan (transliterated into Chinese characters as 大灣/台員/大員/台圓/大圓/台窩灣), meaning "foreigner" in Sirayan. In the period of the Japanese occupation, the history of trade between China and Japan unfolded at Anping.
Anping was originally a small island separated from the mainland of Tainan until the 19th century. Due to the ocean current, the small lagoon between Anping island and Tainan was silted up and gradually disappeared, and Anping became a part of Tainan.^{[citation needed]}
Night market in Anping
Tianhou temple in Anping
Statue of Koxinga at Anping Fort
Anping Port
Yuguang Bridge
Yanshuei River and Taijiang National Park

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Armenia
Armenia ⁱ/ɑrˈmiːniə/ (Armenian: Հայաստան Hayastan [hɑjɑsˈtɑn]), officially the Republic of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն, Hayastani Hanrapetut’yun, [hɑjɑstɑˈni hɑnɾɑpɛtuˈtʰjun]), is a landlocked, mountainous country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south.
A former republic of the Soviet Union, Armenia is a unitary, multiparty, democratic nation-state with an ancient and historic cultural heritage. The Kingdom of Armenia became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its religion, in the early years of the 4th century (the traditional date is 301 AD). The modern Republic of Armenia recognizes the Armenian Apostolic Church, the world's oldest national church, as the country's primary religious establishment. Armenians have their own unique alphabet invented by Mesrob Mashtots in 406 AD.

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Australia
Australia ( /əˈstreɪljə/), officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent as well as the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north; the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east.
For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of roughly 250 language groups. After discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing Crown Colonies were established.

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Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (ⁱ/ˌæzərbaɪˈdʒɑːn/ AZ-ər-by-JAHN; Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Respublikası) is the largest country in the Caucasus region located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south. The exclave of Nakhchivan is bounded by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, while having a short borderline with Turkey to the northwest.
Azerbaijan has an ancient and historic cultural heritage. Aside from having been the first Muslim-majority country to have operas, theater and plays, Azerbaijan today is among the Muslim-majority countries where support for secularism and tolerance is the highest. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the first democratic and secular republic in the Muslim world, was established in 1918, but was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1920. Azerbaijan regained independence in 1991. Shortly thereafter, during the Nagorno-Karabakh War, neighboring Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, its surrounding territories and the enclaves of Karki, Yukhary Askipara, Barkhudarly and Sofulu. The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which emerged in Nagorno-Karabakh, continues to be not diplomatically recognized by any nation and the region is still considered a de jure part of Azerbaijan, despite being de facto independent since the end of the war. Azerbaijan has come under repeated international criticism for its record on human rights.

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Bahrain
Bahrain ( pronunciation) (Arabic: ‏البحرين‎, al-Baḥrayn) (Persian: ‏بحرين‎, Baḥrain), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain (Arabic: مملكة البحرين‎, Mamlakat al-Baḥrayn), is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,234,571, including 666,172 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.
Bahrain is an archipelago of 33 islands, the largest being Bahrain Island, at 55 km (34 mi) long by 18 km (11 mi) wide. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain by the King Fahd Causeway. The peninsula of Qatar is to the southeast across the Gulf of Bahrain. The planned Qatar Bahrain Causeway will link Bahrain and Qatar and become the world's longest marine causeway.
Known for its oil and pearls, Bahrain is also home to many large structures, including the Bahrain World Trade Center and the Bahrain Financial Harbour, with a proposal in place to build the 1,022 m (3,353 ft) high Murjan Tower. The Qal'at al-Bahrain (the harbour and capital of the ancient land of Dilmun) was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. The Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix takes place at the Bahrain International Circuit.

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Bangladesh
Coordinates: 23°N 90°E / 23°N 90°E / 23; 90
Bangladesh (ⁱ/ˈbɑːŋɡlədɛʃ/ or ⁱ/bæŋɡləˈdɛʃ/ (Anglicized pronunciation); Bengali: বাংলাদেশ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh (Bengali: গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ Gônoprojatontri Bangladesh) is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India and Burma and by the Bay of Bengal to the south. The capital (and largest city) is Dhaka, located in central Bangladesh. The official state language is Bengali. The name Bangladesh means "Land of Bengal" or "Country of Bengal" the in the Bengali language, from Bangla "Bengal" and desh holding a dual meaning of "land" and "country" as English "country," German land, French pays, etc.
The borders of present-day Bangladesh were established with the partition of Bengal during the reign and demise of the British India. Its map was chartered by Sir Cyril Radcliffe during the creation of Pakistan and India in 1947, when the region became East Pakistan, part of the newly formed nation of Pakistan. Due to political exclusion and economic exploitation by the politically dominant West Pakistan, popular agitation grew against West Pakistan and led to the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, after the Bangladeshi Declaration of Independence on 26 March 1971. With the intervention of the Indian Army, the war came to an end on 16 December 1971 with the surrender of the Pakistan Army at Ramna Race Course.

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Bhutan

Coordinates: 27°25′01″N 90°26′06″E / 27.417°N 90.435°E / 27.417; 90.435
Bhutan (Dzongkha: འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, tr ʼbrug-yul, "Druk Yul"; Devanagari भूटान, Bhūṭān), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China. Bhutan is separated from the nearby country of Nepal to the west by the Indian state of Sikkim, and from Bangladesh to the south by the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal.
Bhutan existed as a patchwork of minor warring fiefdoms until the early 17th century, when the area was unified by Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, who fled religious persecution in Tibet and cultivated a separate Bhutanese identity. In the early 20th century, Bhutan came into contact with the British Empire, after which Bhutan continued strong bilateral relations with India upon its independence. In 2006, Business Week rated Bhutan the happiest country in Asia and the eighth-happiest in the world, based on a global survey.

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Brunei
Brunei ⁱ/bruːˈnaɪ/, officially the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace (Malay: Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: نڬارا بروني دارالسلام), is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia. Apart from its coastline with the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the state of Sarawak, Malaysia, and it is separated into two parts by the Sarawak district of Limbang. It is the only sovereign state completely on the island of Borneo, with the remainder of the island belonging to Malaysia and Indonesia. Brunei's population was 401,890 in July 2011.
The official national history claims that Brunei can trace its beginnings to the 7th century, when it was a subject state of the Srivijayan empire under the name P'o-li. It later became a vassal state of Majapahit empire before converting to Islam in the 15th century. At the peak of its empire, the sultanate had control that extended over the coastal regions of modern-day Sarawak and Sabah, the Sulu archipelago, and the islands off the northwest tip of Borneo. The thalassocracy was visited by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 and fought the Castille War in 1578 against Spain. Its empire began to decline with the forced ceding of Sarawak to James Brooke and the ceding of Sabah to the British North Borneo Chartered Company. After the loss of Limbang, Brunei finally became a British protectorate in 1888, receiving a resident in 1906. In the years after the Japanese wartime occupation during World War II, it formalised a constitution and fought an armed rebellion. Brunei regained its independence from the United Kingdom on 1 January 1984. Economic growth during the 1970s and 1990s, averaging 56% from 1999 to 2008, has transformed Brunei Darussalam into a newly industrialised country.

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Burma
Burma ⁱ/ˈbɜrmə/ BUR-mə, also known as Myanmar ⁱ/ˌmjɑːnˈmɑr/ MYAHN--MAR, is a country in South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is bordered by India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand. One-third of Burma's total perimeter of 1,930 kilometres (1,200 mi) forms an uninterrupted coastline along the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. At 676,578 km² (261,227 sq mi), it is the 40th largest country in the world and the second largest country in Southeast Asia. Burma is also the 24th most populous country in the world with over 60.28 million people.
Burma is home to some of the early civilizations of Southeast Asia including the Pyu and the Mon. In the 9th century, the Burmans of the Kingdom of Nanzhao, entered the upper Irrawaddy valley and, following the establishment of the Pagan Empire in the 1050s, the Burmese language and culture slowly became dominant in the country. During this period, Theravada Buddhism gradually became the predominant religion of the country. The Pagan Empire fell due to the Mongol invasions (1277–1301), and several warring states emerged. In the second half of the 16th century, the country was reunified by the Taungoo Dynasty which for a brief period was the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia. The early 19th century Konbaung Dynasty ruled over an area that included modern Burma as well as Manipur and Assam. The country was colonized by Britain following three Anglo-Burmese Wars (1824–1885).

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Cambodia
Cambodia (ⁱ/kæmˈboʊdiə/;Khmer: ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា, Kampuchea, IPA: [kɑmˈpuˈciə]), officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. With a total landmass of 181,035 square kilometres (69,898 sq mi), it is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the northeast, Vietnam to the east, and the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest.
With a population of over 14.8 million, Cambodia is the 68th most populous country in the world. The official religion is Theravada Buddhism, which is practiced by around 95% of the Cambodian population. The country minority groups include Vietnamese, Chinese, Chams and 30 various hill tribes. The capital and largest city is Phnom Penh; the political, economic, and cultural center of Cambodia. The kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with Norodom Sihamoni, a monarch chosen by the Royal Throne Council, as head of state. The head of government is Hun Sen, who is currently the longest serving leader in South East Asia and has ruled Cambodia for over 25 years.

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Changhua County
Changhua County is the smallest county in Taiwan located on the westside of Taiwan. It is officially governed as a county of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

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Chiayi
Chiayi City (sometimes romanized as Jiayi) (Chinese: 嘉義市; Hanyu Pinyin: Jiāyì Shì; Tongyong Pinyin: Jiayì Shìh; Wade–Giles: Chia-i Shih; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ka-gī chhī) is a city located in the plains of southwestern Taiwan. Formerly called Kagee during the late Qing Dynasty and Kagi during the Japanese era, its historical name is Tirosen.
First inhabited by the Hoanya aborigines, the region was named Tirosen.
With the arrival of Han Chinese in southwestern Taiwan, the name Tirosen evolved to become Chu-lô-san (Chinese characters: 諸羅山) in Hokkien. Eventually, Chu-lô-san was shortened to simply Chu-lô. Because of the choice of the characters, it has been mistakenly suggested that the origin of the name Chu-lô-san or Chu-lô came from the expression "mountains surrounding the east." "Peach City" is another name for Chiayi City due to its peach-shaped territory in ancient times. The tip of the peach is around Central Fountain and was called "Peach-tip" by citizens.
Chulôsan was once the foothold to which people from the mainland immigrated. In 1621, Yen Szu-Chi, who came from Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, first led his people to cultivate this land after they landed at Penkang (Peikang). In 1661 (the 15th year of Yung-Li, Ming Dynasty), Koxinga defeated the Dutch based in Taiwan. Then he established one province, Cheng-Tien-Fu (承天府), and two counties, Tien-Hsing (天興縣) and Wan-Nien (萬年縣), demarcated by the Hsin-Kang River (新港溪, the Yen-Shui River now). Chiayi was under the jurisdiction of the Tien-Hsing County.

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Chiayi City
Chiayi City (sometimes romanized as Jiayi) (Chinese: 嘉義市; Hanyu Pinyin: Jiāyì Shì; Tongyong Pinyin: Jiayì Shìh; Wade–Giles: Chia-i Shih; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ka-gī chhī) is a city located in the plains of southwestern Taiwan. Formerly called Kagee during the late Qing Dynasty and Kagi during the Japanese era, its historical name is Tirosen.
First inhabited by the Hoanya aborigines, the region was named Tirosen.
With the arrival of Han Chinese in southwestern Taiwan, the name Tirosen evolved to become Chu-lô-san (Chinese characters: 諸羅山) in Hokkien. Eventually, Chu-lô-san was shortened to simply Chu-lô. Because of the choice of the characters, it has been mistakenly suggested that the origin of the name Chu-lô-san or Chu-lô came from the expression "mountains surrounding the east." "Peach City" is another name for Chiayi City due to its peach-shaped territory in ancient times. The tip of the peach is around Central Fountain and was called "Peach-tip" by citizens.
Chulôsan was once the foothold to which people from the mainland immigrated. In 1621, Yen Szu-Chi, who came from Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, first led his people to cultivate this land after they landed at Penkang (Peikang). In 1661 (the 15th year of Yung-Li, Ming Dynasty), Koxinga defeated the Dutch based in Taiwan. Then he established one province, Cheng-Tien-Fu (承天府), and two counties, Tien-Hsing (天興縣) and Wan-Nien (萬年縣), demarcated by the Hsin-Kang River (新港溪, the Yen-Shui River now). Chiayi was under the jurisdiction of the Tien-Hsing County.

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China
China (ⁱ/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area, and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.
The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). Its capital city is Beijing. The PRC also claims Taiwan—which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity—as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War. The PRC government denies the legitimacy of the ROC.

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Christmas Island
Coordinates: 10°29′S 105°38′E / 10.483°S 105.633°E / -10.483; 105.633 The Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi) northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, 360 km (220 mi) south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, 975 km (606 mi) ENE of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and 2,748 km (1,708 mi) west of the Territorian city of Darwin.
Christmas Island has a population of 1,403 residents who live in a number of "settlement areas" on the northern tip of the island: Flying Fish Cove (also known as Kampong), Silver City, Poon Saan, and Drumsite.
The island’s geographic isolation and history of minimal human disturbance has led to a high level of endemism among its flora and fauna, which is of significant interest to scientists and naturalists. 63% of its 135 square kilometres (52 sq mi) is an Australian national park. There exist large areas of primary monsoonal forest.
Phosphate, deposited originally as dead marine organisms (not guano as often thought), has been mined on the island for many years.

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Control Yuan
The Control Yuan (監察院; pinyin: Jiānchá Yuàn), one of the five branches of the Republic of China government in Taipei, is an investigatory agency that monitors the other branches of government. It may be compared to the Court of Auditors of the European Union, the Government Accountability Office of the United States, a political ombudsman, or a standing commission for administrative inquiry.
Since 2008, Wang Chien-shien has served as President of the Control Yuan.
The structure of the Control Yuan consists of the President, Vice President, a 27-member council and the Ministry of Audit (also known as the National Audit Office).
The council of the Yuan, chaired by the Yuan President, is divided into seven committees covering the following:
No member of the Control Yuan can hold another public office or profession while serving in the branch (according to Article 103 of the constitution), and members must be able to perform absent of partisan control or influence. Members can vote in no more than three committees and can join additional committees as non-voting members. Each committee can have up to 14 members and usually elects a convenor amongst themselves to chair committee meetings.

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Cook Islands
The Cook Islands (ⁱ/ˈkʊk ˈaɪləndz/; Cook Islands Māori: Kūki 'Āirani) is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand. The 15 small islands have a total land area of 240 square kilometres (92.7 sq mi), but the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers 1,800,000 square kilometres (690,000 sq mi) of ocean.
The main population centres are on the island of Rarotonga (14,153 in 2006), where there is an international airport. There is a much larger population of Cook Islanders in New Zealand, particularly the North Island. In the 2006 census, 58,008 self-identified as being of ethnic Cook Island Māori descent.
With about 100,000 visitors travelling to the islands in the 2010-11 financial year,tourism is the country's main industry, and the leading element of the economy, far ahead of offshore banking, pearls, and marine and fruit exports.
Defence and foreign affairs are the responsibility of New Zealand, in consultation with the Cook Islands. In recent times, the Cook Islands have adopted an increasingly independent foreign policy. Although Cook Islanders are citizens of New Zealand, they have the status of Cook Islands nationals, which is not given to other New Zealand citizens.

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Court of Auditors
The Court of Auditors (ECA) is the fifth institution of the European Union (EU). It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg to audit the accounts of EU institutions. The Court is composed of one member from each EU member state and its current president (as of 2008) is Vítor Manuel da Silva Caldeira.
The Court of Auditors was created by the 1975 Budgetary Treaty and was formally established on 18 October 1977, holding its first session a week later. At that time the Court was not a formal institution, it was an external body designed to audit the finances of the European Communities. It replaced two separate audit bodies, one which dealt with the finances of the European Economic Community and Euratom and one which dealt with the European Coal and Steel Community.
The Court did not have a defined legal status until the Treaty of Maastricht when it was made the fifth institution, the first new institution since the founding of the Community. By becoming an institution it gained some new powers, such as the ability to bring actions before the European Court of Justice (ECJ). However its audit power related only to the European Community pillar of the EU, but under the Treaty of Amsterdam it gained the full power to audit finances of the whole of the EU.

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Cyprus
Cyprus ⁱ/ˈsaɪprəs/ (Greek: Κύπρος, Kýpros, IPA: [ˈcipɾos]; Turkish: Kıbrıs, IPA: [ˈkɯbɾɯs]), officially the Republic of Cyprus (Greek: Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία, Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía, IPA: [cipɾiaˈci ðimokɾaˈtia]; Turkish: Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti, IPA: [ˈkɯbɾɯs dʒumhuɾijeˈti]), is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria, Lebanon, northwest of Israel and north of Egypt. Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and the Republic of Cyprus is a member state of the European Union.
The earliest known human activity on the island dates back to around the 10th millennium BC. Archaeological remains from this period include the well-preserved Neolithic village of Khirokitia, which has been declared a World Heritage Site with an "enhanced protection" status in the event of armed conflict by UNESCO, along with the archaeological sites of Paphos and the Painted Churches of the Troodos Region. Cyprus is home to some of the oldest water wells in the world.

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East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (tiˈmɔr ˈlɛʃteɪ), commonly known as East Timor ⁱ/ˌiːst ˈtiːmɔr/ (Tetum: Timór Lorosa'e, Portuguese: Timor-Leste), is a sovereign state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor. The small country of 15,410 km² (5,400 sq mi) is located about 640 km (400 mi) northwest of Darwin, Australia.
East Timor was colonized by Portugal in the 16th century, and was known as Portuguese Timor until Portugal's decolonization of the country. In late 1975, East Timor declared its independence, but later that year was invaded and occupied by Indonesia and was declared Indonesia's 27th province the following year. In 1999, following the United Nations-sponsored act of self-determination, Indonesia relinquished control of the territory and East Timor became the first new sovereign state of the 21st century on May 20, 2002. East Timor is one of only two predominantly Roman Catholic countries in Asia, the other being the Philippines.

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Easter Island
Coordinates: 27°7′S 109°22′W / 27.117°S 109.367°W / -27.117; -109.367
Easter Island (Rapa Nui: Rapa Nui, Spanish: Isla de Pascua) is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people. It is a World Heritage Site (as determined by UNESCO) with much of the island protected within Rapa Nui National Park. In recent times the island has served as a warning of the cultural and environmental dangers of overexploitation. Ethnographers and archaeologists also blame diseases carried by European colonizers and slave raiding of the 1860s for devastating the local peoples.
Easter Island is claimed to be the most remote inhabited island in the world.
The name "Easter Island" was given by the island's first recorded European visitor, the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who encountered it on Easter Sunday 1722, while searching for Davis or David's island. Roggeveen named it Paasch-Eyland (18th century Dutch for "Easter Island"). The island's official Spanish name, Isla de Pascua, also means "Easter Island".

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Egypt
Egypt ⁱ/ˈiːdʒɪpt/ (Arabic: مصر, Miṣr, Egyptian Arabic: [mɑsˤɾ] ; Coptic: Ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, Kīmi ; Sahidic Coptic: ⲕⲏⲙⲉ, Kēme), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: جمهوريّة مصر العربيّة (help·info), is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Covering an area of about 1,010,000 square kilometers (390,000 sq mi), Egypt is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west.
Egypt is one of the most populous countries in Africa and the Middle East. The great majority of its over 81 million people live near the banks of the Nile River, in an area of about 40,000 square kilometers (15,000 sq mi), where the only arable land is found. The large areas of the Sahara Desert are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypt's residents live in urban areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria and other major cities in the Nile Delta.

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Executive Yuan
The Executive Yuan (Chinese: 行政院; pinyin: Xíngzhèng Yuàn) is the executive branch of the government of the Republic of China (ROC).
It is headed by a president (often translated as premier), and has a vice president (vice premier), and eight cabinet ministers, various chairpersons of commissions, and five to seven ministers without portfolio as its members. The vice premier, ministers, and chairpersons are appointed by the President of the Republic of China on the recommendation of the premier.
Its formation, as one of five Yuans of the government, stemmed from the Three Principles of the People, the constitutional theory of Sun Yat-sen, but was adjusted constitutionally over the years to adapt to the situation in Taiwan by changes in the laws and the Constitution of the Republic of China.
Empowered by various laws, or even the Constitution, under the Executive Yuan several individual boards are formed to enforce different executive functions of the government. Unless regulated otherwise, the chairs are appointed by and answer to the Premier. The committee members of the boards are usually (a) governmental officials for the purpose of interdepartmental coordination and cooperation; or (b) creditable professionals for their reputation and independence.

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Fiji
Fiji ⁱ/ˈfiːdʒiː/ (Fijian: Viti; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी), officially the Republic of Fiji (Fijian: Matanitu ko Viti; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी गणराज्यFijī Gaṇarājya), is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about 1,100 nautical miles (2,000 km; 1,300 mi) northeast of New Zealand's North Island. Its closest neighbours are Vanuatu to the west, France's New Caledonia to the southwest, New Zealand's Kermadec to the southeast, Tonga to the east, the Samoas, France's Wallis and Futuna to the northeast and Tuvalu to the north.
The majority of Fiji's islands were formed through volcanic activity started around 150 million years ago. Today, some geothermal activity still occurs on the islands of Vanua Levu and Taveuni. Fiji has been inhabited since the second millennium BC. The country comprises an archipelago of more than 332 islands, of which 110 are permanently inhabited, and more than 500 islets, amounting to a total land area of circa 18,300 square kilometres (7,100 sq mi). The two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, account for 87% of the population of almost 850,000. The former contains Suva, the capital and largest city. Most of Fijians live on Viti Levu's coasts, either in Suva or in smaller urban centres. Viti Levu's interior is sparsely inhabited due to its terrain.

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Finland
Coordinates: 65°N 27°E / 65°N 027°E / 65; 027
Finland ⁱ/ˈfɪnlənd/ ( Finnish: Suomi; Swedish: Finland (help·info)), officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.
Around 5.4 million people reside in Finland, with the majority concentrated in the southern region. It is the eighth largest country in Europe in terms of area and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union. Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in Helsinki and local governments in 336 municipalities, and an autonomous region of the Åland Islands. About one million residents live in the Greater Helsinki area, which consists of Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa, and a third of the country's GDP is produced there. Other larger cities include Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Lahti and Kuopio.

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Forbidden City
Coordinates: 39°54′53″N 116°23′26″E / 39.91472°N 116.39056°E / 39.91472; 116.39056
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost 500 years, it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government.
Built in 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings and covers 720,000 m² (7,800,000 sq ft). The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.
Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artifacts were built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Part of the museum's former collection is now located in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Both museums descend from the same institution, but were split after the Chinese Civil War.

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France
France (English ⁱ/ˈfræns/ FRANSS or /ˈfrɑːns/ FRAHNSS; French: [fʁɑ̃s] ( listen)), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is often referred to as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its territory. It is the largest western European country and it possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone in the world, covering 11,035,000 km² (4,260,000 sq mi), just behind that of the United States (11,351,000 km² / 4,383,000 sq mi).
Over the past 500 years, France has been a major power with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and around the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America and Southeast Asia; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest colonial empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Caribbean and Pacific Islands.

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French Polynesia
French Polynesia (ⁱ/ˈfrɛntʃ pɒlɨˈniːʒə/; French: Polynésie française, pronounced: [pɔlinezi fʁɑ̃sɛz]; Tahitian: Pōrīnetia Farāni) is an overseas country of the French Republic (pays d'outre-mer). It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory (Papeetē). Although not an integral part of its territory, Clipperton Island was administered from French Polynesia until 2007.
The island groups that make up French Polynesia were not officially united until the establishment of the French protectorate in 1889. The first of these islands to be settled by indigenous Polynesians were the Marquesas Islands in AD 300 and the Society Islands in AD 800. The Polynesians were organized in loose chieftainships.
European communication began in 1521 when the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sighted Pukapuka in the Tuāmotu-Gambier Archipelago. Dutchman Jakob Roggeveen came across Bora Bora in the Society Islands in 1722, and the British explorer Samuel Wallis visited Tahiti in 1767. The French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville visited Tahiti in 1768, while the British explorer James Cook visited in 1769. Christian missions began with Spanish priests who stayed in Tahiti for a year from 1774; Protestants from the London Missionary Society settled permanently in Polynesia in 1797.

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Fujian
Coordinates: 25°54′N 118°18′E / 25.9°N 118.3°E / 25.9; 118.3
Fujian (help·info) (Chinese: 福建), formerly romanised as Fukien or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait. The name Fujian came from the combination of Fuzhou and Jianzhou (a former name for Jian'ou) two cities in Fujian, during the Tang Dynasty. With a Han majority, it is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse provinces in China.
Most of Fujian is administered by the People's Republic of China. However, the archipelagos of Kinmen and Matsu are under the control of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Thus, there are two provinces (in the sense of government organizations): the Fujian Province administered by the People's Republic of China and the Fujian Province of the Republic of China.
Recent archaeological discoveries demonstrate that Fujian had entered the Neolithic Age by the middle of the 6th millennium BC. From the Keqiutou site (7450–5590 BP), an early Neolithic site in Pingtan Island located about 70 kilometres (43 mi) southeast of Fuzhou, numerous tools made of stones, shells, bones, jades, and ceramics (including wheel-made-ceramics) have been unearthed, together with spinning wheels, a definitive evidence of weaving.

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Georgia (country)
Georgia ⁱ/ˈdʒɔrdʒə/ (Georgian: საქართველო Sakartvelo, IPA: [sɑkʰɑrtʰvɛlɔ] ( listen)) is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of Georgia is Tbilisi. Georgia covers a territory of 69,700 km² and its population is almost 4.7 million. Georgia is a unitary, semi-presidential republic, with the government elected through a representative democracy.
During the classical era independent kingdoms became established in what is now Georgia. The kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia adopted Christianity in the early 4th century. A unified Georgia reached the peak of its political and economic strength during the reign of King David IV and Queen Tamar in the 11th–12th centuries. At the beginning of the 19th century, Georgia was annexed by the Russian Empire. After a brief period of independence following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Georgia was occupied by Soviet Russia in 1921, becoming the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic and part of the Soviet Union. After independence in 1991, post-communist Georgia suffered from civil unrest and economic crisis for most of the 1990s. This lasted until the Rose Revolution of 2003, after which the new government introduced democratic and economic reforms.

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Guam
Guam (ⁱ/ˈɡwɑːm/; Chamorro: Guåhån) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of sixteen Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United Nations. The island's capital is Hagåtña (formerly Agaña). Guam is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands.
The Chamorros, Guam's indigenous people, first populated the island approximately 4,000 years ago. The island has a long history of European colonialism. Discovered by Ferdinand Magellan during a Spanish expedition on March 6, 1521, the first colony was established in 1668 by Spain with the arrival of settlers including Padre San Vitores, a Catholic missionary. For more than two centuries Guam was an important stopover for the Spanish Manila Galleons that crossed the Pacific annually. The island was controlled by Spain until 1898, when it was surrendered to the United States during the Spanish-American War and later formally ceded as part of the Treaty of Paris.

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Guangdong
Coordinates: 23°24′N 113°30′E / 23.4°N 113.5°E / 23.4; 113.5
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province. It surpassed Henan and Sichuan to become the most populous province in China in January 2005, registering 79 million permanent residents and 31 million migrants who lived in the province for at least six months of the year. The provincial capital Guangzhou and economic hub Shenzhen are amongst the most populous and important cities in China.
Since 1989 Guangdong has topped the total GDP rankings among all provincial-level divisions, with Jiangsu and Shandong second and third in rank. According to provincial annual preliminary statistics, Guangdong's GDP in 2010 reached CNY 4,550 billion, or USD 689.02 billion, making its economy roughly the same size as that of Turkey or Indonesia. Guangdong has the fourth highest GDP per capita among all provinces of mainland China, after Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Liaoning. The province contributes approximately 12% of the PRC's national economic output, and is home to the production facilities and offices of a wide-ranging set of multinational and Chinese corporations. Guangdong also hosts the largest Import and Export Fair in China called the Canton Fair in Guangdong's capital city Guangzhou.

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Hawaii
Coordinates: 21°18′41″N 157°47′47″W / 21.31139°N 157.79639°W / 21.31139; -157.79639
Hawaii (ⁱ/həˈwaɪ.iː/ or /həˈwaɪʔiː/; Hawaiian: Hawaiʻi Hawaiian pronunciation: [hɐˈvɐiʔi]) is the most recent of the 50 U.S. states (August 21, 1959), and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean.
Hawaii’s diverse natural scenery, warm tropical climate, abundance of public beaches and oceanic surrounding, and active volcanoes make it a popular destination for tourists, surfers, biologists, and volcanologists alike. Due to its mid-Pacific location, Hawaii has many North American and Asian influences along with its own vibrant native culture. Hawaii has over a million permanent residents along with many visitors and U.S. military personnel. Its capital is Honolulu on the island of Oʻahu.
The state encompasses nearly the entire volcanic Hawaiian Island chain, which comprises hundreds of islands spread over 1,500 miles (2,400 km). At the southeastern end of the archipelago, the eight "main islands" are (from the northwest to southeast) Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui, and the island of Hawaiʻi. The last is by far the largest and is often called "The Big Island" to avoid confusion with the state as a whole. The archipelago is physiographically and ethnologically part of the Polynesian subregion of Oceania.

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Hong Kong
Coordinates: 22°16′42″N 114°09′32″E / 22.27833°N 114.15889°E / 22.27833; 114.15889
Hong Kong (Chinese: 香港) is one of two special administrative regions (SARs) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is known for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour. With a land mass of 1,104 km² (426 sq mi) and a population of seven million people, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Hong Kong's population is 95 percent ethnic Chinese and 5 percent from other groups. Hong Kong's Han Chinese majority originate mainly from the cities of Guangzhou and Taishan in the neighbouring Guangdong province.
Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the First Opium War (1839–42). Originally confined to Hong Kong Island, the colony's boundaries were extended in stages to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and then the New Territories in 1898. It was occupied by Japan during the Pacific War, after which the British resumed control until 1997, when China resumed sovereignty. The region espoused minimum government intervention under the ethos of positive non-interventionism during the colonial era. The time period greatly influenced the current culture of Hong Kong, often described as "East meets West", and the educational system, which used to loosely follow the system in England until reforms implemented in 2009.

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Hsinchu
Hsinchu City (Chinese: 新竹市; Hanyu Pinyin: Xīnzhú Shì; Tongyong Pinyin: Sinjhú Shìh; Wade–Giles: Hsin-chu Shih; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Sin-tek) is a city in northern Taiwan. Hsinchu is popularly nicknamed "The Windy City" (Chinese: 風城; Hanyu Pinyin: Fēngchéng; Tongyong Pinyin: Fongchéng) for its windy climate.
Hsinchu City is administered as a special municipality within Taiwan (ROC). The city is bordered by Hsinchu County to the north and east, Miaoli County to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the west. Hsinchu City is composed of three districts: North District, East District, and Xiangshan District.
In 1626, after Spain occupied northern Taiwan, Spanish missionaries arrived at Tek-khàm (竹塹; sm: zhúqiàn), where the Taokas Taiwanese aborigines lived. During the Qing Dynasty, it was renamed Hsinchu. In the 21st year of Guangxu's Regime, Hsinchu Sub Office was established, responsible for independent administration on June 24. In June of the 24th Year of Kuang Hsu's Regime, it altered its local official system again. Hsinchu County was abolished. It was then under the administration of Hsinchu Administration Office, Taipei County. On November 11, 27th Year of Kuang Hsu's Regime, it established the Hsinchu Office. In 1920, under Japanese rule, Hsinchu Street was established, with the founding of Hsinchu Street District Office. In 1930, the city system was applied. It was renamed as Hsinchu City, under the governing of Hsinchu-Chou, with the establishment of Hsinchu City Office. In 1941, its administration district was expanded, merging with Xiangshan and Qiu Kang, and became a part of Liu Jia Zhuang.

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Hsinchu City
Hsinchu City (Chinese: 新竹市; Hanyu Pinyin: Xīnzhú Shì; Tongyong Pinyin: Sinjhú Shìh; Wade–Giles: Hsin-chu Shih; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Sin-tek) is a city in northern Taiwan. Hsinchu is popularly nicknamed "The Windy City" (Chinese: 風城; Hanyu Pinyin: Fēngchéng; Tongyong Pinyin: Fongchéng) for its windy climate.
Hsinchu City is administered as a special municipality within Taiwan (ROC). The city is bordered by Hsinchu County to the north and east, Miaoli County to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the west. Hsinchu City is composed of three districts: North District, East District, and Xiangshan District.
In 1626, after Spain occupied northern Taiwan, Spanish missionaries arrived at Tek-khàm (竹塹; sm: zhúqiàn), where the Taokas Taiwanese aborigines lived. During the Qing Dynasty, it was renamed Hsinchu. In the 21st year of Guangxu's Regime, Hsinchu Sub Office was established, responsible for independent administration on June 24. In June of the 24th Year of Kuang Hsu's Regime, it altered its local official system again. Hsinchu County was abolished. It was then under the administration of Hsinchu Administration Office, Taipei County. On November 11, 27th Year of Kuang Hsu's Regime, it established the Hsinchu Office. In 1920, under Japanese rule, Hsinchu Street was established, with the founding of Hsinchu Street District Office. In 1930, the city system was applied. It was renamed as Hsinchu City, under the governing of Hsinchu-Chou, with the establishment of Hsinchu City Office. In 1941, its administration district was expanded, merging with Xiangshan and Qiu Kang, and became a part of Liu Jia Zhuang.

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Hsinchu County
Hsinchu County (Chinese: 新竹縣; pinyin: Xīnzhú Xiàn) is a county in north-western Taiwan. The population of the county is mainly Hakka; there is a Taiwanese aboriginal minority in the southeastern part of the county. Zhubei is the capital of Hsinchu, where the government office and county office is located. Hsinchu is where most of the industrial factory and office of computer related companies are located, most known as Hsinchu Technology Zone in Taiwan. Also known as Chinese: 新竹科學園區; pinyin: Xīnzhú kēxuéyuán qū, literally "Hsinchu technology zone".
See also: Administrative divisions of the Republic of China
Hsinchu County controls one county-controlled city, three urban townships, and nine rural townships. They are:
Coordinates: 24°50′0″N 121°0′53″E / 24.833333°N 121.01472°E / 24.833333; 121.01472

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India
India (ⁱ/ˈɪndiə/), officially the Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west;China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.
Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four of the world's major religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.

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Indonesia
Indonesia (ⁱ/ˌɪndəˈniːʒə/ IN-də-NEE-zhə or /ˌɪndoʊˈniːziə/ IN-doh-NEE-zee-ə), officially the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia Indonesian pronunciation: [rɛpʊblɪk ɪndɔnɛsɪa]), is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 17,508 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an elected legislature and president. The nation's capital city is Jakarta. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Malaysia. Other neighboring countries include Singapore, Philippines, Australia, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Indonesia is a founding member of ASEAN and a member of the G-20 major economies. The Indonesian economy is the world's 17th largest economy by nominal GDP.
The Indonesian archipelago has been an important trade region since at least the 7th century, when Srivijaya and then later Majapahit traded with China and India. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign cultural, religious and political models from the early centuries CE, and Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms flourished. Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Muslim traders brought Islam, and European powers brought Christianity and fought one another to monopolize trade in the Spice Islands of Maluku during the Age of Discovery. Following three and a half centuries of Dutch colonialism, Indonesia secured its independence after World War II. Indonesia's history has since been turbulent, with challenges posed by natural disasters, corruption, separatism, a democratization process, and periods of rapid economic change.

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Iran
Coordinates: 32°N 53°E / 32°N 53°E / 32; 53
Iran (ⁱ/ɪˈrɑːn/ or /aɪˈræn/;Persian: ایران‎ [ʔiˈɾɒn] ( listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: جمهوری اسلامی ایران‎ Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān), is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran", which in Persian means "Land of the Aryans", has been in use natively since the Sassanian era. It came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia ( /ˈpɜrʒə/ or /ˈpɜrʃə/). Both "Persia" and "Iran" are used interchangeably in cultural contexts; however, "Iran" is the name used officially in political contexts.
The 18th-largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 km² (636,372 sq mi), Iran has a population of around 79 million. It is a country of particular geopolitical significance owing to its location in the Middle East and central Eurasia. Iran is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. As Iran is a littoral state of the Caspian Sea, which is an inland sea, Kazakhstan and Russia are also Iran's direct neighbors to the north. Iran is bordered on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by Iraq and on the northwest by Turkey. Tehran is the capital, the country's largest city and the political, cultural, commercial and industrial center of the nation. Iran is a regional power, and holds an important position in international energy security and world economy as a result of its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Iran has the second largest proven natural gas reserves in the world and the fourth largest proven petroleum reserves.

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Iraq
Iraq (/ɪˈræk/ or ⁱ/ɪˈrɑːk/; Arabic: العراق‎ al-‘Irāq); officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic: جمهورية العراق (help·info) Jumhūriyyat al-‘Irāq), is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert.
Iraq borders Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Jordan to the southwest and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south. Iraq has a narrow section of coastline measuring 58 km (36 mi) on the northern Persian Gulf. The capital city, Baghdad is in the center-east of the country.
Two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run through the center of Iraq, flowing from northwest to southeast. These provide Iraq with agriculturally capable land and contrast with the steppe and desert landscape that covers most of Western Asia.
Historically, Iraq was the center of the Abbasid Arabic Islamic Empire. Iraq has been known to the west by the Greek toponym 'Mesopotamia' (Land between the rivers) and has been home to continuous successive civilizations since the 6th millennium BC. The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is often referred to as the cradle of civilization and the birthplace of writing, law and the wheel. At different periods in its history, Iraq was the center of the indigenous Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Abbasid empires. It was also part of the Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Mongol, Safavid, Afsharid, and Ottoman empires, and under British control as a League of Nations mandate.

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Israel
Coordinates: 31°N 35°E / 31°N 35°E / 31; 35
Israel, officially the State of Israel ( /ˈɪzriːəl/ or /ˈɪzreɪəl/; Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל‎, Medīnat Yisrā'el, IPA: [me̞diˈnät jisʁäˈʔe̞l] ( listen); Arabic: دَوْلَة إِسْرَائِيل‎, Dawlat Isrāʼīl, IPA: [dawlat ʔisraːˈʔiːl]), is a parliamentary republic in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan and the West Bank in the east, Egypt and the Gaza Strip on the southwest, and the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea to the south, and it contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area. Israel is defined as a Jewish and Democratic State in its Basic Laws and is the world's only Jewish-majority state.
Following the adoption of a resolution by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 29 November 1947 recommending the adoption and implementation of the United Nations plan to partition Palestine, on 14 May 1948 David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel, a state independent from the British Mandate for Palestine. Neighboring Arab states invaded the next day in support of the Palestinian Arabs. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied the West Bank, Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. Portions of these territories, including east Jerusalem, have been annexed by Israel, but the border with the neighboring West Bank has not yet been permanently defined.^{[neutrality is disputed]} Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, but efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have so far not resulted in peace.

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Japan
Japan ⁱ/dʒəˈpæn/ (Japanese: 日本 Nihon or Nippon; formally 日本国 Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku, literally the State of Japan) is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".
Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku, together accounting for ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 127 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents.
Archaeological research indicates that people lived in Japan as early as the Upper Paleolithic period. The first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other nations followed by long periods of isolation has characterized Japan's history. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War and World War I allowed Japan to expand its empire during a period of increasing militarism. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since adopting its revised constitution in 1947, Japan has maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an elected parliament called the Diet.

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Jordan
Jordan ( /ˈdʒɔr.dən/;Arabic: اَلأُرْدُنّ, Al-'Urdunn), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (Arabic: اَلمَمْلَكَة اَلأُرْدُنِيَّة اَلهَاشِمِيَّة), Al-Mamlakah Al-Urdaniyyah Al-Hashimiyyah) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing control of the Dead Sea with the latter. Jordan's only port is at its south-western tip, at the Gulf of Aqaba, which is shared with Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Over half of Jordan is covered by the Arabian Desert. However, the western part of Jordan is arable land and forests. Jordan is part of the Fertile Crescent. The capital city is Amman. According to the CIA World Factbook, Jordan has the second highest life expectancy in the Middle East, after Israel. The average life expectancy is one position behind the United Kingdom, although the age remains exactly the same (80.05 years).
The precursor to modern Jordan was founded in 1921 as the Hashemite Emirate, and it was recognized by the League of Nations as a state under the British mandate in 1922 known as The Emirate of Transjordan. In 1946, Jordan became an independent sovereign state officially known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. After capturing the West Bank area of Cisjordan during the 1948–49 war with Israel, Abdullah I took the title King of Jordan and Palestine, and he officially changed the country's name to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in April 1949.

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Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung (Chinese: 高雄; pinyin: Gāoxióng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ko-hiông; old names: Takao, Takow, Takau) is a city located in southwestern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on the west. Kaohsiung, officially named Kaohsiung City, is divided into thirty-eight districts. The city is one of five special municipalities of the Republic of China (Taiwan). On December 25, 2010, it merged with Kaohsiung County to form a larger municipality.
Kaohsiung is the second largest city in Taiwan, with a population around 2.9 million. It is a center for manufacturing, refining, shipbuilding, and other light and heavy industries. A major port, through which pass most of Taiwan's marine imports and exports, is located at the city but is not managed by the city government.
Kaohsiung International Airport serving the city is the second largest airport in Taiwan. The Port of Kaohsiung is the largest harbor in Taiwan. Kaohsiung is the terminal of the Sun Yat-sen Freeway. The city is served by the railway stations of Western Line and Pingtung Line. Taiwan High Speed Rail connects it with Taipei City. The Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit, the city's subway system, was launched in early 2008. Kaohsiung was the host city of the 2009 World Games, a multisport event primarily composed of sports not featured in the Olympic Games. The city is also home to the Republic of China Navy.

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Kaohsiung City
Kaohsiung (Chinese: 高雄; pinyin: Gāoxióng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ko-hiông; old names: Takao, Takow, Takau) is a city located in southwestern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on the west. Kaohsiung, officially named Kaohsiung City, is divided into thirty-eight districts. The city is one of five special municipalities of the Republic of China (Taiwan). On December 25, 2010, it merged with Kaohsiung County to form a larger municipality.
Kaohsiung is the second largest city in Taiwan, with a population around 2.9 million. It is a center for manufacturing, refining, shipbuilding, and other light and heavy industries. A major port, through which pass most of Taiwan's marine imports and exports, is located at the city but is not managed by the city government.
Kaohsiung International Airport serving the city is the second largest airport in Taiwan. The Port of Kaohsiung is the largest harbor in Taiwan. Kaohsiung is the terminal of the Sun Yat-sen Freeway. The city is served by the railway stations of Western Line and Pingtung Line. Taiwan High Speed Rail connects it with Taipei City. The Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit, the city's subway system, was launched in early 2008. Kaohsiung was the host city of the 2009 World Games, a multisport event primarily composed of sports not featured in the Olympic Games. The city is also home to the Republic of China Navy.

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Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan (ⁱ/ˌkɑːzəkˈstɑːn/ or /ˌkæzəkˈstæn/) (Kazakh: Қазақстан, Qazaqstan, pronounced [qɑzɑqstɑ́n]; Russian: Казахстан [kəzɐxˈstan]), officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Europe. The ninth largest country in the world by land area, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of 2,727,300 square kilometres (1,053,000 sq mi) is larger than Western Europe. It is neighbored clockwise from the north by Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and also borders on a significant part of the Caspian Sea. Although Kazakhstan does not share a border with Mongolia, its most easterly point is only 38 kilometres (24 mi) from Mongolia's western tip. The terrain of Kazakhstan ranges from flatlands, steppes, taigas, rock-canyons, hills, deltas, and snow-capped mountains to deserts. With 16.6 million people (2011 estimate) Kazakhstan has the 62nd largest population in the world, though its population density is less than 6 people per square kilometre (15 per sq. mi.). The capital was moved in 1998 from Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, to Astana.

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Keelung
Keelung City (also Jilong or Chilung) is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. It borders New Taipei with which it forms the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, along with Taipei itself. Nicknamed the Rainy Port for its frequent rain and maritime role, the city is Taiwan's second largest seaport (after Kaohsiung). Keelung is currently administered as a provincial municipality within Taiwan Province of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
The city of Keelung was known as Kelung or Keelung to the Western world during the 19th century. However, the Taiwanese people have long called the city Kelang (Chinese: 雞籠; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ke-lâng; literally "rooster cage or hencoop").
It has been proposed that the name Keelung was derived from the local mountain that took the shape of a rooster cage. However, it is more probable that the name was derived from the first inhabitants of the region, as are the names of many other Taiwanese cities. In this case, the Ketagalan people were the first inhabitants, and early Han settlers probably approximated "Ketagalan" with "Ke-lâng" (phonetics of the Southern Min Language).

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Kingdom of Tungning
The Kingdom of Tungning (simplified Chinese: 东宁王国; traditional Chinese: 東寧王國; pinyin: Dōngníng Wángguó) was a government that ruled Taiwan between 1661 and 1683. A pro-Ming Dynasty state, it was founded by Koxinga (also known as Zheng Chenggong) (鄭成功) after the Ming government in mainland China was replaced by the Manchu-ruled Qing Dynasty. Koxinga hoped to use the island as a base of operations to train military forces and recapture the mainland from the Manchus.
The Kingdom of Tungning is sometimes known as the Zheng Family Dynasty (simplified Chinese: 郑氏王朝; traditional Chinese: 鄭氏王朝; pinyin: Zhèngshì Wángcháo), Zheng Family Kingdom (simplified Chinese: 郑氏王国; traditional Chinese: 鄭氏王國; pinyin: Zhèngshì Wángguó) or Kingdom of Tungning (simplified Chinese: 延平王国; traditional Chinese: 延平王國; pinyin: Yánpíng Wángguó). Taiwan was referred to by Koxinga as Tungtu (simplified Chinese: 东都; traditional Chinese: 東都; pinyin: Dōngdū). In the West, it was known as the Kingdom of Taiwan, and the period of rule is sometimes referred to as the Koxinga Dynasty.

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Kiribati
Kiribati ([kɪribas] KIRR-i-bas or ˌkɪrəˈbɑdi;Gilbertese: [ˈkiɾibas]), officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island nation located in the central tropical Pacific Ocean. The permanent population is just over 100,000 (2011), and the island nation is composed of 32 atolls and one raised coral island, dispersed over 3.5 million square kilometres, (1,351,000 square miles) straddling the equator, and bordering the International Date Line at its easternmost point.
The name Kiribati is the local pronunciation of "Gilberts", derived from the main island chain, the Gilbert Islands. The capital of South Tarawa consists of a number of islets connected through a series of causeways, located in the Tarawa archipelago. Kiribati became independent from the United Kingdom in 1979. It is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the IMF and the World Bank, and became a full member of the United Nations in 1999.
Kiribati was named in French by captains Krusenstern and Louis Isidore Duperrey "îles Gilbert", Gilbert Islands, after the British Captain Thomas Gilbert, who sighted the islands in 1788. The current name, Kiribati, is an adaptation of "Gilberts", from the former European name the "Gilbert Islands". Although the indigenous Gilbertese language name for the Gilbert Islands proper is Tungaru, the new state chose the name "Kiribati", the Gilbertese rendition of "Gilberts", as an equivalent of the former colony to acknowledge the inclusion of islands which were never considered part of the Gilberts chain.

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Kuwait
Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait ⁱ/kuːˈweɪt/ (Arabic: دولة الكويت‎, Dawlat al-Kuwayt) is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the Arabic أكوات ākwāt, the plural of كوت kūt, meaning a fortress built near water. The country covers an area of 17,820 square kilometers (6,880 sq mi) and has a population of about 3.5 million.
Historically, the region was the site of Characene, a major Parthian port for trade between Mesopotamia and India. The Bani Utbah tribe were the first permanent Arab settlers in the region, and laid the foundation of the modern emirate. By the 19th century, Kuwait came under the influence of the Ottoman Empire, and after World War I, it emerged as an independent sheikhdom under the protection of the British Empire. Kuwait's large oil fields were discovered in the late 1930s.

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Laos
Laos ((ⁱ/ˈlaʊs/, /ˈlɑː.ɒs/, /ˈlɑː.oʊs/, or /ˈleɪ.ɒs/) Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, pronounced [sǎː.tʰáː.laʔ.naʔ.lat páʔ.sáː.tʰiʔ.páʔ.tàj páʔ.sáː.són.láːw] Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west. Its population was estimated to be 6.5 million in 2012.
Laos traces its history to the Kingdom which existed from the 14th to the 18th century when it split into three separate kingdoms. In 1893, it became a French protectorate, with the three kingdoms, Luang Phrabang, Vientiane and Champasak, uniting to form what is now known as Laos. It briefly gained independence in 1945 after Japanese occupation, but returned to French rule until it was granted autonomy in 1949. Laos became independent in 1953, with a constitutional monarchy under Sisavang Vong. Shortly after independence, a long civil war ended the monarchy, when the Communist Pathet Lao movement came to power in 1975.

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Lebanon
Lebanon (ⁱ/ˈlɛbənɒn/ or /ˈlɛbənən/; Arabic: لبنان‎ Libnān or Lubnān, Lebanese Arabic: [lɪbˈneːn]), officially the Lebanese Republic (Arabic: الجمهورية اللبنانية‎ al-Jumhūrīyah al-Libnānīyah, Lebanese Arabic: [elˈʒʊmhuːɾɪjje l.ˈlɪbneːnɪjje]), is a country in the East Mediterranean. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east, and Israel to the south. Lebanon's location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland has dictated its rich history, and shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity.
The earliest evidence of civilization in Lebanon dates back more than 7,000 years—predating recorded history. Lebanon was the home of the Phoenicians, a maritime culture that flourished for nearly 2,500 years (3000–539 BC). Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, the five provinces that comprise modern Lebanon were mandated to France. The French expanded the borders of Mount Lebanon, which was mostly populated by Maronite Catholics and Druze, to include more Muslims. Lebanon gained independence in 1943, and established a unique political system, known as confessionalism, a power-sharing mechanism based on religious communities – Bechara El Khoury who became independent Lebanon's first President and Riad El-Solh, who became Lebanon's first prime minister, are considered the founders of the modern Republic of Lebanon and are national heroes for having led the country's independence. French troops withdrew from Lebanon in 1946.

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Lotus Lake
Coordinates: 22°41′06″N 120°17′51″E / 22.68506°N 120.297396°E / 22.68506; 120.297396
Lotus Lake (Chinese: 蓮池潭; pinyin: Liánchí Tán; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Liân-tî-thâm) is a man-made lake and popular tourist destination on the east side of Zuoying District in Kaohsiung City in southern Taiwan. Opened in 1951, it is famous for the lotus plants on the lake and the numerous temples around the lake, including the Spring and Autumn Pavilions (春秋閣), the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas (龍虎塔), and the Confucian Temple (孔廟).
Lotus Lake was the site for several water sporting events for World Games 2009, including canoe polo, water ski, and dragon boat.
Dragon and Tiger Pagodas
Dragon and Tiger Pagodas
Taoist God statue
Bei-Ji Shien-tien Emperor (Taoist God)
Confucius temple at Lotus Lake in Kaohsiung

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Macau
Coordinates: 22°10′N 113°33′E / 22.167°N 113.55°E / 22.167; 113.55
Macau (Chinese: 澳門), also spelled Macao ( /məˈkaʊ/), is one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China, the other being Hong Kong. Macau lies on the western side of the Pearl River Delta across from Hong-Kong which is to the east, bordering Guangdong province to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east and south.
The territory's economy is heavily dependent on gambling and tourism, but also includes manufacturing.
Macau is a former Portuguese colony, and is both the first and last European colony in China. Portuguese traders first settled in Macau in the 16th century and subsequently administered the region until the handover on 20 December 1999. The Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration and the Basic Law of Macau stipulate that Macau operates with a high degree of autonomy until at least 2049, fifty years after the transfer. Macau was first lent by the Chinese empire as a trading port in the 16th century, and had to administer the city under Chinese authority and sovereignty. In 1887, Macau became a colony of the Portuguese empire and its sovereignty transferred to the Portuguese.

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Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar (older name Malagasy Republic, Malagasy: Repoblikan'i Madagasikara [republiˈkʲan madaɡasˈkʲarə̥], French: République de Madagascar) is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The nation comprises the island of Madagascar (the fourth-largest island in the world), as well as numerous smaller peripheral islands. Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, Madagascar split from India around 88 million years ago, allowing plants and animals on the island to evolve in complete isolation. Consequently, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot in which over 90% of its wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth. The island's diverse ecosystems and unique wildlife are threatened by human settlement.
Initial human settlement of Madagascar occurred from 350 BCE and 550 CE by Austronesian peoples arriving on outrigger canoes from Borneo who were later joined around 1000 CE by Bantu migrants crossing the Mozambique Channel. Other groups continued to settle on Madagascar over time, each one making lasting contributions to Malagasy cultural life. The Malagasy ethnic group is often divided into eighteen or more sub-groups of which the largest are the Merina of the central highlands.

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Malaysia
Malaysia (ⁱ/məˈleɪʒə/ mə-LAY-zhə or ⁱ/məˈleɪsiə/ mə-LAY-see-ə) is a federal constitutional monarchy in Southeast Asia. It consists of thirteen states and three federal territories and has a total landmass of 329,847 square kilometres (127,350 sq mi) separated by the South China Sea into two similarly sized regions, Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo. Land borders are shared with Thailand, Indonesia, and Brunei, and maritime borders exist with Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. In 2010 the population exceeded 27.5 million, with over 20 million living on the Peninsula.
Malaysia has its origins in the Malay Kingdoms present in the area which, from the 18th century, became subject to the British Empire. The first British territories were known as the Straits Settlements, whose establishment was followed by the Malay kingdoms becoming British protectorates. The territories on Peninsular Malaysia were first unified as the Malayan Union in 1946. Malaya was restructured as the Federation of Malaya in 1948, and achieved independence on 31 August 1957. Malaya united with Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore on 16 September 1963, with si being added to give the new country the name Malaysia. However, less than two years later in 1965, Singapore was expelled from the federation. Since independence, Malaysia has had one of the best economic records in Asia, with GDP growing an average 6.5% for almost 50 years. The economy has traditionally been fuelled by its natural resources, but is expanding in the sectors of science, tourism, commerce and medical tourism.

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Maldives
Maldives (ⁱ/ˈmɒldaɪvz/ or /ˈmɒldiːvz/), (Dhivehi: ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, Dhivehi Raa'je), officially Republic of Maldives (Dhivehi: ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, Dhivehi Raa'jeyge Jumhooriyya), also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep Islands, between Minicoy Island and Chagos Archipelago. It stands in the Laccadive Sea, about 700 kilometres (430 mi) south-west of Sri Lanka and 400 kilometres (250 mi) south-west of India. During the colonial era, the Dutch referred to the country as "Maldivische Eilanden" in their documentation, while "Maldive Islands" is the anglicised version of the local name used by the British, which later came to be written "Maldives".
The archipelago is located on top of the Chagos-Maldives-Laccadive Ridge, a vast submarine mountain range in the Indian Ocean. Maldives also form a terrestrial ecoregion together with the Chagos and the Lakshadweep. The atolls of Maldives encompass a territory spread over roughly 90,000 square kilometres (35,000 sq mi), making it one of the world's most geographically dispersed countries. Its population of 328,536 (2012) inhabits 200 of its 1,192 islands. Maldives' capital and largest city Malé had a population of 103,693 in 2006. It is located at the southern edge of North Malé Atoll, in the Kaafu Atoll. It is also one of the Administrative divisions of the Maldives. Traditionally it was the King's Island where the ancient Maldive Royal dynasties were enthroned.

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Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands (Marshallese: Aolepān Aorōkin M̧ajeļ), is an island country located in the northern Pacific Ocean. Geographically, the country is part of the larger island group of Micronesia, with the population of around 68,000 people spread out over 34 low-lying coral atolls, comprising 1,156 individual islands and islets. The islands share maritime boundaries with the Federated States of Micronesia to the west, Wake Island to the north,Kiribati to the south-east, and Nauru to the south. The most populous atoll is Majuro, which also acts as the capital.
Micronesian colonists gradually settled the Marshall Islands during the 2nd millennium BC, with inter-island navigation made possible using traditional stick charts. Islands in the archipelago were first explored by Europeans in the 1520s, with Spanish explorer Alonso de Salazar sighting an atoll in August 1526. Other expeditions by Spanish and English ships followed, with the islands' current name stemming from British explorer John Marshall. Recognised as part of the Spanish East Indies in 1874, the islands were sold to Germany in 1884, and became of German New Guinea in 1885. The Empire of Japan occupied the Marshall Islands in World War I, which were later joined with other former German territories in 1919 by the League of Nations to form the South Pacific Mandate. In World War II, the islands were conquered by the United States in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign. Along with other Pacific Islands, the Marshall Islands were then consolidated into the United-States-governed Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Self-government was achieved in 1979, and full sovereignty in 1986, under a Compact of Free Association with the United States.

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Matsu Islands
The Matsu Islands (simplified Chinese: 马祖列岛; traditional Chinese: 馬祖列島; pinyin: Mǎzǔ Lièdǎo; Fuzhou dialect: Mā-cū liĕk-dō̤ or less frequently, simplified Chinese: 马祖群岛; traditional Chinese: 馬祖群島; pinyin: Mǎzǔ Qúndǎo; Fuzhou dialect: 馬祖島 Mā-cū-dō̤) are a minor archipelago of 19 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait administered as Lienchiang County (連江縣; Lièng-gŏng-gâing) under Fujian Province of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Only a small area of what is historically Lienchiang County is under the control of the ROC. The People's Republic of China (AKA "China") controls the part of the county on mainland China and has a separate administration for that jurisdiction, Lianjiang County, which claims the entire archipelago to be its Mazu Township (馬祖鄉; Mā-cū-hiŏng).
They are named after the goddess Mazu. Kinmen is the other archipelago on the Fujian coast controlled by the ROC.
Fujianese Mainlanders started migrating to the islands during the Yuan Dynasty. Most people on Matsu came from Houguan (侯官) (today Changle County (長樂縣 Diòng-lŏ̤h-gâing), Fujian).

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Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China for 276 years (1368–1644) following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, described by some as "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic Han Chinese. Although the Ming capital Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng (who established the Shun Dynasty, soon replaced by the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty), regimes loyal to the Ming throne—collectively called the Southern Ming—survived until 1662.
Ming rule saw the construction of a vast navy and a standing army of one million troops. Although private maritime trade and official tribute missions from China had taken place in previous dynasties, the tributary fleet under the Muslim eunuch admiral Zheng He in the 15th century far surpassed all others in size. There were enormous construction projects, including the restoration of the Grand Canal and the Great Wall and the establishment of the Forbidden City in Beijing during the first quarter of the 15th century. Estimates for the late-Ming population vary from 160 to 200 million.

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Mongolia
Mongolia ⁱ/mɒŋˈɡoʊliə/ (Mongolian: Монгол улс (help·info), literally Mongol country/state) is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 38 kilometres (24 mi) from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest city, is home to about 45% of the population. Mongolia's political system is a parliamentary republic.
The area of what is now Mongolia has been ruled by various nomadic empires, including the Xiongnu, the Xianbei, the Rouran, the Gökturks and others. The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan in 1206. After the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols returned to their earlier pattern of constant internal conflict and occasional raids on the Chinese borderlands. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Mongolia came under the influence of Tibetan Buddhism. At the end of the 17th century, all of Mongolia had been incorporated into the area ruled by the Qing Dynasty. During the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, Mongolia declared independence, but had to struggle until 1921 to firmly establish de facto independence from the Republic of China, and until 1945 to gain international recognition.

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Nauru
Coordinates: 0°31′38″S 166°56′12″E / 0.527288°S 166.936724°E / -0.527288; 166.936724
Nauru (English ⁱ/nɑːˈuːruː/ nah-OO-roo), officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, 300 kilometres (186 mi) to the east. Nauru is the world's smallest republic, covering just 21 square kilometres (8.1 sq mi). With just over 9,322 residents, it is the second least-populated country after Vatican City.
Settled by Micronesian and Polynesian people, Nauru was annexed and claimed as a colony by the German Empire in the late 19th century. After World War I, Nauru became a League of Nations mandate administered by Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. During World War II, Nauru was occupied by Japanese troops, who were bypassed by the Allied advance across the Pacific. After the war ended, it entered into trusteeship again. Nauru gained its independence in 1968.
Throughout the first half of the 20th century, Nauru was a "rentier state". Nauru is a phosphate rock island, with rich deposits close to the surface, which allow for simple strip mining operations; moreover, it has some phosphate reserves which are presently (as of 2011) not economically viable for extraction. Nevertheless, this island was a major exporter of phosphate starting in 1907, when the Pacific Phosphate Company began mining there, through the formation of the British Phosphate Commission in 1919, and continuing after independence. This returned to Nauru full control of its minerals under the Nauru Phosphate Corporation, until the deposits ran out during the 1980s. For this reason, Nauru briefly boasted the highest per-capita income enjoyed by any sovereign state in the world during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

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Netherlands
The Netherlands (ⁱ/ˈnɛðərləndz/; Dutch: Nederland [ˈneːdə(r)lɑnt] or [ˈneɪ̯də(r)lɑnt] ( listen); West Frisian: Nederlân; Papiamento: Hulanda) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with some islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders with Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. It is a parliamentary democracy organised as a unitary state. The country capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague. The Netherlands in its entirety is often referred to as Holland, although North and South Holland are actually only two of its twelve provinces (a case of pars pro toto; see terminology of "the Netherlands").

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New Caledonia
Coordinates: 21°15′S 165°18′E / 21.25°S 165.30°E / -21.25; 165.30
New Caledonia (French: Nouvelle-Calédonie) is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) east of Australia and about 20,000 kilometres (12,000 mi) from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines and a few remote islets. The Chesterfield Islands in the Coral Sea are also part of New Caledonia. Locals refer to Grande Terre as "Le Caillou", the rock.
New Caledonia has a land area of 18,576 square kilometres (7,172 sq mi). The population (2011 estimate) is 256,275. The capital of the territory is Nouméa.
The earliest traces of human presence in New Caledonia date back to the Lapita period. The Lapita were highly skilled navigators and agriculturists with influence over a large area of the Pacific.
The British first sighted New Caledonia on September 4, 1774, during the second voyage of Captain James Cook. He named the territory New Caledonia, as the north-east of the island reminded him of Scotland. The west coast of Grande Terre was approached by Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse in 1788, shortly before his disappearance, and the Loyalty Islands were first visited in 1796. From then until 1840, only a few sporadic contacts with the archipelago were recorded. Contacts became more frequent after 1840, because of the interest in sandalwood from New Caledonia.

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New Taipei
New Taipei City (Chinese: 新北市; pinyin: Xīnběi Shì; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Sin-pak-chhī) is the most populous city of Taiwan. The area includes a substantial stretch of Taiwan's northern coastline and surrounds the Taipei Basin. New Taipei surrounds Taiwan's capital city Taipei, and is bordered by Keelung to the northeast, Yilan County to the southeast, and Taoyuan County to the southwest.
New Taipei had been administered as Taipei County (Chinese: 臺北縣 or 台北縣 Táiběixiàn) of Taiwan until its reorganization as a special municipality on December 25, 2010.
Initially the official English version of the city's name was assigned to be Xinbei City by the county authority, which is the pinyin transliteration of the Chinese city name. The new mayor Eric Chu requested the name New Taipei City as the official English rendering instead.New Taipei is named from "新臺北", where New is the literal translation of "新" and Taipei is the transcription of "臺北". Considering the mayor's request and the public opinion, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) approved the name New Taipei City on December 31, 2010.

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New Taipei City
New Taipei City (Chinese: 新北市; pinyin: Xīnběi Shì; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Sin-pak-chhī) is the most populous city of Taiwan. The area includes a substantial stretch of Taiwan's northern coastline and surrounds the Taipei Basin. New Taipei surrounds Taiwan's capital city Taipei, and is bordered by Keelung to the northeast, Yilan County to the southeast, and Taoyuan County to the southwest.
New Taipei had been administered as Taipei County (Chinese: 臺北縣 or 台北縣 Táiběixiàn) of Taiwan until its reorganization as a special municipality on December 25, 2010.
Initially the official English version of the city's name was assigned to be Xinbei City by the county authority, which is the pinyin transliteration of the Chinese city name. The new mayor Eric Chu requested the name New Taipei City as the official English rendering instead.New Taipei is named from "新臺北", where New is the literal translation of "新" and Taipei is the transcription of "臺北". Considering the mayor's request and the public opinion, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) approved the name New Taipei City on December 31, 2010.

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New Zealand
New Zealand (Māori: Aotearoa) is an island country located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses ‒ that of the North and South Islands ‒ as well as numerous smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres (900 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans.
During its long isolation, New Zealand developed a distinctive biodiversity of both animal and plant life. Most notable are the large number of unique bird species, many of which became extinct after the arrival of humans and introduced mammals. With a mild maritime climate, the land was mostly covered in forest. The country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions caused by the Pacific and Indo-Australian Plates clashing beneath the earth's surface.

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Niue
Niue ( /ˈnjuːeɪ/ NEW-ay; Niuean: Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean. It is commonly known as the "Rock of Polynesia", and inhabitants of the island call it "the Rock" for short. Niue is 2,400 kilometres (1,500 mi) northeast of New Zealand in a triangle between Tonga to the southwest, the Samoas to the northwest, and the Cook Islands to the southeast. The land area is 260 square kilometres (100 sq mi) with about 1,400 people who are predominantly Polynesian.
Though self-governing, Niue is in free association with New Zealand, and lacks full sovereignty. All Niueans are New Zealand citizens and Queen Elizabeth II is Niue's head of state in her capacity as Queen of New Zealand. Most diplomatic relations are conducted by New Zealand on Niue's behalf. 90-95% of Niuean people live in New Zealand, along with about 70% of the speakers of the Niuean language.^{[citation needed]}
In 2003, Niue became the world's first "WiFi nation", in which free wireless Internet access is provided throughout the country by The Internet Users Society-Niue.

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North Korea
Coordinates: 40°00′N 127°00′E / 40°N 127°E / 40; 127 The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK; Chosŏn'gŭl: 조선민주주의인민공화국), commonly referred to as "North Korea" ( listen), is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea. The Amnok, or Yalu, and the Tumen rivers form the border between North Korea and China. A section of the Tumen River in the far northeast is the border with Russia.
The peninsula was governed by the Korean Empire until it was annexed by Japan after the Russo-Japanese War in 1910. It was divided into Soviet- and American-occupied zones in 1945, after the end of World War II. North Korea refused to participate in a United Nations–supervised election held in the south in 1948, which led to the creation of separate Korean governments for the two occupation zones. North and South Korea each claimed sovereignty over the whole Korean Peninsula, which led to the Korean War of 1950. The Armistice Agreement of 1953 ended the fighting; but the two countries are officially still at war against each other, for a peace treaty was never signed. Both states were accepted into the United Nations in 1991.

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Northern Cyprus
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) (Turkish: Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti), commonly called Northern Cyprus, is a self-declared state that comprises the northeastern part of the island of Cyprus. Recognised only by Turkey, Northern Cyprus is considered by the international community to be occupied territory of the Republic of Cyprus.
Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the north east, westward to Morphou Bay and Cape Kormakitis (the Kokkina/Erenköy exclave marks the westernmost extent of the area), and southward to the village of Louroujina/Akıncılar. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both states.
Tensions between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot populations in Cyprus culminated in 1974 with a coup d'état, an attempt to annex the island to Greece, and an invasion by Turkey in response. This resulted in the partitioning of the island, the resettlement of many of its inhabitants, and a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support.

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Oman
Oman (ⁱ/oʊˈmɑːn/ oh-MAAN; Arabic: عمان‎ ʻUmān), officially called the Sultanate of Oman (Arabic: سلطنة عُمان‎ Salṭanat ʻUmān), is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the southeast and the Gulf of Oman on the northeast. The Madha and Musandam enclaves are surrounded by the UAE on their land borders, with the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman forming Musandam's coastal boundaries.
For a period, Oman was a moderate regional power, formerly having a sultanate extending across the Strait of Hormuz to Iran, and modern day Pakistan, and far south to Zanzibar on the coat of south-east Africa. Over time, as its power declined, the sultanate came under heavy influence from the United Kingdom, though Oman was never formally part of the British Empire, or a British protectorate. The Omani royal family claim that Oman has been ruled by the Al Said dynasty since 1744, although without substantial proof. Oman has long-standing military and political ties with the United Kingdom and the United States, although it maintains an independent foreign policy.

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Orchid Island
Coordinates: 22°03′N 121°32′E / 22.05°N 121.533°E / 22.05; 121.533
Orchid Island (Yami language: Ponso no Tao or Pongso no Tao; Chinese: 蘭嶼; pinyin: Lán Yǔ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lân-sū) is a 45 km² volcanic island off the southeastern coast of Taiwan Island and separated from the Batanes of the Philippines by the Bashi Channel of the Luzon Strait. It is governed as Lanyu Township of Taitung County.
The island is home to the Tao, an ethnic minority group who migrated to the island from the Batan Archipelago 800 years ago. The island is known to them as Ponso no Tao or Pongso no Tawo (island of the people) or Irala. Out of a total current population of 4,000, approximately 2,400 belong to the aboriginal Tao community and the remaining 1,600 are mainly Han Chinese. In neighboring Philippines the island is referred to as Botel Tobago.
The Lanyu nuclear waste storage facility was built in 1982. The plant receives nuclear waste from Taiwan's three nuclear power plants operated by state utility Taiwan Power Company (Taipower). About 100,000 barrels of nuclear waste from the nation’s three operational nuclear power plants have been stored at the Lanyu complex. In 2002 and 2012, there were major protests from local residents, calling on Taipower to remove the nuclear waste from the island.

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Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.
At 165.2 million square kilometres (64.1 million square miles) in area, this largest division of the World Ocean – and, in turn, the hydrosphere – covers about 46% of the Earth's water surface and about one-third of its total surface area, making it larger than all of the Earth's land area combined. The equator subdivides it into the North Pacific Ocean and South Pacific Ocean, with two exceptions: the Galápagos and Gilbert Islands, while straddling the equator, are deemed wholly within the South Pacific. The Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres (35,797 ft).
The eastern Pacific Ocean was first sighted by Europeans early in the 16th century. Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513 and named it Mar del Sur (South Sea). The ocean's current name was given by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish expedition of world circumnavigation in 1521, who encountered favourable winds as he reached the ocean and called it Mar Pacifico in Portuguese, meaning "peaceful sea".

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Pakistan
Pakistan (ⁱ/ˈpækɨstæn/ or ⁱ/pɑːkiˈstɑːn/; Urdu: پاکستان) (Urdu pronunciation: [paːkɪˈst̪aːn] ( listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاکستان), is a sovereign country in South Asia. It sits at the crossroads of the strategically important regions of South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by India to the east, Afghanistan to the west and north, Iran to the southwest and China in the far northeast. It is separated from Tajikistan by Afghanistan's narrow Wakhan Corridor in the north, and it shares a marine border with Oman.
The territory of modern Pakistan was the site of several ancient cultures, including the Neolithic Mehrgarh and the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation, and has undergone invasions or settlements by Hindu, Persian, Indo-Greek, Islamic, Turco-Mongol, Afghan and Sikh cultures. Thus the area has been ruled by numerous empires and dynasties, including the Indian Mauryan Empire, the Persian Achaemenid Empire, the Arab Umayyad Caliphate, the Mongol Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Durrani Empire, the Sikh Empire and the British Empire. As a result of the Pakistan Movement led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and India's struggle for independence, Pakistan was created in 1947 as an independent nation for Muslims from the regions in the east and west of India where there was a Muslim majority. Initially a dominion, Pakistan adopted a new constitution in 1956, becoming an Islamic republic. A civil war in 1971 resulted in the secession of East Pakistan as the new country of Bangladesh.

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Palau
Palau (ⁱ/pəˈlaʊ/, sometimes spelled Belau or Pelew), officially the Republic of Palau (Palauan: Beluu ęr a Belau), is an island country located in the western Pacific Ocean. Geographically part of the larger island group of Micronesia, with the country's population of around 21,000 people spread out over 250 islands forming the western chain of the Caroline Islands. The islands share maritime boundaries with Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Federated States of Micronesia. The most populous island in the group is Koror, with the capital city, Ngerulmud, located on nearby Babeldaob.
The country were originally settled around 3000 years ago by migrants from the Philippines, with a Negrito population sustained until around 900 years ago. The islands were first visited by Europeans in the 18th century, and were made part of the Spanish East Indies in 1885. Following Spain's defeat in the Spanish–American War in 1898, the islands were sold to Imperial Germany in 1899 under the terms of the German–Spanish Treaty, where they were administered as part of German New Guinea. The Imperial Japanese Navy conquered Palau during World War I, and the islands were later made a part of the Japanese-ruled South Pacific Mandate by the League of Nations. During World War II, skirmishes, including the major Battle of Peleliu, were fought between American and Japanese troops as part of the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign. Along with other Pacific Islands, Palau was made a part of the United States-governed Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in 1947. Having voted against joining the newly-independent Federated States of Micronesia in 1979, the islands gained full sovereignty in 1994 under a Compact of Free Association with the United States.

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Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (PNG; Tok Pisin: Papua Niugini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands (the western portion of the island is a part of the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua). It is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, in a region defined since the early 19th century as Melanesia. The capital is Port Moresby.
Papua New Guinea is one of the most culturally diverse countries on Earth. According to recent data, 841 different languages are listed for the country, although 11 of these have no known living speakers. . (A detailed series of language maps of Papua New Guinea may be found at Ethnologue) There may be at least as many traditional societies,out of a population of about 6.2 million. It is also one of the most rural, as only 18% of its people live in urban centres. The country is one of the world's least explored, culturally and geographically, and many undiscovered species of plants and animals are thought to exist in the interior of Papua New Guinea.

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Penghu
The Penghu Islands, also known as Pescadores (from Portuguese: "fishermen") are an archipelago off the western coast of Taiwan in the Taiwan Strait consisting of 90 small islands and islets covering an area of 141 square kilometers. Though claimed by both the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the People's Republic of China, they are administered by Taiwan.
The whole archipelago forms Penghu County of Taiwan, the archipelago along with the island of Taiwan, composed the former Japanese territory of Formosa.
Peng-hu was first recorded in unofficial historical records and regional logs in 1171 during the Southern Song Dynasty. From the middle of the 17th century to 1895, Taiwan and the archipelago were ruled by pirates, the colonial Dutch Empire (attempts at conquest from 1622 onward), the Koxinga kingdom (Tungning), and the Qing Dynasty, successively.
The Penghu archipelago was captured by the French in March 1885, in the closing weeks of the Sino-French War, and evacuated four months later. The Pescadores Campaign was the last campaign of Admiral Amédée Courbet, whose naval victories during the war had made him a national hero in France. Courbet was among several French soldiers and sailors who succumbed to cholera during the French occupation of Penghu. He died aboard his flagship Bayard in Makung harbour on 11 June 1885.

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Penghu Islands
The Penghu Islands, also known as Pescadores (from Portuguese: "fishermen") are an archipelago off the western coast of Taiwan in the Taiwan Strait consisting of 90 small islands and islets covering an area of 141 square kilometers. Though claimed by both the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the People's Republic of China, they are administered by Taiwan.
The whole archipelago forms Penghu County of Taiwan, the archipelago along with the island of Taiwan, composed the former Japanese territory of Formosa.
Peng-hu was first recorded in unofficial historical records and regional logs in 1171 during the Southern Song Dynasty. From the middle of the 17th century to 1895, Taiwan and the archipelago were ruled by pirates, the colonial Dutch Empire (attempts at conquest from 1622 onward), the Koxinga kingdom (Tungning), and the Qing Dynasty, successively.
The Penghu archipelago was captured by the French in March 1885, in the closing weeks of the Sino-French War, and evacuated four months later. The Pescadores Campaign was the last campaign of Admiral Amédée Courbet, whose naval victories during the war had made him a national hero in France. Courbet was among several French soldiers and sailors who succumbed to cholera during the French occupation of Penghu. He died aboard his flagship Bayard in Makung harbour on 11 June 1885.

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Philippine Sea
The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea east and north of the Philippines occupying an estimated surface area of 2 million mi² (5 million km²) on the western part of the North Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by the Philippine archipelago (Luzon, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao) on the southwest; Palau, Yap, and Ulithi (of the Carolines) on the southeast; the Marianas, including Guam, Saipan, and Tinian, on the east; the Bonin and Iwo Jima on the northeast; the Japanese islands of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyūshū on the north; the Ryukyu Islands on the northwest; and Taiwan in the west.
The sea has a complex and diverse undersea relief. The floor is formed into a structural basin by a series of geologic faults and fracture zones. Island arcs, which are actually extended ridges protruding above the ocean surface due to plate tectonic activity in the area, enclose the Philippine Sea to the north, east and south. The Philippine archipelago, Ryukyu Islands, and the Marianas are examples. Another prominent feature of the Philippine Sea is the presence of deep sea trench, among them the Philippine Trench and the Mariana Trench, containing the deepest point on the planet.

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Philippine Sea Plate
The Philippine Sea Plate is a tectonic plate comprising oceanic lithosphere that lies beneath the Philippine Sea, to the east of the Philippines. Most segments of the Philippines, including northern Luzon, are part of the Philippine Mobile Belt, which is geologically and tectonically separate from the Philippine Sea Plate.
To the north, the Philippine Sea Plate meets the Okhotsk Plate at the Nankai Trough. The Philippine Sea Plate, the Amurian Plate, and the Okhotsk Plate meet at Mount Fuji in Japan. Thickened crust of the Izu-Bonin-Mariana arc colliding with Japan constitutes the Izu Collision Zone.
The eastern side of the Philippine Sea Plate is a convergent boundary with the Pacific Plate subducting at the Izu-Ogasawara Trench. The east of the plate includes the Izu-Ogasawara (Bonin) and the Mariana Islands, forming the Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc system. There is also a divergent boundary between the Philippine Sea Plate and the small Mariana Plate which carries the Mariana Islands.
To the south, the Philippine Sea Plate is bounded by the Caroline Plate and Bird's Head Plate.

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Philippines
The Philippines ⁱ/ˈfɪlɨpiːnz/ FI-lə-peenz (Filipino: Pilipinas [ˌpɪlɪˈpinɐs]), officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (Filipino: Republika ng Pilipinas) is a sovereign country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam. The Sulu Sea to the southwest lies between the country and the island of Borneo, and to the south the Celebes Sea separates it from other islands of Indonesia. It is bounded on the east by the Philippine Sea. Its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and its tropical climate make the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons but have also endowed the country with natural resources and made it one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world. An archipelago comprising 7,107 islands, the Philippines is categorized broadly into three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Its capital city is Manila.
With an estimated population of about 98 million people, the Philippines is the 7th most populated Asian country and the 12th most populated country in the world. An additional 12.5 million Filipinos live overseas. Multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. In prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelago's earliest inhabitants. They were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples who brought with them influences from Malay, Hindu, and Islamic societies. Trade introduced Chinese cultural influences which remain to this day.

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Qatar
Qatar (ⁱ/ˈkɑːtɑr/ or ⁱ/kəˈtɑr/;Arabic: قطر‎ [ˈqɑtˤɑr]; local vernacular pronunciation: [ɡɪtˤɑr]), also known as the country or State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in Western Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its territory surrounded by the Persian Gulf. A strait of the Persian Gulf separates Qatar from the nearby island state of Bahrain.
Qatar has been ruled as an absolute monarchy by Al Thani family since the mid-19th century. Formerly a British protectorate noted mainly for pearling, it became independent in 1971, and has become one of the region's wealthiest states due to its enormous oil and natural gas revenues. In 1995, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani became Emir when he seized power from his father, Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, in a peaceful coup d'état. The most important positions in Qatar are held by the members of the Al Thani family, or close confidants of the al-Thani family. Beginning in 1992, Qatar has built intimate military ties with the United States, and is now the location of U.S. Central Command’s Forward Headquarters and the Combined Air Operations Center.

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Qing
The Qing Dynasty was the last imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China.
The dynasty was founded by the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan in contemporary Northeastern China. The Aisin Gioro leader, Nurhachi, who was originally a vassal of the Ming emperors, began unifying the Jurchen clans in the late sixteenth century. By 1635, Nurhachi's son Hong Taiji could claim they constituted a single and united Manchu people and began forcing the Ming out of Liaoning in southern Manchuria. In 1644, the Ming capital Beijing was sacked by a peasant revolt led by Li Zicheng, a former minor Ming official who became the leader of the peasant revolt, who then proclaimed the Shun dynasty. The last Ming ruler, the Chongzhen Emperor, committed suicide when the city fell. When Li Zicheng moved against Ming general Wu Sangui, the latter made an alliance with the Manchus and opened the Shanhai Pass to the Manchurian army. Under Prince Dorgon, they seized control of Beijing and overthrew Li Zicheng's short-lived Shun Dynasty. Complete pacification of China was accomplished around 1683 under the Kangxi Emperor.

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Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China.
The dynasty was founded by the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan in contemporary Northeastern China. The Aisin Gioro leader, Nurhachi, who was originally a vassal of the Ming emperors, began unifying the Jurchen clans in the late sixteenth century. By 1635, Nurhachi's son Hong Taiji could claim they constituted a single and united Manchu people and began forcing the Ming out of Liaoning in southern Manchuria. In 1644, the Ming capital Beijing was sacked by a peasant revolt led by Li Zicheng, a former minor Ming official who became the leader of the peasant revolt, who then proclaimed the Shun dynasty. The last Ming ruler, the Chongzhen Emperor, committed suicide when the city fell. When Li Zicheng moved against Ming general Wu Sangui, the latter made an alliance with the Manchus and opened the Shanhai Pass to the Manchurian army. Under Prince Dorgon, they seized control of Beijing and overthrew Li Zicheng's short-lived Shun Dynasty. Complete pacification of China was accomplished around 1683 under the Kangxi Emperor.

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Russia
Russia ⁱ/ˈrʌʃə/ or /ˈrʊʃə/ (Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨjə] ( listen)), is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, and the US state of Alaska by the Bering Strait. At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Russia is also the eighth most populous nation with 143 million people. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning nine time zones and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources and is the largest producer of oil and natural gas globally. Russia has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's fresh water.

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Samoa
Samoa (ⁱ/səˈmoʊ.ə/; Samoan: Sāmoa, IPA: [ˌsaːˈmoa]), officially the Independent State of Samoa (Samoan: Malo Sa'oloto Tuto'atasi o Sāmoa), formerly known as Western Samoa, is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in Polynesia, Savai'i. The capital city, Apia, and Faleolo International Airport are situated on the island of Upolu.
Samoa was admitted to the United Nations on 15 December 1976. The entire island group, inclusive of American Samoa, was called Navigators Islands by European explorers before the 20th century because of the Samoans' seafaring skills.
The oldest date so far from pre-historic remains in Samoa has been calculated by New Zealand scientists to a likely true age of circa 3,000 years ago from a Lapita site at Mulifanua during the 1970s.
The origins of the Samoans is closely linked to modern research about Polynesia in various scientific disciplines such as genetics, linguistics and anthropology. Scientific research is ongoing although a number of different theories exist; including one proposing that the Samoans originated from Austronesian predecessors during the terminal eastward Lapita expansion period from Southeast Asia and Melanesia between 2,500 and 1,500 BCE. The Samoan origins are currently being reassessed due to new scientific evidence and carbon dating findings from 2003 and onwards.

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Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia (ⁱ/ˌsaʊdi əˈreɪbi.ə/ or ⁱ/ˌsɔːdiː əˈreɪbi.ə/; Arabic: السعودية‎ as-Su‘ūdīyah^{[citation needed]} or incorrectly as-Sa‘ūdīyah, officially known as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Arabic: المملكة العربية السعودية‎ al-Mamlakah al-‘Arabīyah as-Su‘ūdīyah Arabic pronunciation (help·info)), is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab world, after Algeria. It is bordered by Jordan, and Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south. The Red Sea lies to its west, and the Persian Gulf lies to the east. Saudi Arabia has an area of approximately 2,250,000 km² (870,000 sq mi), and it has an estimated population of 27 million, of which 9 million are registered foreign expatriates and an estimated 2 million are illegal immigrants. Saudi nationals comprise an estimated 16 million people.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded by Abdul-Aziz bin Saud (known for most of his career as Ibn Saud) in 1932, although the conquests which eventually led to the creation of the Kingdom began in 1902 when he captured Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud, referred to in Arabic as the Al Saud. The Saudi Arabian government, which has been an absolute monarchy since its inception, refers to its system of government as being Islamic, though this is contested by many due to its strong basis in Salafism, a minority school of thought in Islam. The kingdom is sometimes called "The Land of the Two Holy Mosques" in reference to Al-Masjid al-Haram (in Mecca), and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (in Medina), the two holiest places in Islam.

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Singapore
Singapore (ⁱ/ˈsɪŋəpɔər/ SI-ngə-pohr), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, 137 kilometres (85 mi) north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the Singapore Strait to its south. Singapore is highly urbanised but almost half of the country is covered by greenery. More land is being created for development through land reclamation.

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Siraya language
Siraya is a Formosan language spoken until the end of the 19th century by the indigenous Siraya people of Taiwan. Dialects of Siraya included Taivoa and Makatao.
Several Siraya communities have been involved in a Sirayan cultural and language revitalization movement for more than a decade. Through linguistic research and language teaching, the natives are 'awaking' their mother tongue that has been 'dormant' for a century. Today a group of Siraya children in the Shinhua township particularly in Kou-pei and Chiou Chen Lin area are able to speak and sing in the Siraya language.
The Siraya language entered the historical record in the early 17th century when traders from the Dutch East India Company, expelled from mainland China and Chinese waters, set up a stronghold on Taiwan at Fort Zeelandia, which was in the Siraya-speaking area. During the period of Dutch rule in Taiwan, Calvinist missionaries used Siraya and Babuza (also known as Favorlang) as contact languages. A translation of the Gospel of St. Matthew into Siraya (174 pages of Siraya and Dutch text, Gravius 1661) and a catechism in Siraya (288 pages of Siraya and Dutch text, Gravius 1662) were published, and have been subsequently republished. The Dutch colony was driven out in 1661 by Ming loyalist refugees from China, and Taiwan was subsequently incorporated into the Qing Empire. During the period of Qing Dynasty rule, use of Siraya receded, but some Siraya language materials survive in the form of Siraya land contracts with Chinese translations, known as the Sinckan Manuscripts. The last records were lists of words made in the early 19th century.

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Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands ⁱ/ˈsɒləmən ˈaɪləndz/ is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of 28,400 square kilometres (11,000 sq mi). The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal. The nation of the Solomon Islands is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
The Solomon Islands are believed to have been inhabited by Melanesian people for many thousands of years. Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña was the first European to arrive in Solomon Islands in 1568 and named them Islas Salomón. The United Kingdom established a protectorate over the Solomon Islands in 1893. In the Second World War there was fierce fighting between the Americans and the Japanese in the Solomon Islands campaign of 1942–45, including the Battle of Guadalcanal.
Self-government was achieved in 1976 and independence two years later. The Solomon Islands is a constitutional monarchy with the Queen of the Solomon Islands, at present Elizabeth II, as the head of state. Gordon Lilo Darcy is the eleventh and current Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands.

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South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around 3,500,000 square kilometres (1,400,000 sq mi). The area's importance largely results from one-third of the world's shipping transiting through its waters, and that it is believed to hold huge oil and gas reserves beneath its seabed.
It is located
The minute South China Sea Islands, collectively an archipelago, number in the hundreds. The sea and its mostly uninhabited islands are subject to competing claims of sovereignty by several countries. These claims are also reflected in the variety of names used for the islands and the sea.
South China Sea is the dominant term used in English for the sea, and the name in most European languages is equivalent, but it is sometimes called by different names in neighboring countries, often reflecting historical claims to hegemony over the sea.
The English name is a result of early European interest in the sea as a route from Europe and South Asia to the trading opportunities of China. In the sixteenth century Portuguese sailors called it the China Sea (Mar da China); later needs to differentiate it from nearby bodies of water led to calling it the South China Sea. The International Hydrographic Organization refers to the sea as "South China Sea (Nan Hai)".

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South Korea
South Korea ( listen), officially the Republic of Korea (Hangul: 대한민국; Hanja: 大韓民國; Daehan Minguk listen), is a sovereign state in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The name "Korea" is derived from Goryeo, a dynasty which ruled in the Middle Ages (an initial "G" in Korean is pronounced like an English "K").
Its neighbors are China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the Korea Strait to the south. South Korea lies in the north temperate zone with a predominantly mountainous terrain. It covers a total area of 99,392 square kilometers and has a population of almost 50 million. The capital and largest city is Seoul, with a population of 9,794,304.
Archaeological findings show that the Korean Peninsula was occupied by the Lower Paleolithic period.Korean history begins with the founding of Gojoseon in 2333 BC by the legendary Dan-gun. Following the unification of the Three Kingdoms of Korea under Silla 668 AD, Korea went through the Goryeo Dynasty and Joseon Dynasty as one nation until the end of the Korean Empire in 1910, when it was annexed by Japan. After liberation and occupation by Soviet and U.S. forces at the end of World War II, the nation was divided into North and South Korea. The latter was established in 1948 as a democracy, though political turmoil and times of military rule and martial law characterized much of the period until the foundation of the Sixth Republic in 1987.

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South Ossetia
South Ossetia ( /əˈsɛtiə/ə-SET-ee-ə or /ɒˈsiːʃə/o-SEE-shə; Ossetic: Хуссар Ирыстон, Xussar Iryston; Georgian: სამხრეთ ოსეთი, Samxret Oseti; Russian: Южная Осетия, Yuzhnaya Osetiya) or Tskhinvali Region (Georgian: ცხინვალის რეგიონი, Tsxinvalis regioni; Russian: Цхинвальский регион, Tskhinvalskiy region) is a disputed region and partly recognized state in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.
South Ossetians declared independence from Georgia in 1990, calling themselves the Republic of South Ossetia. The Georgian government responded by abolishing South Ossetia's autonomy and trying to retake the region by force. This led to the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War. Georgian fighting against those controlling South Ossetia occurred on two other occasions, in 2004 and 2008. The last conflict led to the 2008 South Ossetia war, during which Ossetian and Russian forces gained full, de facto control of the territory of the former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast.

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Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (ⁱ/ʃriː ˈlɑːŋkə/, /sriːˈlɑːŋkə/, or /sriːˈlæŋkə/;Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකාව, Tamil: இலங்கை), is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent in South Asia. Known until 1972 as Ceylon ( /sɨˈlɒn/, /seɪˈlɒn/, or /siːˈlɒn/), Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar, the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the Maldives.
As a result of its location in the path of major sea routes, Sri Lanka is a strategic naval link between West Asia and South East Asia. It was an important stop on the ancient Silk Road. Sri Lanka has also been a center of the Buddhist religion and culture from ancient times, being the nation where the Buddhist teachings were first written down as well as the oldest continually Buddhist country. Sri Lanka boasts a diverse range of cultures, languages and religions. The Sinhalese people form the majority of the population; Tamils, who are concentrated in the north and east of the island, form the largest ethnic minority. Other communities include Moors, Burghers, Kaffirs, Malays and the aboriginal Vedda people.

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State of Palestine
Palestine (Arabic: فلسطين‎ Filasṭīn/Falasṭīn/Filisṭīn), officially declared as the State of Palestine (Arabic: دولة فلسطين‎, Dawlat Filasṭin), is a state that was proclaimed in exile in Algiers on 15 November 1988, when the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) National Council (PNC) adopted the unilateral Palestinian Declaration of Independence. At the time of the 1988 declaration, the PLO did not exercise control over any territory, and its claimed territory remains under Israeli occupation. It claims the Palestinian territories (defined according to the 1967 borders), and has designated Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, despite Israeli control.
The 1974 Arab League summit designated the PLO as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and reaffirmed their right to establish an independent state of urgency." The PLO has had observer status at the United Nations as a "non-state entity" since 22 November 1974, which entitles it to speak in the UN General Assembly but not to vote. After the Declaration of Independence, the UN General Assembly officially "acknowledged" the proclamation and voted to use the designation "Palestine" instead of "Palestine Liberation Organization" when referring to the Palestinian permanent observer. In spite of this decision, the PLO does not participate at the UN in its capacity of the State of Palestine's government. Since 1998, the PLO is arranged for seating in the UN General Assembly immediately after non-member states, and before all other observers.

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Suriname
Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname (Dutch: Republiek Suriname, Dutch pronunciation: [ˌrepyˈblik ˌsyriˈnaːmə]), is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north. Suriname was first colonized by the British, and captured by the Dutch in 1667, who governed it as the colony of Suriname until 1954. The country of Suriname achieved independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in which Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles, and the Netherlands itself cooperated on a basis of equality since 1954, on 25 November 1975.
At just under 165,000 km² (64,000 sq mi) Suriname is the smallest sovereign state in South America (French Guiana comprises less territory, but is French territory). It has an estimated population of approximately 560,000, most of whom live on the country's north coast, where the capital Paramaribo is located.
The name Suriname may derive from a Taino (Arawak-speaking) group called "Surinen" who first inhabited the region prior to European arrival.

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Syria
Syria (/ˈsɪriə/ ( listen) SIRR-ee-ə; Arabic: سورية‎ Sūriyya or سوريا Sūryā; Syriac: ܣܘܪܝܐ; Kurdish: Sûrî), officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic: الجمهورية العربية السورية‎ al-Jumhūriyyah al-‘Arabīyah as-Sūriyyah Arabic pronunciation (help·info)), is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest.
In English, the name Syria was formerly synonymous with the Levant, known in Arabic as Sham, while the modern state encompasses the sites of several ancient kingdoms and empires, including the Eblan civilization of the third millennium BC. In the Islamic era, its capital city, Damascus, the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate, and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt.
The population of Syria is 74% Sunni, 12% Alawi, 10% Christian, and 3% Druze. Combined, 87% of the Syrian population is Muslim, while the other 10% is Christian, which includes mainly Arab Christians but also Assyrians and Armenians. Major ethnic minorities in Syria include Kurds (9%), Assyrians, Armenians, Turkmens and Circassians. The majority of the population is Arab (90%).

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Taichung
Taichung (臺中; literally "Central Taiwan") is a city located in west-central Taiwan, with a population of just over 2.6 million people, making it the third largest city on the island after New Taipei and Kaohsiung. On 25 December 2010, it merged with Taichung County to form a single special municipality. The city's motto is "economic, cultural and international city."
Taichung City is located in the Taichung Basin along the main western coastal plain that stretches from northern Taiwan along the west coast nearly to the southern tip. The city is located just north of 24° north and about 120.5° east longitude.
Taichung City borders Changhua County (彰化縣), Nantou County (南投縣), Hualien County (花蓮縣), Yilan County (宜蘭縣), Hsinchu County (新竹縣), Miaoli County (苗栗縣).
The Central Mountain Range lies just to the east of the city. Lower, rolling hills run to the north leading to Miaoli County. Flat coastal plains dominate the landscape to the south leading to Changhua County and the Taiwan Strait to the west.

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Taichung City
Taichung (臺中; literally "Central Taiwan") is a city located in west-central Taiwan, with a population of just over 2.6 million people, making it the third largest city on the island after New Taipei and Kaohsiung. On 25 December 2010, it merged with Taichung County to form a single special municipality. The city's motto is "economic, cultural and international city."
Taichung City is located in the Taichung Basin along the main western coastal plain that stretches from northern Taiwan along the west coast nearly to the southern tip. The city is located just north of 24° north and about 120.5° east longitude.
Taichung City borders Changhua County (彰化縣), Nantou County (南投縣), Hualien County (花蓮縣), Yilan County (宜蘭縣), Hsinchu County (新竹縣), Miaoli County (苗栗縣).
The Central Mountain Range lies just to the east of the city. Lower, rolling hills run to the north leading to Miaoli County. Flat coastal plains dominate the landscape to the south leading to Changhua County and the Taiwan Strait to the west.

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Tainan
Tainan is a city in southern Taiwan. It is the fifth largest city of Taiwan, one of special municipalities directly under the Executive Yuan by central government of the ROC. Tainan faces the Taiwan Strait in the west and south. Tainan's complex history of comebacks, redefinitions and renewals inspired its popular nickname "the Phoenix City."
Tainan was initially established by the Dutch East India Company as a ruling and trading base which called Fort Zeelandia during the period of Dutch rule on Taiwan. After Dutch colonists were defeated by Koxinga in 1661, Tainan was remained as the capital of the Tungning Kingdom until 1683 and afterwards the capital of Taiwan prefecture under the rule of Qing Dynasty until 1887, when the Qing Dynasty established Taipei as the new provincial capital. Tainan has been historically regarded as one of the oldest cities in Taiwan, and its former name, Tayouan (大員), has been claimed to be the source of the name Taiwan. It is also one of Taiwan's cultural capitals, for its rich folk cultures including the famous local snack food, extensively preserved Taoist rites and other living local traditions covering child birth to funeral. The city houses the first Confucian school–temple, built in 1665, the remains of the Eastern and Southern gates of the old city, and countless other historical monuments. Tainan claims more Buddhist and Taoist temples than any other city in Taiwan.

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Tainan City
Tainan is a city in southern Taiwan. It is the fifth largest city of Taiwan, one of special municipalities directly under the Executive Yuan by central government of the ROC. Tainan faces the Taiwan Strait in the west and south. Tainan's complex history of comebacks, redefinitions and renewals inspired its popular nickname "the Phoenix City."
Tainan was initially established by the Dutch East India Company as a ruling and trading base which called Fort Zeelandia during the period of Dutch rule on Taiwan. After Dutch colonists were defeated by Koxinga in 1661, Tainan was remained as the capital of the Tungning Kingdom until 1683 and afterwards the capital of Taiwan prefecture under the rule of Qing Dynasty until 1887, when the Qing Dynasty established Taipei as the new provincial capital. Tainan has been historically regarded as one of the oldest cities in Taiwan, and its former name, Tayouan (大員), has been claimed to be the source of the name Taiwan. It is also one of Taiwan's cultural capitals, for its rich folk cultures including the famous local snack food, extensively preserved Taoist rites and other living local traditions covering child birth to funeral. The city houses the first Confucian school–temple, built in 1665, the remains of the Eastern and Southern gates of the old city, and countless other historical monuments. Tainan claims more Buddhist and Taoist temples than any other city in Taiwan.

wn.com/Tainan_City
Taipei
Taipei City (/ˌtaɪˈpeɪ/; [tʰǎipèi]; Chinese: 臺北市 or 台北市; pinyin: Táiběi Shì) is the capital of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Situated at the northern tip of the island of Taiwan, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River; it is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, a port city on the Pacific Ocean. It lies in the two relatively narrow valleys of the Keelung (基隆河) and Xindian (新店溪) rivers, which join to form the Tamsui River along the city's western border. The city proper (Taipei City) is home to an estimated 2,618,772 people. Taipei, New Taipei, and Keelung together form the Taipei metropolitan area with a population of 6,900,273. However, they are administered under different local governing bodies. "Taipei" sometimes refers to the whole metropolitan area, while "Taipei City" refers to the city proper. Taipei City proper is surrounded on all sides by New Taipei.
Taipei is the political, economic, and cultural center of Taiwan. The National Palace Museum which has one of the largest collections of Chinese artifacts and artworks in the world is located in Taipei. Considered to be a global city, Taipei is part of a major industrial area. Railways, high speed rail, highways, airports, and bus lines connect Taipei with all parts of the island. The city is served by two airports – Taipei Songshan and Taiwan Taoyuan.

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Taipei 101
Taipei 101 (Chinese: 台北101 / 臺北101), formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a landmark skyscraper located in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The building ranked officially as the world's tallest from 2004 until the opening of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010. In July 2011, the building was awarded LEED Platinum certification, the highest award in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system and became the tallest and largest green building in the world. Taipei 101 was designed by C.Y. Lee & partners and constructed primarily by Samsung C&T and KTRT Joint Venture. The tower has served as an icon of modern Taiwan ever since its opening, and received the 2004 Emporis Skyscraper Award.Fireworks launched from Taipei 101 feature prominently in international New Year's Eve broadcasts and the structure appears frequently in travel literature and international media.
Taipei 101 comprises 101 floors above ground and 5 floors underground. The building was architecturally created as a symbol of the evolution of technology and Asian tradition (see Symbolism). Its postmodernist approach to style incorporates traditional design elements and gives them modern treatments. The tower is designed to withstand typhoons and earthquakes. A multi-level shopping mall adjoining the tower houses hundreds of fashionable stores, restaurants and clubs.

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Taipei City
Taipei City (/ˌtaɪˈpeɪ/; [tʰǎipèi]; Chinese: 臺北市 or 台北市; pinyin: Táiběi Shì) is the capital of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Situated at the northern tip of the island of Taiwan, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River; it is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, a port city on the Pacific Ocean. It lies in the two relatively narrow valleys of the Keelung (基隆河) and Xindian (新店溪) rivers, which join to form the Tamsui River along the city's western border. The city proper (Taipei City) is home to an estimated 2,618,772 people. Taipei, New Taipei, and Keelung together form the Taipei metropolitan area with a population of 6,900,273. However, they are administered under different local governing bodies. "Taipei" sometimes refers to the whole metropolitan area, while "Taipei City" refers to the city proper. Taipei City proper is surrounded on all sides by New Taipei.
Taipei is the political, economic, and cultural center of Taiwan. The National Palace Museum which has one of the largest collections of Chinese artifacts and artworks in the world is located in Taipei. Considered to be a global city, Taipei is part of a major industrial area. Railways, high speed rail, highways, airports, and bus lines connect Taipei with all parts of the island. The city is served by two airports – Taipei Songshan and Taiwan Taoyuan.

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Taitung County

Taitung County is a county in eastern Taiwan. While its name means "Eastern Taiwan", it is also known as "Houshan" (Chinese: 後山; pinyin: hòushān; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: āu-soaⁿ) by many of the locals, meaning behind the mountains or the back mountains. Taitung is officially administered as a county of the Republic of China.
Taitung runs along the south east coast of Taiwan. Taitung county, possessing 3,515 km² is the 3rd largest county in Taiwan. Taitung County's coastline is 231 km long. Taitung currently has a population of 231,863. The country possess only one registered city, Taitung City. The rest of the county is composed of two towns and thirteen villages.
Due in part to its remote location and isolation by mountains from Taiwan's main population centers, Taitung was the last part of the island to be colonized by Han Chinese immigrants (late 19th century). Throughout the 20th century Taitung remained an economic backwater. Sparsely populated even today, this isolation may have been a blessing in disguise, as Taitung mostly escaped the urbanization and pollution that have come to plague much of the island's lowland areas.

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Taiwan
Taiwan (ⁱ/ˌtaɪˈwɑːn/ TY-WAHN; Chinese: 臺灣 or 台灣; pinyin: Táiwān; see below), officially the Republic of China (ROC; Chinese: 中華民國; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó), is a state in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China now governs the island of Taiwan (formerly known as Formosa), which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and other minor islands. Neighboring states include the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east and northeast, and the Philippines to the south. Taipei is the capital city and economic and cultural centre of the country, and New Taipei is the most populous city.
The earliest evidence of inhabitation of Taiwan dates back to the late Paleolithic era. The island of Taiwan was mainly inhabited by Taiwanese aborigines before being colonized in the 17th century by the Dutch and the Spanish Empire. The first Han Chinese polity on Taiwan began when Koxinga's troops defeated Dutch forces and established the Kingdom of Tungning. The island was subsequently ruled by the Qing Dynasty after the kingdom's defeat in the Battle of Penghu in 1683, a period that lasted for over 200 years. Following Japan's victory over the Qing Dynasty in the first Sino-Japanese war, Taiwan was ceded to Japan under the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895.

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Taiwan Province
Taiwan Province (traditional Chinese: 臺灣省 or 台灣省; simplified Chinese: 台湾省; pinyin: Táiwān Shěng) is one of the two administrative divisions of the Republic of China (ROC) that are officially referred to as "provinces". The province covers approximately 73% of the territory controlled by the ROC, with around 40% of the total population.
Geographically it covers the majority of the island of Taiwan as well as almost all of its surrounding islands, the largest of which are the Penghu archipelago, Green Island and Orchid Island. Taiwan Province does not cover territories in the direct-controlled special municipalities of Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Tainan, and New Taipei, all of which located geographically within main island of Taiwan. It also does not include the counties of Kinmen and Lienchiang, which are located alongside the southeast coast of Mainland China and administered as a separate Fujian Province.
Historically Taiwan Province covers the entire island of Taiwan and all its associated islands. All the special municipalities were split off from the province between 1967 and 2010. Since 1997 most of the Taiwan provincial government's functions have been transferred to the central government of the Republic of China following a constitutional amendment. The Taiwan provincial government has effectively become a nominal institution under the Executive Yuan's administration.

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Taiwan Strait
The Taiwan Strait or Formosa Strait, formerly known as the Black Ditch, is a 180-km-wide (111.85-mile-wide) strait separating the island of Taiwan from the Asian mainland. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to East China Sea to the northeast. The narrowest part is 130 km (81 mi) wide.
Fujian province in mainland China is to the west of the strait, while important islands like Quemoy, Xiamen Island, Pingtan Island, and the Matsu Islands lie just off the coast. To the east are the west coasts of Taiwan and Penghu. The island fishermen use the strait as a fishing resource. The Min and Jiulong Rivers empty into the strait.
There have been discussions about the strategic importance of the Taiwan Strait. Some Japanese politicians claimed that the Taiwan Strait is an essential sea route for oil shipment from the Middle East via the Malacca Strait to Japan. However, some have argued that this is merely an excuse for intervention since the sea lane east of Taiwan is even shorter

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Tajikistan
Tajikistan (ⁱ/tɑːˈdʒiːkɨstɑːn/, /təˈdʒiːkɨstæn/, or /tæˈdʒiːkiːstæn/; Тоҷикистон [ˈtɔjikɪsˈtɔn]), officially the Republic of Tajikistan (Tajik: Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Cumhuriyi Tocikiston; Persian: جمهوری تاجیکستان‎ Jomhuri-ye Tajikestan; Russian: Республика Таджикистан, Respublika Tadzhikistan), is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. It borders Afghanistan to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east. Gilgit Baltistan as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan are separated from Tajikistan by the narrow Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan in the south.
Most of Tajikistan's population belongs to the Persian-speaking Tajik ethnic group, who share language, culture and history with Afghanistan and Iran. Once part of the Samanid Empire, Tajikistan became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union in the 20th century, known as the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (Tajik SSR). Mountains cover over 90% of this Central Asian republic.
After independence, Tajikistan suffered from a devastating civil war which lasted from 1992 to 1997. Since the end of the war, newly established political stability and foreign aid have allowed the country's economy to grow. Trade in commodities such as cotton, aluminium and uranium has contributed greatly to this steady improvement.

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Taoyuan City
Taoyuan City (Chinese: 桃園市; pinyin: Táoyuán Shì; Wade–Giles: T'ao-yüan Shih; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Thô-hn̂g-chhī) is the county seat of Taoyuan County in Taiwan, located in the northwestern part of the island. Taoyuan city is the gateway of Taiwan: with the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in vicinity, and is a 30-minute ride to the capital, Taipei. After the December 25, 2010 creation of New Taipei City, the city of Taoyuan became the most populous County-controlled city in Taiwan, surpassing Banqiao, the former seat of Taipei County and once the most populous County-controlled city since the late 80s.^{[citation needed]}
General statistics include:
Taoyuan is the native home to the Plains tribes of Taiwanese aborigines. Taoyuan's old name was Taoziyuan (Chinese: 桃仔園; pinyin: Táozǐyuán; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Thô-á-hn̂g; literally "peach orchard"), since there used to be many peach blossoms in the area. In 1920 under Japanese rule, the area was renamed Taoyuan Town(Chinese: 桃園街; pinyin: Táoyuán Jiē; literally "peach garden town"), and incorporated into the Hsinchu state as a county jurisdiction. After the Chinese Civil War, it was "Taoyuan Town, Taoyuan County". Since 1971, the name has remained Taoyuan City (桃園市).

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Thailand
Thailand ( /ˈtaɪlænd/ TY-land or /ˈtaɪlənd/;Thai: ประเทศไทย, RTGS: Prathet Thai), officially the Kingdom of Thailand (Thai: ราชอาณาจักรไทย, RTGS: Ratcha Anachak Thai; IPA: [râːt.tɕʰā ʔāːnāːtɕàk tʰāj] ( listen)), formerly known as Siam (Thai: สยาม; RTGS: Sayam), is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Burma. Its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India in the Andaman Sea to the southwest.
The country is a constitutional monarchy, headed by King Rama IX, the ninth king of the House of Chakri, who, having reigned since 1946, is the world's longest-serving head of state and the longest-reigning monarch in Thai history. The king of Thailand is titled Head of State, Head of the Armed Forces, the Upholder of the Buddhist religion, and the Defender of all Faiths.

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Tokelau
Tokelau ( /ˈtoʊkəlaʊ/) is a territory of New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean that consists of three tropical coral atolls with a combined land area of 10 km² and a population of approximately 1,400. The atolls lie north of the Samoan Islands, east of Tuvalu, south of the Phoenix Islands, southwest of the more distant Line Islands (both island groups belonging to Kiribati) and northwest of the Cook Islands.
The United Nations General Assembly designated Tokelau a Non-Self-Governing Territory. Until 1976 the official name was Tokelau Islands. Tokelau is sometimes referred to by the older, colonial name of The Union Islands.
The name Tokelau is a Polynesian word meaning "North Wind". The islands were named the Union Islands and Union Group by European explorers at an unknown time. Tokelau Islands was adopted as the name in 1946, and was contracted to Tokelau on 9 December 1976.
The change from Tokelau Islands to Tokelau marked a slight shift in emphasis, with consequences in regional diplomacy, in that the term Tokelau Islands clearly and substantially referred to a geographical expression, that is, a range of islands, whatever else it may connote. It is not necessarily controversial to refer by name to a range of islands, even though they may come under two or more political jurisdictions. Tokelau, on the other hand, can be taken to refer more immediately to some concept of nationhood, arguably infusing increased meaning to the draft 2006 independence constitution of Tokelau (which somewhat controversially claims Tokelauan inhabited Olohega (or Swains Island), currently part of American Samoa, as part of its national territory).^{[citation needed]}

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Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga (Tongan: Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a sovereign state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over 700,000 square kilometres (270,000 sq mi) of ocean in the South Pacific. Fifty-two of the islands are inhabited.
The Kingdom stretches over a distance of about 800 kilometres (500 mi) in a north-south line located at about a third of the distance from New Zealand to Hawaii.
Tonga also became known as the Friendly Islands because of the friendly reception accorded to Captain James Cook on his first visit there in 1773. He happened to arrive at the time of the ʻinasi festival, the yearly donation of the first fruits to the Tuʻi Tonga, the islands' paramount chief, and received an invitation to the festivities. According to the writer William Mariner, in reality the chiefs had wanted to kill Cook during the gathering, but could not agree on a plan.
Tonga is also the only island nation in the region to have avoided formal colonisation. In 2010, Tonga took a decisive step towards becoming a fully functioning constitutional monarchy after legislative reforms paved the way for its first ever fully representative elections which resulted in the election of Noble Sialeʻataongo Tuʻivakanō as its first democratically elected Prime Minister.

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Tropic of Cancer
Coordinates: 23°26′16″N 0°0′0″W / 23.43778°N 0°E / 23.43778; 0 (Prime Meridian)
The Tropic of Cancer, also referred to as the Northern tropic, is the circle of latitude on the Earth that marks the most northerly position at which the Sun may appear directly overhead at its zenith. This event occurs once per year, at the time of the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun to its maximum extent.
Its Southern Hemisphere counterpart, marking the most southerly position at which the Sun may appear directly overhead, is the Tropic of Capricorn. These tropics are two of the five major degree measures or major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth, besides the Arctic and Antarctic Circles and the Equator. The positions of these circles of latitude (other than the Equator) are dictated by the tilt of the Earth's axis of rotation relative to the plane of its orbit.
The imaginary line is called the Tropic of Cancer because when the Sun reaches the zenith at this latitude, it is entering the tropical sign of Cancer (summer solstice). When it was named, the Sun was also in the direction of the constellation Cancer (Latin for crab). However, this is no longer true due to the precession of the equinoxes. According to International Astronomical Union boundaries, the Sun now is in Taurus at the June solstice. According to sidereal astrology, which divides the zodiac into 12 equal parts, the Sun is in Gemini at that time. However, according to tropical astrology, which divides the ecliptic in twelve 30º sectors, starting with the vernal equinox, the Sun is always entering Cancer at this time, as the Earth's axial tilt is most inclined towards the Sun. The word "tropic" itself comes from the Greek τροπή (tropi), meaning turn, referring to the fact that the Sun appears to "turn back" at the solstices.

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Turkey
Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (help·info)), is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia (mostly in the Anatolian peninsula) and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea is to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between East Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia.
Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. The vast majority of the population are Muslims. The country's official language is Turkish, whereas Kurdish and Zazaki languages are spoken by Kurds and Zazas, who constitute 18% of the population.

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Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan (ⁱ/tɜrkˈmɛnɨstæn/ or ⁱ/tɜrkmɛnɨˈstɑːn/; Turkmen: Türkmenistan), formerly also known as Turkmenia (Russian: Туркмения), is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (Turkmen SSR). Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states. It is bordered by Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest, Uzbekistan to the east and northeast, Kazakhstan to the north and northwest and the Caspian Sea to the west.
Turkmenistan's GDP growth rate of 11% in 2010^[update] ranks 4th in the world, but these figures are subject to wide margins of error. It possesses the world's fourth largest reserves of natural gas resources. Although it is wealthy in natural resources in certain areas, most of the country is covered by the Karakum (Black Sand) Desert.
The Turkmen government operates as a single-party system. Turkmenistan was ruled by President for Life Saparmurat Niyazov (called "Türkmenbaşy" — "leader of the Turkmens") until his sudden death on 21 December 2006. Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov was elected the new president on 11 February 2007.

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Tuvalu
Tuvalu (ⁱ/tuːˈvɑːluː/ too-VAH-loo or /ˈtuːvəluː/ TOO-və-loo), formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls spread out from 6° to 10° south. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. Its population of 10,544 makes it the third-least populous sovereign state in the world, with only Vatican City and Nauru having fewer inhabitants. In terms of physical land size, at just 26 square kilometres (10 sq mi) Tuvalu is the fourth smallest country in the world, larger only than the Vatican City at 0.44 km² (0.17 sq mi), Monaco at 1.98 km² (0.76 sq mi) and Nauru at 21 km² (8.1 sq mi).
The first inhabitants of Tuvalu were Polynesian people. In 1568 Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña sailed through the islands and is understood to have sighted Nui during his expedition in search of Terra Australis. In 1819 the island of Funafuti was named Ellice's Island; the name Ellice was applied to all nine islands after the work of English hydrographer Alexander George Findlay (1812–1876). The islands came under Britain's sphere of influence in the late 19th century, when the Ellice Islands were declared a British protectorate by Captain Gibson, R. N. of HMS Curaçao between 9th and 16 October 1892. The Ellice Islands were administered as British protectorate by a Resident Commissioner from 1892 to 1916 as part of the British Western Pacific Territories (BWPT), and later as part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony from 1916 to 1974.

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United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates ⁱ/juːˌnaɪtɨd ˌærəb ˈɛmɪrɨts/ (Arabic: دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة‎, Al Imārāt al ‘Arabīyah al Muttaḥidah), sometimes simply called the Emirates or the UAE, is a country situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman to the east and Saudi Arabia to the south, as well as sharing sea borders with Qatar to the west and Iran to the north.
The UAE is a federation of seven emirates (equivalent to principalities), each governed by a hereditary emir, with a single national president. The constituent emirates are Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Quwain. The capital is Abu Dhabi, which is also the state's center of political, industrial, and cultural activities.
Prior to independence in 1971, the UAE was known as the Trucial States or Trucial Oman, in reference to a 19th-century truce between the local sheikhs, hereditary rulers of the territories, and the United Kingdom. The term Pirate Coast was also used by some to refer to the emirates from the 18th to the early 20th century, owing to the preponderance of pirates operating from Emirati ports.

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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea.
The United Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of London. It is a country in its own right and consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There are three devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Associated with the UK, but not constitutionally part of it, are three Crown Dependencies. The United Kingdom has fourteen overseas territories. These are remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in 1922, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface and was the largest empire in history. British influence can still be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former territories.

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United States
The United States of America (commonly abbreviated to the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.
At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km²) and with over 312 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion (22% of nominal global GDP and over 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity). Per capita income is the world's sixth-highest.

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Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan ⁱ/ʊzˌbɛkɨˈstɑːn/, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan (Uzbek: O‘zbekiston Respublikasi, Ўзбекистон Республикаси) is the only doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of only two such countries worldwide. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south. Before 1991, it was part of the Soviet Union.
Uzbekistan is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia.
Once part of the Persian Samanid and later Timurid empires, the region was conquered in the early 16th century by Uzbek nomads, who spoke an Eastern Turkic language. Most of Uzbekistan’s population today belong to the Uzbek ethnic group and speak the Uzbek language, one of the family of Turkic languages.
Uzbekistan was incorporated into the Russian Empire in the 19th century, and in 1924 became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, known as the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR). It became independent on 31 August 1991 (officially, from the following day).

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Vanuatu
Vanuatu (English ⁱ/ˌvɑːnuːˈɑːtuː/ vah-noo-AH-too or /vænˈwɑːtuː/ van-WAH-too; Bislama IPA: [vanuaˈtu]), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (French: République de Vanuatu, Bislama: Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some 1,750 kilometres (1,090 mi) east of northern Australia, 500 kilometres (310 mi) northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.
Vanuatu was first inhabited by Melanesian people. The first Europeans to visit the islands were the members of a Spanish expedition led by Portuguese navigator Fernandes de Queirós who arrived in Espiritu Santo in 1605. In the 1880s France and the United Kingdom claimed parts of the country, and in 1906 they agreed on a framework for jointly managing the archipelago as the New Hebrides through a British–French Condominium. An independence movement arose in the 1970s, and the Republic of Vanuatu was created in 1980.

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Vietnam
Vietnam ( listen), formally the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Cộng hòa xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam; listen), is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. With an estimated 91.5 million inhabitants as of 2012, it is the world's 13th-most-populous country, and the eighth-most-populous Asian country. The name Vietnam translates as "South Viet", and was officially adopted in 1945. The country is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east.
The Vietnamese became independent from Imperial China in 938 AD, following the Battle of Bạch Đằng River. Successive Vietnamese royal dynasties flourished as the nation expanded geographically and politically into Southeast Asia, until the Indochina Peninsula was colonized by the French in the mid-19th century. The First Indochina War eventually led to the expulsion of the French in 1954, leaving Vietnam divided politically into two states, North and South Vietnam. Conflict between the two sides intensified, with heavy foreign intervention, during the Vietnam War, which ended with a North Vietnamese victory in 1975.

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Wallis and Futuna
Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands (French: Wallis et Futuna or Territoire des îles Wallis et Futuna, Fakauvea and Fakafutuna: Uvea mo Futuna), is a Polynesian French island territory in the South Pacific between Tuvalu to the northwest, Rotuma of Fiji to the west, the main part of Fiji to the southwest, Tonga to the southeast, Samoa to the east, the New Zealand-associated state of Tokelau to the northeast and to a more distant north the Phoenix Islands (Kiribati). (However, Wallis and Futuna is not part of, nor even contiguous with, French Polynesia. Wallis and Futuna is located at the very opposite western end of Polynesia.)
Its land area is 264 km² with a population of about 15,000. Mata-Utu is the capital and biggest city. The territory is made up of three main volcanic tropical islands along with a number of tiny islets, and is split into two island groups that lie about 260 km apart, namely Wallis Islands (Uvea) in the northeast, and Hoorn Islands (also called the Futuna Islands) in the southwest, including Futuna Island proper and the mostly uninhabited Alofi Island.

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Wuchiu
Wuqiu, Chinese: 烏坵; pinyin: Wūqiū) is a group of islands comprising two major islands, namely Greater Qiu Islet and Smaller Qiu Islet, in the Taiwan Strait. Administratively, the Wuqiu Township is part of Kinmen County of the Fujian Province of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Its name means "black mound".
It was part of the Putian County before the Kuomintang fled to Taiwan following the Chinese Civil War between Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party. In June 1954, it was provisionally reassigned to Kinmen County. Although part of the Kinmen County, there is no ferry service to the rest of the Kinmen County. Ferry connection is only available to the Port of Taichung on Taiwan.
Wuqiu consists of Greater Qiu Islet (大坵嶼 Dàqiū yǔ) and Smaller Qiu Islet (小坵嶼 Xiǎoqiū yǔ), not to be confused with two islets (大坵島 Dàqiū dǎo and 小坵島 Xiǎoqiū dǎo) lying off the north coast off Beigan in the Matsu Islands.
Greater Qiu Islet lies 9 nautical miles (17 km) from Lusi Island (鷺鷥島), 12 nmi (22 km) from Nanri Island (南日島), and 18 nmi (33 km) from Meizhou Island, both in China's Xiuyu District of Putian, Fujian. It is further from Republic of China territory; 72 nmi (133 km) from Kinmen, 86 nmi (159 km) from Nangan in the Matsu Islands, and 73 nmi (135 km) from Port of Taichung on Taiwan.

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Yemen
The Republic of Yemen (Arabic: الجمهورية اليمنية‎ al-Jumhūrīyah al-Yamanīyah), commonly known as Yemen ⁱ/ˈjɛmən/ (Arabic: اليَمَن‎ al-Yaman), is a country located in Western Asia, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east. Yemen is considered one of the poorest countries in the Arab world. Its capital and largest city is Sana'a. Yemen's territory includes over 200 islands, the largest of which is Socotra, about 415 km (258 mi) to the south of mainland Yemen, off the coast of Somalia. It is the only state in the Arabian Peninsula to have a purely republican form of government. Approximately 53% of Yemenis are Sunnis, while 45% are Zaydi Shias.
One etymology derives Yemen from yamin, meaning "on the right side", as the south is on the right when facing the sunrise. Another derives Yemen from yumn, meaning "felicity", as the region is fertile. The Romans called it Arabia Felix (Happy Arabia) as opposed to Arabia Deserta (Deserted Arabia), which was their term for northern Arabia.

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Yunlin
Yunlin County is a county in the western part of Taiwan, the Republic of China. Yunlin is located to the right of the Taiwan Strait, the east of Nantou County and sharing a border with Changhua County divided by the Zhuoshui River. Yunlin is one of the counties of Taiwan that is part of the Chianan Plain, a flat land rich for agriculture with abundant waters. Agricultural products of Yunlin county include pomelo, tea leaves, suan cai, papaya and muskmelon. Due to Yunlin's abundant waters, it has potentials for hydroelectricity. Douliu is the largest city and the capital city of Yunlin.
Taiwan Railway Administration passes through Yunlin with stations:
Taiwan High Speed Rail is building a station in Yunlin to be completed at 2015.
Highways include:
Coordinates: 23°42′18″N 120°28′34″E / 23.70489°N 120.47607°E / 23.70489; 120.47607

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Yunlin County
Yunlin County is a county in the western part of Taiwan, the Republic of China. Yunlin is located to the right of the Taiwan Strait, the east of Nantou County and sharing a border with Changhua County divided by the Zhuoshui River. Yunlin is one of the counties of Taiwan that is part of the Chianan Plain, a flat land rich for agriculture with abundant waters. Agricultural products of Yunlin county include pomelo, tea leaves, suan cai, papaya and muskmelon. Due to Yunlin's abundant waters, it has potentials for hydroelectricity. Douliu is the largest city and the capital city of Yunlin.
Taiwan Railway Administration passes through Yunlin with stations:
Taiwan High Speed Rail is building a station in Yunlin to be completed at 2015.
Highways include:
Coordinates: 23°42′18″N 120°28′34″E / 23.70489°N 120.47607°E / 23.70489; 120.47607

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Ang Lee
Ang Lee (Chinese: 李安; Pinyin: Lǐ Ān; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese-American film director. Lee has directed a diverse set of films such as Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), Sense and Sensibility (1995), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film), Hulk (2003), and Brokeback Mountain (2005), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director. He is the first person of Asian descent to win the Best Director Oscar.
Ang Lee was born in the town of Chaochou in Pingtung, a southern agricultural county in Taiwan. He grew up in a household that put heavy emphasis on education and the Chinese classics. Both of Lee's parents moved to Taiwan from China following the Chinese Nationalists' defeat in the Chinese Civil War in 1949. Lee's father, a native of Jiangxi Province in southern China, imbued his children with studying Chinese culture and art, especially calligraphy.
Lee studied in the National Tainan First Senior High School where his father was the principal. He was expected to pass the annual Joint College/University Entrance Examination, the only route to a university education in Taiwan. But after failing the Exam twice, to the disappointment of his father, he entered a three-year college, National Arts School (now reorganized and expanded as National Taiwan University of Arts) and graduated in 1975. His father had wanted him to become a professor, but he had become interested in drama and the arts at college. This early frustration set his career on the path of performance art. Seeing Ingmar Bergman's film The Virgin Spring (1960) was a formative experience for him.

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Apo Hsu
Apo Hsu (Apo Ching-Hsin Hsu) (Chinese: 許瀞心) is a conductor born in Taiwan and resident of both Taiwan and the United States. Hsu served as music director of the National Taiwan Normal University Symphony Orchestra and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra in Springfield, Missouri. Her past appointments include serving as artistic director of The Women's Philharmonic in San Francisco, California, and conductor of the Oregon Mozart Players in Eugene, Oregon. She has been a mentor for many young conductors on both sides of the world through her work at NTNU and at The Conductor’s Institute at Bard College in New York. Her performances have been featured in national broadcasts in the United States (on National Public Radio), Taiwan (on International Community Radio Taipei), and Korea (on Korean Broadcasting System).

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Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy indigenous to the Indian subcontinent and encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs, and practices largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, who is commonly known as the Buddha (meaning "the awakened one" in Sanskrit and Pāli). The Buddha lived and taught in the eastern part of Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. He is recognized by Buddhists as an awakened or enlightened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end ignorance (avidyā), craving (taṇhā), and suffering (dukkha), by recognizing dependent origination and sunyata, and attain Nirvana.
Two major branches of Buddhism are recognized: Theravada ("The School of the Elders") and Mahayana ("The Great Vehicle"). Theravada has a widespread following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Mahayana is found throughout East Asia and includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Shingon, Tiantai (Tendai) and Shinnyo-en. In some classifications, Vajrayana—practiced mainly in Tibet and Mongolia, and adjacent parts of China and Russia—is recognized as a third branch, while others classify it as a part of Mahayana. There are other categorisations of these three Vehicles or Yanas.

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Bunun people
The Bunun (Chinese: 布農; pinyin: Bùnóng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Pò͘-lông), also historically known as the Vonum, are a tribe of Taiwanese aborigines and are best known for their sophisticated polyphonic vocal music. They speak the Bunun language. Unlike other aboriginal tribes in Taiwan, the Bunun are widely dispersed across the island. In the year 2000 the Bunun numbered 41,038. This was approximately 10% of Taiwan's total indigenous population, making them the fourth-largest tribal group. They have five distinct sub-tribes: the Takbunuaz, the Takituduh, the Takibaka, the Takivatan, and the Isbukun.
Until the coming of the Christian missionaries in the beginning of the 20th century, the Bunun were known to be fierce warriors and headhunters. The Bunun were one of the "high-mountain tribes" (along with the Atayal and the Taroko) who traditionally lived in small family units in Taiwan's Central Mountain Range and were hostile to all outsiders, whether they be Chinese immigrants or surrounding aboriginal tribes. Whereas most other aborigines were quite sedentary and tended to live in lower areas, the Bunun, along with the Atayal and Taroko were constantly on the move in Taiwan's Central Mountain Range, looking for new hunting grounds and practicing slash-and-burn agriculture. Their staple foods were millet, yam, and game.

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Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian (traditional Chinese: 陳水扁; simplified Chinese: 陈水扁; pinyin: Chén Shuǐbiǎn; Taiwanese: Tân Chúi-píⁿ; born October 12, 1950) is a former Taiwanese politician who was president from 2000 to 2008. Chen's election ended more than fifty years of Kuomintang (KMT) control of the Executive Yuan in Taiwan. A native-born Taiwanese, he is colloquially referred to as A-Bian (阿扁; Ābiǎn; Taiwanese: 阿扁仔 A-píⁿ-à).
A lawyer, Chen entered politics in 1980 during the Kaohsiung Incident as a member of the Tangwai movement and was elected to the Taipei City Council in 1981. He was jailed in 1985 for libel as the editor of the weekly pro-democracy magazine Neo-Formosa, following publication of an article critical of Elmer Feng, a college philosophy professor who was later elected a Kuomintang legislator. After being released, Chen helped found the DPP in 1986 and was elected a member of the Legislative Yuan in 1989, and Mayor of Taipei in 1994.
Chen won the 2000 presidential election on March 18 with 39% of the vote as a result of a split of factions within the Kuomintang, when James Soong ran for the presidency as an independent against the party nominee Lien Chan, becoming the only non-member of the Kuomintang to hold the office of president. Although Chen received high approval ratings during the first few weeks of his term, his popularity sharply dropped due to alleged corruption within his administration and the inability to pass legislation against the opposition KMT, who controlled the Legislative Yuan. In 2004, he won reelection by a narrow margin after surviving a shooting while campaigning the day before the election. Opponents suspected him of staging the incident for political purposes. However, the case was officially closed in 2005 with all evidence pointing to a single deceased suspect, Chen Yi-hsiung.

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Chen Yi (Kuomintang)
Chen Yi (traditional Chinese: 陳儀; simplified Chinese: 陈仪; pinyin: Chén Yí; courtesy names Gongxia (公俠) and later Gongqia (公洽), sobriquet Tuisu (退素); 1883 – June 18, 1950) was the Chief Executive and Garrison Commander (警備總司令) of Taiwan after it was surrendered by Japan to the Republic of China, which acted on behalf of the Allied Powers, in 1945. His infamous mishandling of the tension between Taiwanese locals and Mainlanders precipitated the February 28 Incident, and he was later dismissed and executed for disloyalty (though for reasons unrelated to his tenure in Taiwan).
Chen was born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang. After studying at Qiushi Academy (now Zhejiang University), in 1902 he went to a military academy in Japan for seven years [1]. He joined Guangfuhui while in Japan. He returned to Japan in 1917 to study in a military university for three years, then resided in Shanghai. He is said to have been a "Japanophile."
He was the first senator (總參議) and governor of Zhejiang (since October 1925). Chen was also the commander of the 19th Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army (國民革命軍第十九路軍軍長). After 1927, he worked in the Military Affairs Department (軍政部), then as the chairman of Fujian in 1933, and Secretary-General of the Executive Yuan.

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Chiang Ching-kuo
Chiang Ching-kuo (traditional Chinese: 蔣經國; simplified Chinese: 蒋经国; pinyin: Jiǎng Jīngguó; Wade–Giles: Chiang Ching-kuo; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chiúⁿ Keng-kok; Shanghai/Ningbo dialect: [tɕiã.tɕiŋ.koʔ]) (April 27,¹ 1910 – January 13, 1988), Kuomintang (KMT) politician and leader, was the son of President Chiang Kai-shek and held numerous posts in the government of the Republic of China (ROC). He succeeded his father to serve as Premier of the Republic of China between 1972 and 1978, and was the President of the Republic of China from 1978 until his death in 1988. Under his tenure, the government of the Republic of China, while authoritarian, became more open and tolerant of political dissent. Towards the end of his life, Chiang relaxed government controls on the media and speech and allowed native Taiwanese into positions of power, including his successor Lee Teng-hui.
The son of President Chiang Kai-shek and his first wife Mao Fumei, Chiang Ching-kuo was born in Fenghua, Zhejiang, with the courtesy name of Jiànfēng (建豐). He had an adopted brother, Chiang Wei-kuo. "Ching" literally means "longitude" while "kuo" means "nation"; in his brother's name, "wei" literally means "parallel (of latitude)". The names are inspired by the references in Chinese classics such as the Guoyu, in which "to draw the longitudes and latitudes of the world" is used as a metaphor for a person with great abilities, especially in managing a country.

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Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek (October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) was a political and military leader of 20th-century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí (蔣介石) or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng (蔣中正) in Mandarin.
Chiang was an influential member of the Nationalist Party, the Kuomintang (KMT), and was a close ally of Sun Yat-sen. He became the Commandant of the Kuomintang's Whampoa Military Academy, and took Sun's place as leader of the KMT when Sun died in 1925. In 1926, Chiang led the Northern Expedition to unify the country, becoming China's nominal leader. He served as Chairman of the National Military Council of the Nationalist government of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 to 1948. Chiang led China in the Second Sino-Japanese War, during which the Nationalist government's power severely weakened, but his prominence grew. Unlike Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek was socially conservative, promoting traditional Chinese culture in the New Life Movement and rejecting western democracy and the nationalist democratic socialism that Sun Yat-sen and some other members of the KMT embraced in favor of a nationalist authoritarian government.

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Chiefdom
A chiefdom is a political economy that organizes regional populations through a hierarchy of the chief(s).
In anthropological theory, one model of human social development rooted in ideas of cultural evolution describes a chiefdom as a form of social organization more complex than a tribe or a band society, and less complex than a state or a civilization. The most succinct definition of a chiefdom in anthropology is by Robert L. Carneiro: "An autonomous political unit comprising a number of villages or communities under the permanent control of a paramount chief" (Carneiro 1981: 45).
Chiefdoms are characterized by centralization of authority and pervasive inequality. At least two inherited social classes (elite and commoner) are present. (The ancient Hawaiian chiefdoms had as many as four social classes.) An individual might change social class during a lifetime by extraordinary behavior. A single lineage/family of the elite class becomes the ruling elite of the chiefdom, with the greatest influence, power, and prestige. Kinship is typically an organizing principle, while marriage, age, and gender can affect one's social status and role.

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Chin-hui Tsao
Chin-Hui Tsao (simplified Chinese: 曹锦辉; traditional Chinese: 曹錦輝; pinyin: Cáo Jǐnhūi; born June 2, 1981 in Hualien County, Taiwan) is a former Major League Baseball and CPBL pitcher. He is the second major league player and the first major league pitcher of Republic of China (commonly known as Taiwan) nationality, and like the first, former Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Chin-Feng Chen, he is a Taiwanese aborigine (Amis). After the 2009 Taiwan Series he was found involved in game-fixing scandals and was expelled by CPBL on February 10, 2010.
Tsao pitched for his country in five major international competitions, including the Junior World Championships (1996–1997, 1999), the 1999 Asian Baseball Championship, and the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics. In the two Olympics appearances, Tsao went 0–1 with a 1.93 ERA and one save. At the 1999 Asia Cup, he dominated: making three appearances (11 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 19 strikeouts), fanning 15 batters in his one start against China.
Tsao had one of the Asia's best pitching arms. In the 2004 Olympics at Athens, he was clocked at 162 km/h (101 mph) at the park and 159 km/h (99 mph) on the TV gun.

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Chin-lung Hu
Hu Chin-lung (Chinese: 胡金龍; pinyin: Hú Jīnlóng; born February 2, 1984) is a Taiwanese professional baseball player. He is currently with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. Hu, along with his countryman Fu-Te Ni (a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers), has the shortest surname in Major League Baseball history. He is the fifth player—and first infielder—in Major League Baseball from Taiwan.
Hu was signed by the Dodgers on January 31, 2003, and began his professional career with the rookie league Ogden Raptors in 2003. He split 2004 between the Columbus Catfish in A ball and the Vero Beach Dodgers in High-A ball. In 2005, he played the whole season at Vero Beach and hit .313 with 23 stolen bases.
In 2006, he played for the Double-A Jacksonville Suns. Hu played in the All-Star Futures Game during the All-Star break in both 2006 and 2007. He won the MVP award for his performance in the 2007 game.
He was promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas on July 12, 2007, and made his major league debut on September 1, 2007, against the San Diego Padres. In his second MLB at bat, Hu hit a solo home run on September 11, 2007, against the Padres, becoming the first position player born in Taiwan to hit a home run in MLB. (Hu's teammate, pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo, had become the first Taiwanese-born player to hit a home run in MLB earlier in 2007). On September 25, Hu hit a two-run homer and became the first Taiwanese-born player to hit two home runs. Hu spent most of 2009 in AAA with the Albuquerque Isotopes and appeared in only five games with the Dodgers after a September callup.

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China
China (ⁱ/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area, and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.
The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). Its capital city is Beijing. The PRC also claims Taiwan—which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity—as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War. The PRC government denies the legitimacy of the ROC.

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Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:
Race (hereditary reasons), nationality, citizenship, place of residence (geographical factors), and ancestry (historical and genealogical factors) can be used to define someone as Chinese.

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Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution (Chinese: 文化大革命; pinyin: Wénhuà Dàgémìng), was a social-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976. Set into motion by Mao Zedong, then Chairman of the Communist Party of China, its stated goal was to enforce socialism in the country by removing capitalist, traditional and cultural elements from Chinese society, and to impose Maoist orthodoxy within the Party. The revolution marked the return of Mao Zedong to a position of absolute power after the failed Great Leap Forward. The movement politically paralyzed the country and significantly affected the country economically and socially.
The Revolution was launched in May 1966. Mao alleged that bourgeois elements were infiltrating the government and society at large, aiming to restore capitalism. He insisted that these "revisionists" be removed through violent class struggle. China's youth responded to Mao's appeal by forming Red Guard groups around the country. The movement spread into the military, urban workers, and the Communist Party leadership itself. It resulted in widespread factional struggles in all walks of life. In the top leadership, it led to a mass purge of senior officials who were accused of taking a "capitalist road", most notably Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping. During the same period Mao's personality cult grew to immense proportions.

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Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (pronounced /ˈaɪzənhaʊər/, EYE-zən-how-ər; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961. He had previously been a five-star general in the United States Army during World War II, and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe; he had responsibility for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942–43 and the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944–45, from the Western Front. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO.
Eisenhower was of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry, and was reared in a large family in Kansas, by parents with a robust work ethic and religious background. As one of five sons, he was conditioned by a competitive atmosphere which instilled self-reliance. He attended and graduated from West Point, and later was married with two sons. After World War II Eisenhower served as Chief of Staff under President Harry S. Truman, then assumed the post of President at Columbia University.

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Edward Yang
Edward Yang (simplified Chinese: 杨德昌; traditional Chinese: 楊德昌; pinyin: Yáng Déchāng; November 6, 1947 – June 29, 2007), along with Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Tsai Ming Liang, was one of the leading filmmakers of the Taiwanese New Wave and Taiwanese Cinema. He won the Best Director Award at Cannes for his 2000 film Yi Yi ("A One and a Two").
Edward Yang was born in Shanghai in 1947, and grew up in Taipei, Taiwan. After studying Electrical Engineering in National Chiao Tung University, he enrolled in the graduate program at the University of Florida, where he received his Masters Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 1974. During this time and briefly afterwards, Yang worked at the Center for Informatics Research.^{[citation needed]} Yang always had a great interest in film ever since he was a child, but put away his aspirations in order to pursue a career in the high-tech industry.^{[citation needed]} Also, a brief enrollment at USC Film School after graduating with his M.S.E.E. convinced him that the world of film was not for him - he thought USC film school's teaching methodologies were too commercial-oriented.^{[citation needed]} Yang then applied and was accepted into Harvard's architecture school, the Harvard Graduate School of Design, but decided not to attend.^{[dead link]} Thereafter, he went to Seattle to work in microcomputers and defense software.

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Fu-Te Ni
Fu-Te Ni (Chinese: 倪福德; pinyin: Ní Fúdé; Wade–Giles: Ni Fu-te; born November 14, 1982) is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher in the Detroit Tigers organization. Before joining the Tigers, Ni was a professional baseball player from Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). After his franchise, the Chinatrust Whales, disbanded on November 11, 2008, Ni signed a minor league contract with the Toledo Mud Hens, the Triple-A affiliate of the Tigers, in 2009.
Ni was called up in June 2009, becoming the sixth Taiwanese player to enter Major League Baseball. He is also the first player to transition from the CPBL to MLB. Ni made his major league debut on June 29, 2009 in relief of Rick Porcello against the Oakland Athletics. The first major league batter he faced was slugger Jason Giambi, and Ni struck him out.
CPBL fans used to call Ni Tu Di Gong, or Fu Teh Cheng Shen, because his given name is the same as the formal name for the Chinese God of the Land. Some called him Need Food because the pronunciation is similar to his name in Mandarin.

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Fujian
Coordinates: 25°54′N 118°18′E / 25.9°N 118.3°E / 25.9; 118.3
Fujian (help·info) (Chinese: 福建), formerly romanised as Fukien or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait. The name Fujian came from the combination of Fuzhou and Jianzhou (a former name for Jian'ou) two cities in Fujian, during the Tang Dynasty. With a Han majority, it is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse provinces in China.
Most of Fujian is administered by the People's Republic of China. However, the archipelagos of Kinmen and Matsu are under the control of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Thus, there are two provinces (in the sense of government organizations): the Fujian Province administered by the People's Republic of China and the Fujian Province of the Republic of China.
Recent archaeological discoveries demonstrate that Fujian had entered the Neolithic Age by the middle of the 6th millennium BC. From the Keqiutou site (7450–5590 BP), an early Neolithic site in Pingtan Island located about 70 kilometres (43 mi) southeast of Fuzhou, numerous tools made of stones, shells, bones, jades, and ceramics (including wheel-made-ceramics) have been unearthed, together with spinning wheels, a definitive evidence of weaving.

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Guangdong
Coordinates: 23°24′N 113°30′E / 23.4°N 113.5°E / 23.4; 113.5
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province. It surpassed Henan and Sichuan to become the most populous province in China in January 2005, registering 79 million permanent residents and 31 million migrants who lived in the province for at least six months of the year. The provincial capital Guangzhou and economic hub Shenzhen are amongst the most populous and important cities in China.
Since 1989 Guangdong has topped the total GDP rankings among all provincial-level divisions, with Jiangsu and Shandong second and third in rank. According to provincial annual preliminary statistics, Guangdong's GDP in 2010 reached CNY 4,550 billion, or USD 689.02 billion, making its economy roughly the same size as that of Turkey or Indonesia. Guangdong has the fourth highest GDP per capita among all provinces of mainland China, after Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Liaoning. The province contributes approximately 12% of the PRC's national economic output, and is home to the production facilities and offices of a wide-ranging set of multinational and Chinese corporations. Guangdong also hosts the largest Import and Export Fair in China called the Canton Fair in Guangdong's capital city Guangzhou.

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Hakka people
The Hakka (Hakka: Hak-kâ; Chinese: 客家; pinyin: Kèjiā), sometimes Hakka Han, are Han Chinese who speak the Hakka language and have links to the provincial areas of Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan and Fujian in China.
The Chinese characters for Hakka (客家) literally means "guest families". The Hakka's ancestors were often said to have arrived from what is today's central China centuries ago. In a series of migrations, the Hakkas moved, settled in their present locations in southern China, and then often migrated overseas to various countries throughout the world. The worldwide population of Hakkas is about 80 million, though the number of Hakka-language speakers is fewer. Hakka people have had a significant influence on the course of Chinese and world history: in particular, they have been a source of many revolutionary, government, and military leaders.

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Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) was the 33rd President of the United States (1945–1953). As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States (1945), he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his unprecedented fourth term.
During World War I, Truman served in combat in France as an artillery officer in his National Guard unit. After the war, he joined the Democratic Party political machine of Tom Pendergast in Kansas City, Missouri. He was elected a county official and in 1934 United States senator. After he had gained national prominence as head of the wartime Truman Committee, Truman replaced vice president Henry A. Wallace as Roosevelt's running mate in 1944.
Truman faced many challenges in domestic affairs. The disorderly postwar reconversion of the economy of the United States was marked by severe shortages, numerous strikes, and the passage of the Taft–Hartley Act over his veto. He confounded all predictions to win election in 1948, helped by his famous Whistle Stop Tour of rural America. After his election, he passed only one of the proposals in his liberal Fair Deal program. He used executive orders to end racial discrimination in the armed forces and created loyalty checks that dismissed thousands of communist supporters from office.

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Hong Kong
Coordinates: 22°16′42″N 114°09′32″E / 22.27833°N 114.15889°E / 22.27833; 114.15889
Hong Kong (Chinese: 香港) is one of two special administrative regions (SARs) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is known for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour. With a land mass of 1,104 km² (426 sq mi) and a population of seven million people, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Hong Kong's population is 95 percent ethnic Chinese and 5 percent from other groups. Hong Kong's Han Chinese majority originate mainly from the cities of Guangzhou and Taishan in the neighbouring Guangdong province.
Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the First Opium War (1839–42). Originally confined to Hong Kong Island, the colony's boundaries were extended in stages to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and then the New Territories in 1898. It was occupied by Japan during the Pacific War, after which the British resumed control until 1997, when China resumed sovereignty. The region espoused minimum government intervention under the ethos of positive non-interventionism during the colonial era. The time period greatly influenced the current culture of Hong Kong, often described as "East meets West", and the educational system, which used to loosely follow the system in England until reforms implemented in 2009.

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Hong-Chih Kuo
Hong-Chih Kuo (Chinese: 郭泓志; pinyin: Guō Hóngzhì; Wade–Giles: Kuo1 Hung2 Chih4; born July 23, 1981 in Tainan, Taiwan) is a Major League Baseball pitcher who is a Free Agent. When Kuo made his debut in 2005, he became the fourth MLB player from Taiwan (after Chin-Feng Chen, Chin-hui Tsao, and Chien-Ming Wang).
Kuo pitched for Taiwan in the Asian Games and in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, allowing three earned runs in two games.
Kuo was signed as a free agent by the Dodgers on June 19, 1999 for a bonus of $1.25 million, but elbow problems prevented him from participating with the team. He underwent two Tommy John surgeries in 2000 and 2003, respectively. It wasn't until 2005 that Kuo was able to pitch again on a consistent basis. That year, he pitched 11 games for the Vero Beach Dodgers and 17 games for the Jacksonville Suns before coming out of the bullpen for his Major League debut on September 2, 2005 against the Colorado Rockies.
Kuo started the 2006 season as a relief pitcher. After giving up eight earned runs on 15 walks in only 13 innings pitched in April, he was sent down to the Dodger's AAA affiliate, the Las Vegas 51s. That May and June in AAA he posted a 3.75 ERA in Las Vegas in 12 innings, striking out 18, but walking eight. He was called up by the Dodgers in June. Over June and July 2006, Kuo had a miserable 5.74 ERA in 14.1 IP.

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Hou Hsiao-hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien (simplified Chinese: 侯孝贤; traditional Chinese: 侯孝賢; pinyin: Hóu Xiàoxián; Wade–Giles: Hou² Hsiao⁴-hsien²) (born April 8, 1947) is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement.
A Hakka, Hou Hsiao-Hsien was born in Mei County, Guangdong province in 1947. He and his family fled the Chinese Civil War to Taiwan the following year. Hou was educated at the National Taiwan Academy of the Arts.
Hou generally makes rigorously minimalist dramas dealing with the upheavals of the Taiwanese (and occasionally larger Chinese) history of the past century by viewing its impacts on individuals or small groups of characters. A City of Sadness (1989), for example, portrays a family caught in conflicts between the local Taiwanese and the newly arrived Chinese Nationalist government after World War II. It was groundbreaking for broaching this long-taboo subject and became a major success despite its seemingly uncommercial nature.
His storytelling is elliptical and his style marked by extreme long takes with minimal camera movement but intricate choreography of actors and space within the frame. He uses extensive improvisation to arrive at the final shape of his scenes and the low-key, naturalistic acting of his performers. His compositions are decentered, and links between shots do not adhere to an obvious temporal or causal narrative logic. Without abandoning his famous austerity, his imagery has developed a sensual beauty during the 1990s, partly under the influence of his collaboration with cinematographer Mark Lee Ping-Bin. Hou's consistent screenwriting collaborator since the mid-1980s has been the renowned author Chu Tien-Wen, a collaboration that began with the screenplay for Chen Kunhou's 1983 film, Growing Up. He has also cast revered puppeteer Li Tian-lu as an actor in several of his movies, most notably The Puppetmaster (1993), which is based on Li's life.

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Jared Diamond
Jared Mason Diamond (born September 10, 1937) is an American scientist and author best known for his popular science books The Third Chimpanzee, Guns, Germs, and Steel, and Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Originally trained in physiology, Diamond's work is known for drawing from a variety of fields, and he is currently Professor of Geography at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Diamond was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to a Bessarabian Jewish family. His father Louis K. Diamond was a physician and his mother Flora Kaplan a teacher, musician, and linguist. He attended the Roxbury Latin School and earned an A.B. from Harvard College in 1958 and a Ph.D. in physiology and membrane biophysics from the University of Cambridge in 1961.
After graduating from Cambridge, Diamond returned to Harvard as a Junior Fellow until 1965, and, in 1968, became Professor of Physiology at UCLA Medical School. While in his twenties, he developed a second, parallel, career in ornithology and ecology, specialising in New Guinea and nearby islands. Then in his fifties, Diamond developed a third career in environmental history and became Professor of Geography at UCLA, his current position. He was awarded the National Medal of Science in 1999 and an honorary doctorate by Westfield State University in 2009.

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Kavalan people
The Kavalan (endonym "kbaran" [kɨβaˈɾan]; "people living in the plain") (Chinese: 噶瑪蘭族) or Kuvalan are an indigenous people of Taiwan, part of the larger Taiwanese aborigine ethnic group. The Kavalan originally inhabited modern-day Yilan County. Most of them moved to the coastal area of Hualien County and Taitung County in the 19th century. Their language is also known as Kavalan.
Legend has it that the Kavalan arrived by sea from the east and that when they saw the stunning beauty of this location, they decided then and there to settle this bountiful land. The newly arrived Kavalan fought many battles against the local Atayal people, and in the end the Kavalan tribe drove the Atayal tribe into the mountains — true to their name "Kavalan", which means "flatland people". That name subsequently morphed into "Hamalan", ultimately yielding the modern-day "Yilan City". They were referred as 36 Kavalan tribes (蛤仔難三十六社), although there were more than 60 tribes. In the past, tribes north of the Lanyang River were called Sishihfan (西勢番) while those south of the river were Dongshihfan (東勢番).

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Kwang-chih Chang
Kwang-chih Chang (張光直) (1931–2001), aka K.C. Chang, was a Chinese/Taiwanese archaeologist and sinologist. He was a professor of archaeology at Harvard University, a Vice-President of the Academia Sinica and a curator at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. He helped to bring modern, western methods of archaeology to the study of ancient Chinese history. He also introduced new discoveries in Chinese archaeology to western audiences by translating works from Chinese to English. He pioneered the study of Taiwanese archaeology, encouraged multi-disciplinal anthropological archaeological research, and urged archaeologists to conceive of East Asian prehistory (China, Korea, and Japan) as a pluralistic whole.
His paternal grandfather was a farmer in Taiwan. His father moved to Beijing in 1921 to pursue his education, where he met and married K.C. Chang's mother. His father later became a professor of Japanese literature and language at Peking University. Born in Beijing as the second son in a family of four children, his family returned to Taiwan in 1946.

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Lee Teng-hui
Lee Teng-hui (traditional Chinese: 李登輝; simplified Chinese: 李登辉; pinyin: Lǐ Dēnghuī; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lí Teng-hui; born 15 January 1923) is a politician of the Republic of China (commonly known as Taiwan). He was the President of the Republic of China and Chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 1988 to 2000. He presided over major advancements in democratic reforms including his own re-election which marked the first direct presidential election for the Republic of China. The first native Taiwanese to become ROC president and KMT chairman, Lee promoted the Taiwanese localization movement and led an aggressive foreign policy to gain diplomatic allies. Critics accused him of betraying the party he headed, secret support of Taiwanese independence, and involvement in corruption (black gold politics).
After leaving office Lee was expelled from the KMT for his role in founding the pro-independence Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), which forms part of the Pan-Green Coalition alongside Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party. (Lee is considered the "spiritual leader" of the TSU.) Lee has been outspoken in support for Taiwanese independence though not necessarily a formal declaration.

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Ma Ying-jeou
Ma Ying-jeou (traditional Chinese: 馬英九; simplified Chinese: 马英九; pinyin: Mǎ Yīngjiǔ; born July 13, 1950) is the 12th and 13th term President of the Republic of China (Taiwan), and the Chairman of the Kuomintang Party, also known as the Chinese Nationalist Party. Previous roles include Justice Minister (1993–96) and Mayor of Taipei (1998-06). He is also the current Chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) having served in that role since 2005 stepping down for a period between 2007 and 2009. Ma first won the presidency by 58.45% of the popular vote in the presidential election of 2008, and was re-elected in 2012 with 51.6% of the vote. He was sworn into office as president on May 20, 2008, and sworn in as the Chairman of the Kuomintang on October 17, 2009.
Ma Ying-jeou was born in Kwong Wah Hospital in Kowloon, Hong Kong on 13 July 1950. He is of Hakka ancestry, originating from Hunan Province of China. In a family of five children, Ma was the only son.
Ma earned his LL.B. from National Taiwan University in 1972. He pursued further studies in the United States, first earning an LL.M. from New York University Law School in 1976 and then an S.J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1981.

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Macau
Coordinates: 22°10′N 113°33′E / 22.167°N 113.55°E / 22.167; 113.55
Macau (Chinese: 澳門), also spelled Macao ( /məˈkaʊ/), is one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China, the other being Hong Kong. Macau lies on the western side of the Pearl River Delta across from Hong-Kong which is to the east, bordering Guangdong province to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east and south.
The territory's economy is heavily dependent on gambling and tourism, but also includes manufacturing.
Macau is a former Portuguese colony, and is both the first and last European colony in China. Portuguese traders first settled in Macau in the 16th century and subsequently administered the region until the handover on 20 December 1999. The Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration and the Basic Law of Macau stipulate that Macau operates with a high degree of autonomy until at least 2049, fifty years after the transfer. Macau was first lent by the Chinese empire as a trading port in the 16th century, and had to administer the city under Chinese authority and sovereignty. In 1887, Macau became a colony of the Portuguese empire and its sovereignty transferred to the Portuguese.

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Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The term generally excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
There are two terms in Chinese for "mainland". Namely, Dalu (simplified Chinese: 大陆; traditional Chinese: 大陸), which means "continent", and Neidi (内地 / 內地), literally "inner land". In the PRC, the usage of the two terms are generally interchangeable and there is no prescribed method of reference in any jurisdiction. To emphasize "equal footing" in cross-strait relations, the term is used in official contexts with reference to Taiwan, with the PRC referring to itself as "the mainland side" (as opposed to "the Taiwan side"). But in its relations with Hong Kong and Macau, the PRC government refers to itself as "the Central People's Government".
By 1949, the Communist Party of China's (CPC) People's Liberation Army had largely defeated the Kuomintang (KMT)'s National Revolutionary Army in the Chinese Civil War on the mainland. This forced the Kuomintang to relocate the Government and institutions of the Republic of China to the relative safety of Taiwan, an island which was placed under the control of the Republic of China after the surrender of Japan at the end of World War II in 1945. With the establishment of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949, the CPC-controlled government saw itself as the sole legitimate government of China, competing with the claims of the Republic of China, whose authority is now limited to Taiwan and other islands. This has resulted in a situation in which two co-existing governments compete for international legitimacy and recognition as the "government of China".

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Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung listen (help·info), and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao (December 26, 1893 – September 9, 1976), was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution. He was the architect and founding father of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from its establishment in 1949, and held authoritarian control over the nation until his death in 1976. His theoretical contribution to Marxism–Leninism, along with his military strategies and brand of policies, are collectively known as Maoism.
Mao rose to power by commanding the Long March, forming a Second United Front with Kuomintang (KMT) during the Second Sino-Japanese War to repel a Japanese invasion, and leading the Communist Party of China (CPC) to victory against Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang (KMT) in the Chinese Civil War. After solidifying the reunification of China through his Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries, Mao enacted sweeping land reform, by using violence and terror to overthrow the feudal landlords before seizing their large estates and dividing the land into people's communes. During the years when Mao was China’s 'Great Helmsman', a range of positive changes came to China. These included promoting the status of women, improving popular literacy, doubling the school population, providing universal housing, abolishing unemployment and inflation, increasing health care access, and dramatically raising life expectancy. In addition, China's population almost doubled during the period of Mao's leadership (from around 550 to over 900 million). As a result, Mao is still officially held in high regard by many in China as a great political strategist, military mastermind, and savior of the nation. Maoists further promote his role as a theorist, statesman, poet, and visionary, while anti-revisionists continue to defend most of his policies.

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Matsu Islands
The Matsu Islands (simplified Chinese: 马祖列岛; traditional Chinese: 馬祖列島; pinyin: Mǎzǔ Lièdǎo; Fuzhou dialect: Mā-cū liĕk-dō̤ or less frequently, simplified Chinese: 马祖群岛; traditional Chinese: 馬祖群島; pinyin: Mǎzǔ Qúndǎo; Fuzhou dialect: 馬祖島 Mā-cū-dō̤) are a minor archipelago of 19 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait administered as Lienchiang County (連江縣; Lièng-gŏng-gâing) under Fujian Province of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Only a small area of what is historically Lienchiang County is under the control of the ROC. The People's Republic of China (AKA "China") controls the part of the county on mainland China and has a separate administration for that jurisdiction, Lianjiang County, which claims the entire archipelago to be its Mazu Township (馬祖鄉; Mā-cū-hiŏng).
They are named after the goddess Mazu. Kinmen is the other archipelago on the Fujian coast controlled by the ROC.
Fujianese Mainlanders started migrating to the islands during the Yuan Dynasty. Most people on Matsu came from Houguan (侯官) (today Changle County (長樂縣 Diòng-lŏ̤h-gâing), Fujian).

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Nansha Islands
The Spratly Islands are a group of more than 750 reefs,islets, atolls, cays and islands in the South China Sea. The archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines and Malaysia (Sabah), about one third of the way from there to southern Vietnam. They contain less than four square kilometers of land area spread over more than 425,000 square kilometers of sea. The Spratlys are one of three archipelagos of the South China Sea which comprise more than 30,000 islands and reefs and which complicate governance and economics in that region of Southeast Asia. Such small and remote islands have little economic value in themselves, but are important in establishing international boundaries. There are no native islanders but there are, at least for now, rich fishing grounds; and initial surveys indicate the islands may contain significant reserves of oil and natural gas.
About 45 islands are occupied by relatively small numbers of military forces from Vietnam, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), Malaysia and the Philippines. Brunei has also claimed an EEZ in the southeastern part of the Spratlys encompassing just one area of small islands above mean high water (on Louisa Reef.)

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One-China policy
The One-China policy (simplified Chinese: 一个中国政策; traditional Chinese: 一個中國政策 ; pinyin: yī gè Zhōngguó zhèngcè) refers to the policy or view that there is only one state called "China", despite the existence of two governments that claim to be "China". As a policy, this means that countries seeking diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC) must break official relations with the Republic of China (ROC), and vice versa. Hence, all the countries recognizing the ROC recognize it as the sole legitimate representative of all of China, and not just the island of Taiwan and other islands which it controls. Similarly, all states that recognise the PRC either recognise the PRC as the legitimate representative of Taiwan or acknowledge the PRC's views on the matter—the latter is the position adopted by the United States, which prefers to leave that question ambiguous.
The One China policy is also different from the "One China" principle (一個中國原則/"一个中国"原則), which is the principle that insists both Taiwan and mainland China are inalienable parts of a single "China". A modified form of the "One China" principle known as the 1992 Consensus is the current policy of both the PRC and ROC governments. Under this consensus, both governments agree that there is only one sovereign state encompassing both mainland China and Taiwan, but disagree about which of the two governments is the legitimate government of this state.

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Paiwan people
The Paiwan (Chinese: 排灣; pinyin: Páiwān; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Pâi-oan) are an aboriginal tribe of Taiwan. They speak the Paiwan language. In the year 2000 the Paiwan numbered 70,331. This was approximately 17.7% of Taiwan's total indigenous population, making them the third-largest tribal group.
The unique ceremonies in Paiwan are Masaru and Maleveq. The Masaru is a ceremony that celebrates the harvest of rice, whereas the Maleveq commemorates their ancestors or gods.
One of the most important figures in Paiwan history was supreme chief Toketok (卓其督; ca. 1817 - 1874), who united 18 tribes of Paiwan under his rule, and in 1867 concluded a formal agreement with Chinese and Western leaders to ensure the safety of foreign ships landing on their coastal territories in return for amnesty for Paiwan tribesmen who had killed the crew of the barque Rover in March 1867.
In the past the Paiwan had a fearsome reputation as head-hunters. When Paiwan warriors returned home from a headhunting foray, "the women would gather together in front of the courtyard to welcome their heroes and would sing songs of triumph. The heads of their enemies were then hung on stone pillars in front of which were displayed wine and offerings. The sacrificial rite started, and the soul of the dead was duly consoled by the sorcerer. A tuft of hair was removed from the skull and solemnly put in a basket which was used for divination." During the civil war, between 1946 and 1949, many Paiwan men were forcibly enlisted in the Kuomintang forces. When the war ended, some of the Paiwan remained behind in China and formed their own communities.

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Paracel Islands
The Paracel Islands, also called Xisha Islands (Chinese: 西沙群岛) in Chinese and Hoàng Sa Islands (Quần đảo Hoàng Sa, 群島黃沙) in Vietnamese, is a group of islands under the administration of Hainan Province, the People's Republic of China. Vietnam and the Republic of China (Taiwan) also claim sovereignty of these islands. China and South Vietnam each occupied part of the Paracel Islands before 1974 when a brief conflict occurred. China took over and has controlled all of the Paracel Islands since then.
The Paracel Islands consist of over 30 islets, sandbanks or reefs, occupy about 15,000 km² of the ocean surface, and are located in the South China Sea. Turtles live on the islands, and seabirds have left nests and guano deposits, but there are no permanent human residents except for a small number of troops. The archipelago is approximately equidistant from the coastlines of Vietnam and China, 180 nautical miles SE of Hainan Island, and about one-third of the way from central Vietnam to the northern Philippines.

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Portuguese people
The Portuguese (Portuguese: os Portugueses) are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion.
Due to the large historical extent of the Portuguese Empire and the colonization of territories in Africa, Asia and the Americas, as well as historical and recent emigration, Portuguese communities can be found in many diverse regions around the globe, and a large Portuguese diaspora exists.
The Portuguese are a southwestern European population, with origins predominantly from Atlantic Europe, Western Europe and the Western Mediterranean.
The earliest modern humans inhabiting Portugal are believed to have been Paleolithic peoples that may have arrived in the Iberian Peninsula as early as 35,000 to 40,000 years ago. Current interpretation of Y-chromosome and mtDNA data suggests that modern-day Portuguese traces largely a significant amount of these lineages to the paleolithic peoples which began arriving to the European continent between the end of the last glaciation around 45,000 years ago.

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Pratas Islands
The Pratas Islands, also called Dongsha Islands (simplified Chinese: 东沙群岛; traditional Chinese: 東沙群島; pinyin: Dōngshā Qúndǎo), consist of three islands forming from an atoll located in northeastern South China Sea, 340 km (211 mi) southeast of Hong Kong. The islands are governed by the Republic of China (Taiwan). The People's Republic of China claims sovereignty over these islands along with all other territories currently controlled by the Republic of China. It is the seventh national park of the Republic of China. The main island of the group, Dongsha Island, is the largest of the South China Sea Islands.

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Province (China)
In the context of Chinese government, a province (sheng), formally provincial level division, is the highest-level administrative division. The People's Republic of China (PRC) currently administers 33 such divisions, classified as 22 provinces, 4 municipalities, 5 autonomous regions and 2 special administrative regions.
Additionally, the PRC claims sovereignty over Taiwan Province, but since the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949 this area has been administered by the Republic of China (ROC) under a province of the same name. The ROC also administers some offshore islands including Quemoy/Kinmen (Jinmen) and Matsu (Mazu), which form Fujian Province, ROC. These were part of an originally unified Fujian province, which since 1949 has been divided between the PRC and ROC.
In the People's Republic of China, every province has a Communist Party of China provincial committee, headed by a secretary beside the two special administrative regions. The committee secretary is in charge of the province, rather than the governor of the provincial government.

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Puyuma people
The Puyuma (Chinese: 卑南族; pinyin: Bēinán-zú; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Puyuma-cho̍k, Pi-lâm-cho̍k), also known as the Peinan or Beinan tribe, are one of the tribal groups of the Taiwanese aborigines. The tribe is generally divided into the Chihpen and Nanwang groups, both resident in Taitung County on the east coast of Taiwan.
In the year 2000 the Puyuma numbered 9,606. This was approximately 2.4% of Taiwan's total indigenous population, making them the sixth-largest tribal group. The Puyuma speak their tribal language as well as Mandarin and Taiwanese. The Puyuma language, however, is dying.
The name "Puyuma" means "unity" or "concord," and was originally the autonym of the speakers of the Nanwang dialect (Teng 2008). Zeitoun and Cauquelin (2006) also note that the word Puyuma can be analyzed as pu'-uma, which means "to send to the field."
The earliest records of the Peinan Site were made by Torii Ryūzō, an anthropologist in the early period of the Japanese Occupation of Taiwan. During his four visits to Taiwan for anthropological research, he took two photos of the stone pillars on the ground surface at the Peinan Site

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Rikichi Andō
Rikichi Andō (安藤利吉, Andō Rikichi^?, 3 April 1884 – 19 April 1946) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and 19th and final Japanese Governor-General of Taiwan from 30 December 1944 to October 1945.
Andō was a native of Miyagi Prefecture. He served as an instructor at the Army War College (Japan) from 1924-1925. From 1925-1927, he was sent to British India as a military attaché, and on his return to Japan, served in a number of staff assignments under the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff. He returned to the field in 1928 as commander of the 13th Infantry Regiment, and was promoted to Chief of Staff of the IJA 5th Division in 1930.
From 1931-1932, Andō returned to the General Staff, where he was Chief of Military Administration Section, Military Affairs Bureau. He was appointed military attaché to the United Kingdom from 1932-1934. After his return to Japan, he became Commandant of the Toyoma Army Infantry School, and subsequently commander of the 5th Independent Garrison Unit. From 1937-1938, he was Deputy Inspector-General of Military Training.

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Rufus Yerxa
Rufus H. Yerxa (born 1951) is currently Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO). He has served in this position since 2002. He was the former Chief International Counsel for Monsanto Company.
As an American public servant (under both Republican and Democratic administrations), he was US Ambassador to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in Geneva; he played a key role in the Uruguay Round Negotiations. Yerxa served as a Deputy U.S. Trade Representative and U.S. Envoy to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, in Geneva. Prior to 1989, he served as the Assistant Chief Counsel of the House Ways and Means Committee and Staff Director of its Subcommittee on Trade.
From 1977 to 1981, he was the Legal Advisor to the Chairman of the International Trade Commission. An attorney and a member of the Washington State and District of Columbia Bars, Yerxa is a graduate of the University of Washington and the University of Puget Sound, and holds an LL.B. in international law from Cambridge University (UK). Prior to being named as Monsanto's international counsel, Yerxa was Monsanto's European general counsel.

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Rukai people
The Rukai (Chinese: 魯凱族; pinyin: Lǔkǎi zú; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lú-khái-cho̍k) are one of Taiwan's aboriginal peoples. They speak the Rukai language and live in the mountains of southern Taiwan. As of the year 2000, the Rukai numbered 12,084 — making up 3% of Taiwan's total indigenous population and, as such, the fifth-largest indigenous group. The Rukai were also called Tsarisen, which means "people living in the mountain".
The Rukai People honor the Clouded Leopard and the hundred pacer, which they believe to be the spirit of their ancestor.

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Saisiyat people
The Saisiyat (Chinese: 賽夏; pinyin: Sàixià; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Sài-hā; "true people"), also spelled Saisiat are an indigenous people of Taiwan, part of the larger Taiwanese aborigine ethnic group. In the year 2000 the Saisiyat numbered 5,311. This was approximately 1.3% of Taiwan's total indigenous population, making them one of the smallest aboriginal groups in that country. The Saisiyat inhabit western Taiwan, overlapping the border between Hsinchu County and Miaoli County. They are divided into the Northern Branch (Wufong in the mountainous Hsinchu area) and the Southern Branch (Nanya and Shitan in the highlands of Miaoli), each with its own dialect. Their language is also known as Saisiyat.
Saisiyat is sometimes rendered as Saiset, Seisirat, Saisett, Saisiat, Saisiett, Saisirat, Saisyet, Saisyett, Amutoura, or Bouiok.

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Shi Lang
Shi Lang (Chinese: 施琅; pinyin: Shī Láng; 1621–1696) was a Chinese admiral who served under the Ming and Qing Dynasties. He was commander-in-chief of the Manchu fleets which destroyed the power of the Zheng family in the 1660s, and led the conquest of the Kingdom of Tungning (東寧王國) on Taiwan in 1683.
Shi Lang was born to a distinguished lineage in Jinjiang, Fujian, in 1621. He studied military strategy in his youth, and became particularly proficient in naval warfare, knowing how to take advantage of wind and tide. After fighting a number of undistinguished operations locally with his father, he joined Zheng Zhilong's naval fleet as captain of the left vanguard. Shi Lang served most of the early 1640s in the Zheng family's fleet, where he apparently saw some conflict with Zheng Zhilong's son Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong). When Shi defected to the Qing Dynasty in 1646, Koxinga killed Shi's father, brother and son.
The Manchu royals prized Shi Lang for his extensive naval experience and his network of contacts in the major trading ports of East Asia. He accompanied Prince Jidu (son of Jirgalang) on an expedition in Fujian in 1656, and attained the rank of Assistant Brigade-General. In the campaign of 1663 against the Zheng family, he commanded Dutch ships and men to follow up the Manchu victories. In 1668, he submitted a plan to drive the remnants of the Ming from Taiwan and the Pescadores, but the proposal was not utilised. He was given a post in the Imperial Bodyguard and attached to the Chinese Bordered Yellow Banner.

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Shih Ming-teh
Shih Ming-te or Shih Ming-teh (Chinese: 施明德; pinyin: Shī Míngdé, a.k.a. Nori; born January 15, 1941 in Kaohsiung) was a political prisoner for 25-and-a-half years in the Republic of China (Taiwan).
He was arrested at the age of 21 in 1962 and charged with creating the "Taiwan Independence League" (a study group) with the intention of overthrowing the Kuomintang government, Shih was sentenced to life imprisonment. The sentence was commuted to 15 years in 1975, and Shih was released on June 16, 1977.
He promptly joined the Tangwai (literally meaning "outside the party", because the Kuomintang was the only legally existing political party in Taiwan at that time), became a reporter for the Liberty Times and married the American researcher Linda Gail Arrigo. After playing a part in organizing the December 10, 1979 pro-democracy rally subsequently known as the Kaohsiung Incident, (also known as the Formosa Incident or Meilitao Incident), an arrest warrant was issued charging Shih with treason, and following 26 days on the run he was again arrested and sentenced to life in prison. In 1984, while he was incarcerated, Polish politician and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Wałęsa nominated him for Peace Prize.

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South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around 3,500,000 square kilometres (1,400,000 sq mi). The area's importance largely results from one-third of the world's shipping transiting through its waters, and that it is believed to hold huge oil and gas reserves beneath its seabed.
It is located
The minute South China Sea Islands, collectively an archipelago, number in the hundreds. The sea and its mostly uninhabited islands are subject to competing claims of sovereignty by several countries. These claims are also reflected in the variety of names used for the islands and the sea.
South China Sea is the dominant term used in English for the sea, and the name in most European languages is equivalent, but it is sometimes called by different names in neighboring countries, often reflecting historical claims to hegemony over the sea.
The English name is a result of early European interest in the sea as a route from Europe and South Asia to the trading opportunities of China. In the sixteenth century Portuguese sailors called it the China Sea (Mar da China); later needs to differentiate it from nearby bodies of water led to calling it the South China Sea. The International Hydrographic Organization refers to the sea as "South China Sea (Nan Hai)".

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Spratly Islands
The Spratly Islands are a group of more than 750 reefs,islets, atolls, cays and islands in the South China Sea. The archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines and Malaysia (Sabah), about one third of the way from there to southern Vietnam. They contain less than four square kilometers of land area spread over more than 425,000 square kilometers of sea. The Spratlys are one of three archipelagos of the South China Sea which comprise more than 30,000 islands and reefs and which complicate governance and economics in that region of Southeast Asia. Such small and remote islands have little economic value in themselves, but are important in establishing international boundaries. There are no native islanders but there are, at least for now, rich fishing grounds; and initial surveys indicate the islands may contain significant reserves of oil and natural gas.
About 45 islands are occupied by relatively small numbers of military forces from Vietnam, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), Malaysia and the Philippines. Brunei has also claimed an EEZ in the southeastern part of the Spratlys encompassing just one area of small islands above mean high water (on Louisa Reef.)

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Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen (12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925) was a Chinese revolutionary and first president and founding father of the Republic of China ("Nationalist China"). As the foremost pioneer of Republic of China, Sun is referred to as the "Father of the Nation" in the Republic of China (ROC), and the "forerunner of democratic revolution" in the People's Republic of China. Sun played an instrumental role in the overthrow of the Qing dynasty during the Xinhai Revolution. Sun was the first provisional president when the Republic of China was founded in 1912 and later co-founded the Kuomintang (KMT), serving as its first leader. Sun was a uniting figure in post-Imperial China, and remains unique among 20th-century Chinese politicians for being widely revered amongst the people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Although Sun is considered one of the greatest leaders of modern China, his political life was one of constant struggle and frequent exile. After the success of the revolution, he quickly fell out of power in the newly founded Republic of China, and led successive revolutionary governments as a challenge to the warlords who controlled much of the nation. Sun did not live to see his party consolidate its power over the country during the Northern Expedition. His party, which formed a fragile alliance with the Communists, split into two factions after his death. Sun's chief legacy resides in his developing of the political philosophy known as the Three Principles of the People: nationalism, democracy, and the people's livelihood.

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Taiping Island
Taiping Island is the largest of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, and the only one where fresh water is available. The island is elliptical in shape being 1.4 km in length and 0.4 km in width. It is part of the Tizard Bank (Zheng He Reefs; 鄭和群礁), one of seven reefs in the Spratly Islands near the centre of the South China Sea. The Taiping Island Airport is the most prominent artificial feature on the island.
The island is administered by the Republic of China (Taiwan), as part of Cijin, Kaohsiung. It is also claimed by the People's Republic of China, the Philippines and Vietnam. The distance from Kaohsiung to Taiping Island is about 1,600 km (990 mi). The nearby Zhongzhou Reef is also under the possession of the ROC.
Taiping Island (Chinese: 太平島; pinyin: Tàipíng Dǎo; literally "peace island") is named in honor of a Nationalist Chinese Navy warship which sailed to the island in 1946, which allowed the ROC to assert its claim to the Spratly Islands in 1947. This name is favored by both Taipei and by Beijing. The island was previously called Huángshānmǎ Jiāo (黃山馬礁) or Huángshānmǎ Zhì (黃山馬峙) by Chinese fishermen.

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Taiwan
Taiwan (ⁱ/ˌtaɪˈwɑːn/ TY-WAHN; Chinese: 臺灣 or 台灣; pinyin: Táiwān; see below), officially the Republic of China (ROC; Chinese: 中華民國; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó), is a state in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China now governs the island of Taiwan (formerly known as Formosa), which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and other minor islands. Neighboring states include the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east and northeast, and the Philippines to the south. Taipei is the capital city and economic and cultural centre of the country, and New Taipei is the most populous city.
The earliest evidence of inhabitation of Taiwan dates back to the late Paleolithic era. The island of Taiwan was mainly inhabited by Taiwanese aborigines before being colonized in the 17th century by the Dutch and the Spanish Empire. The first Han Chinese polity on Taiwan began when Koxinga's troops defeated Dutch forces and established the Kingdom of Tungning. The island was subsequently ruled by the Qing Dynasty after the kingdom's defeat in the Battle of Penghu in 1683, a period that lasted for over 200 years. Following Japan's victory over the Qing Dynasty in the first Sino-Japanese war, Taiwan was ceded to Japan under the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895.

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Taiwan, China
"Taiwan, China" or "Taiwan, Province of China" is a set of politically controversial and potentially ambiguous terms that characterize Taiwan and its associated territories as a province or territory of "China". However, the term is problematic and potentially ambiguous because since 1949, two sovereign states with the name "China" exist, namely the Republic of China (ROC, founded 1911 and now known as "Taiwan") and the People's Republic of China (PRC, founded 1949 and now known as "China" for short since 1971). However, only one "China" actually rules Taiwan, namely Republic of China (which in reality is known as "Taiwan"), and has an administrative division called "Taiwan Province" but refers to it as "Taiwan Province, Republic of China"; whereas, the other "China", namely the People's Republic of China, which is the one internationally recognized as "China" (not the ROC), claims but does not control Taiwan as part of its territory. Because "Taiwan" and "China" are known internationally to be separately political entities, the juxtaposition of "Taiwan" and "China" in this order into one single term "Taiwan, China" implicitly places the ROC/"Taiwan" under the sovereignty of PRC/"China", in the same sense as "California, USA". The use of this term is usually politically promulgated by the Communist Chinese government as a way to claim and imply that the ROC/"Taiwan" is under its sovereignty, since the PRC claims to be the legitimate government of "all China", which, according to its own definition, includes Taiwan also, despite its lack of control. The ROC government disputes the PRC position and it, along with many ROC citizens, considers this term incorrect and offensive, and its use a purposeful false identification and lie which denies the ROC's sovereignty, and objects to its use. The term is particularly offensive to those Taiwanese who believe in Taiwan Independence and want to disassociate Taiwan with "China" and a Chinese identity, and consider it a lie and an oxymoron. However, some Taiwanese citizens do not necessarily oppose this term, particularly those who view themselves as "Chinese" and support eventual Chinese reunification.

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Taiwanese aborigines
Taiwanese aborigines (Chinese: 原住民; pinyin: yuánzhùmín; Wade–Giles: yüan2-chu4-min2; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: gôan-chū-bîn; literally "original inhabitants") is the term commonly applied in reference to the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. Although Taiwanese indigenous groups hold a variety of creation myths, recent research suggests their ancestors may have been living on the islands for approximately 8,000 years before major Han Chinese immigration began in the 17th century (Blust 1999). Taiwanese aborigines are Austronesian peoples, with linguistic and genetic ties to other Austronesian ethnic groups, such as peoples of the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Madagascar, Polynesia, and Oceania (Hill et al. 2007; Bird, Hope & Taylor 2004). The issue of an ethnic identity unconnected to the Asian mainland has become one thread in the discourse regarding the political status of Taiwan.
For centuries, Taiwan's aboriginal peoples experienced economic competition and military conflict with a series of colonizing peoples. Centralized government policies designed to foster language shift and cultural assimilation, as well as continued contact with the colonizers through trade, intermarriage and other dispassionate intercultural processes, have resulted in varying degrees of language death and loss of original cultural identity. For example, of the approximately 26 known languages of the Taiwanese aborigines (collectively referred to as the Formosan languages), at least ten are extinct, five are moribund (Zeitoun & Yu 2005:167) and several are to some degree endangered. These languages are of unique historical significance, since most historical linguists consider Taiwan to be the original homeland of the Austronesian language family (Blust 1999).

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Taiwanese people
Taiwanese people (traditional Chinese: 臺灣人 also 台灣人; simplified Chinese: 台湾人; pinyin: Táiwān rén; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tâi-oân-lâng) may refer to individuals who either claim or are imputed cultural identity focused on the island of Taiwan and/or Taiwan Area which have been governed by the Republic of China (ROC) since 1945. At least three competing (occasionally overlapping) paradigms are used to identify someone as a Taiwanese person: a nationalist criteria, self-identification (including the concept of "New Taiwanese") criteria, and socio-cultural criteria. These standards are fluid, in keeping with an evolving social and political milieu. The complexity resulting from competing and evolving standards is compounded by a larger dispute regarding Taiwan's identity crisis, the political status of Taiwan, and its potential de jure Taiwan independence or political integration with the People's Republic of China.

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Truku people
The Truku (Chinese: 太魯閣族; pinyin: Tàilǔgé zú, also romanized as Taroko) people are an Indigenous Taiwanese tribe. Taroko is also the name of the area of Taiwan where the Truku tribe resides. The Executive Yuan, Republic of China has officially recognized the Truku since January 15, 2004. The Truku are the 12th aboriginal tribe in Taiwan to receive this recognition. Previously, the Truku and the related Seediq people were classified in the Atayal group.

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Tsai Ming-Liang
Tsai Ming-liang (Chinese: 蔡明亮; pinyin: Cài Míngliàng) (born October 27, 1957) is one of the most celebrated "Second New Wave" film directors of Taiwanese Cinema, along with earlier contemporaries such as Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Edward Yang. His films have been acclaimed worldwide and have won numerous film festival awards.
Tsai was born in Malaysia of Chinese ethnic background and spent his first 20 years of his life in Kuching, Sarawak, after which he moved to Taipei, Taiwan. This, he says, had "a huge impact on [his] mind and psyche," perhaps later mirrored in his films. "Even today," says Tsai, "I feel I belong neither to Taiwan nor to Malaysia. In a sense, I can go anywhere I want and fit in, but I never feel that sense of belonging."
He graduated from the Drama and Cinema Department of the Chinese Culture University of Taiwan in 1982 and worked as a theatrical producer, screenwriter, and television director in Hong Kong.
Tsai's film honours include a Golden Lion (best picture) for Vive L'Amour at the Venice Film Festival in 1994; the Silver Bear - Special Jury Prize for The River at the 47th Berlin International Film Festival; the FIPRESCI award for The Hole at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival; and the Alfred Bauer Award and Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Achievement for The Wayward Cloud at the 2005 Berlin International Film Festival.

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Tsou people
The Tsou (Chinese: 鄒; pinyin: Zōu; Wade–Giles: Tsou; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chau) are an indigenous people of central southern Republic of China (Taiwan). They are spread across three administrative entities of the Republic of China — Nantou County, Chiayi County and Kaohsiung City.
They are sometimes confused with the Thao people of Sun Moon Lake. In the year 2000 the Tsou numbered 6,169. This was approximately 1.6% of Taiwan's total Indigenous population, making them the seventh-largest tribal group.

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Wang Chien-shien
Wang Chien-shien (Chinese: 王建煊; pinyin: Wáng Jiànxuān; Wade–Giles: Wáng Chìen-hsuān) (born August 7, 1938) is a founder of the New Party. He was finance minister of the Republic of China from 1990 to 1992 and is the chairman of the Chinese Management Association (since 1990). Wang is the President of the Control Yuan since July 2008.
Born in Anhui, Wang grew up in Taipei City and received a bachelor's degree from National Cheng Kung University and a master's degree from National Chengchi University. Wang was popular in the 1990s for his clean reputation and split with the Kuomintang to help found the New Party.
In 2001, the three parties of the pan-Blue coalition, the Kuomintang, the People First Party, and the New Party agreed to field only one candidate for Taipei County magistrate in 2001 based on which party could field the most popular candidate in polls. Despite the unified ticket and a poll predicting him winning, Wang lost to Su Tseng-chang. He also participated in the 1998 Taipei City mayoral race. Wang is married to Su Fa-jau (蘇法昭).

wn.com/Wang_Chien-shien
Wang Tuoh
Wang Tuoh (Chinese: 王拓; pinyin: Wáng Tuò; born January 9, 1944) is a Taiwanese writer, intellectual, literary critic and politician. He was born in Badouzi (八斗子), then a small fishing village near the northern port city of Keelung. His name was originally Wang Hung-chiu (王紘久).
Wang Tuoh published his first short story, The Hanging Tree in 1970, and went on to write a series of stories set in his home village of Badouzi that drew heavily on his own experiences in a small, insular village where everyone is part of a larger family that has been there for five generations. The most well-known of these stories is the novella Auntie Jinshui (金水嬸; published September 1976) which describes the story of the eponymous Auntie Jinshui. Auntie Jinshui is a street peddler who has successfully raised and educated six sons, but falls upon especially hard times after being swindled by a priest introduced to her by one of her sons. She then falls behind on her payments to her Hui (會), an informal village credit network, and finds herself gradually ostracized from her friends and family. This novella was also later made into a movie.

wn.com/Wang_Tuoh
Women in Taiwan
Women in Taiwan is a reference to Taiwanese women and their legal, social, workplace, and cultural status in Taiwan. Their status as women in Taiwan has been based on and affected by the "traditional patriarchal views and social structure" within Taiwanese society.
Despite of the ongoing prosperity in the Taiwan's economy and occurring democratic reforms, women of Taiwan still have to struggle against discrimination in several laws. Thus they still have to claim equal rights with Taiwanese men.
The 1930 Taiwanese Civil Codes provides limited rights to Taiwanese women, such as having no right in deciding their residence, the lack of right to own property, the lack of right to file a divorce, the lack of self-protection, and the lack of right to child custody. In the present-day Taiwanese legal system, the laws relating to Taiwanese women's rights can be found in the Constitution of the Republic of China, the Family Law of the ROC Civil Code, the Standards for Labor Work, Industry Law, Employee Service Act, and other related regulations for protecting gender equality in the Republic of China (Taiwan).

wn.com/Women_in_Taiwan
Wu Den-yih
Wu Den-yih (traditional Chinese: 吳敦義; simplified Chinese: 吴敦义; pinyin: Wú Dūnyì; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Gô͘ Tun-gī; born January 30, 1948) is the Vice President of the Republic of China and a member of the ruling Kuomintang Party. Wu was the running mate of President Ma Ying-jeou and was elected Vice President in the 2012 presidential election with 51.5% of the vote. Wu served as Premier from 2009 until 2012.
Wu was born in Tsaotun, Nantou County, Taiwan. He earned a BA degree in history from the National Taiwan University in 1970.
Wu is married with Tsai Ling-yi. They have three sons and one daughter.
Wu Den-yih was the appointed mayor of Kaohsiung between 1990 and 1994, and he served as the mayor again from 1994 to 1998 by election. He was defeated by Frank Hsieh in the mayoral election in 1998. Wu was the general secretary of KMT from February 2007 to September 2009.
Wu was designated to succeed Liu Chao-shiuan as Premier of the Republic of China on 8 September 2009 by President Ma Ying-jeou. Liu and his Cabinet resigned en masse on 10 September, with Wu succeeding the post the same day. On 19 June 2011 Ma Ying-jeou announced that Wu would be his vice presidential candidate in the 2012 presidential election.

wn.com/Wu_Den-yih
Yami people
The Tao (Chinese: 達悟族; pinyin: Dáwù zú; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ta̍t-ngō͘-cho̍k), originally recognized as Yami (雅美), are a Taiwanese aboriginal people, native to tiny outlying Orchid Island in Taiwan. The Tao are an Austronesian people linguistically and culturally closer to the Ivatan people of the Batanes islands in the Philippines than to other aboriginal peoples on the main island of Taiwan. The word "Tao" (pronounced Ta-o) means "person" or "people" in both the Tao language and all Philippine languages. The Tao people are traditionally good at making balangays (native canoes), which is a symbol of their tribe.
In the year 2000 the Yami numbered 3,872. This was approximately 1% of Taiwan's total indigenous population.
The Tao people of Pongso no Tao (Orchid Island)is a small island approximately 42 km in diameter. The coastline is the only inhabited area of the island, with ocean and volcanic rock on the shore and then mountains of great height inland. The soil of Orchid island is very salty. The Tao farming near the shore usually grow sweet potato for its edible root and leaves and Taro. As of the last few decades other non-indigenous fruits and vegetables have since been introduced. Coconuts are also available on the island but are not common or usually owned by families and kept on their own private land. It is rare to find a coconut tree or any tree for that matter that is not owned by anyone on the island. Being a small island everyone has claimed some part of and regularly farms there during the day. Millet is also grown on the island and is usually pounded down into a sticky cake and eaten with pork. Traditional millet festivals can be seen in the beginning of the summer months around the island. Taro is also mashed and mixed with smoked pork.

wn.com/Yami_people
Yani Tseng
Yani Tseng (Chinese: 曾雅妮 Zēng Yǎní; born 23 January 1989) is a Taiwanese professional golfer currently playing on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She is the youngest player ever, male or female, to win five major championships and is currently ranked number 1 in the Women's World Golf Rankings.
Tseng was the top-ranked amateur in Taiwan from 2004 to 2006. The highlight of her amateur career was winning the 2004 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links, defeating Michelle Wie in the final, 1 up. Her amateur accomplishments include:
Tseng turned professional in January 2007. That year she competed on the Ladies Asian Golf Tour and won the DLF Women’s Indian Open. She also competed on the CN Canadian Women’s Tour where she won the CN Canadian Women’s Tour at Vancouver Golf Club.
Tseng entered the LPGA Qualifying Tournament in the fall of 2007 and finished sixth in the final Qualifying Tournament in December which gave Tseng full playing privileges on the LPGA Tour for 2008. In June 2008, she claimed her first LPGA tour victory at the LPGA Championship to become the first player from Taiwan to win an LPGA major championship. At age 19, she was also the youngest player to win the LPGA Championship and the second-youngest player to win an LPGA major.

wn.com/Yani_Tseng
Zheng Jing
Zheng Jing (Chinese: 鄭經; pinyin: Zhèng Jīng; Wade–Giles: Cheng Ching; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Teⁿ Keng) was a seventeenth century Chinese warlord and Ming Dynasty loyalist. He was the eldest son of Koxinga and grandson of pirate-merchant Zheng Zhilong. After the conquest of Taiwan in 1662 by his father, Zheng Jing controlled the military forces in Xiamen and Quemoy on his father's behalf. Upon the death of his father six months later, Zheng Jing contested throne as the King of Taiwan with his uncle, Zheng Shixi. The dispute was resolved in Zheng Jing's favor after he successfully landed an army in Taiwan despite strong opposition by the forces of his uncle. This was followed by Zheng Shixi withdrawing his claim.
With both the vast pirate fleet and the throne of Tainan, he intended to continue his father's plans to invade the Philippines; however, he was forced to abandon this venture when faced with the threat of a Manchu-Dutch alliance. His victory over a combined Manchu-Dutch fleet in 1664 resulted in ending the brief alliance.

wn.com/Zheng_Jing

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formally
Provincial level divisions

Chinese name

Simplified Chinese

省级行政区

Traditional Chinese

省級行政區

Transcriptions
Mandarin
- Hanyu Pinyin	Shěng Jí Xíngzhèngqū

Alternative Chinese name

Chinese

省

Transcriptions
Mandarin
- Hanyu Pinyin	Shěng

Tibetan name

Tibetan

ཞིང་ཆེན།

Zhuang name

Zhuang

Swngj

Mongolian name

Mongolian script

ᠮᠤᠶᠶ

Uyghur name

Uyghur

ئۆلكە

This article is part of the series:
Administrative divisions of the
People's Republic of China

Provincial level

Provinces
(省; shěng)

Autonomous regions
(自治区; zìzhìqū)

Municipalities
(直辖市; zhíxiáshì)

Special administrative regions
(特别行政区; tèbié xíngzhèngqū)

Sub-provincial level

Sub-provincial autonomous prefectures
(副省级自治州; fùshěngjí zìzhìzhōu)

Sub-provincial cities
(副省级城市; fùshěngjí chéngshì)

Sub-provincial new areas
(副省级市辖新区; fùshěngjí shìxiá xīnqū)

Prefectural level

Prefectures
(地区; dìqū)

Autonomous prefectures
(自治州; zīzhìzhōu)

Prefecture-level cities
(地级市; dìjíshì)

Leagues
(盟; méng)

Sub-prefecture-level

Sub-prefectural-level cities
(副地级市; fùdìjíshì)

County level

Counties
(县; xiàn)

Autonomous counties
(自治县; zìzhìxiàn)

County-level cities
(县级市; xiànjíshì)

City districts
(市辖区; shìxiáqū)
Ethnic districts

Banners
(旗; qí)

Autonomous banners
(自治旗; zìzhìqí)

Forestry areas
(林区; línqū)

Special districts
(特区; tèqū)

Township level

Townships
(乡; xiāng)

Ethnic townships
(民族乡; mínzúxiāng)

Towns
(镇; zhèn)

Subdistricts
(街道办事处; jiēdào bànshìchù)

Sumus
(苏木; sūmù)

Ethnic sumus
(民族苏木; mínzúsūmù)

District public offices (abolishing)
(区公所; qū gōngsuǒ)

Village level

Village Committees
(村民委员会; cūnmín-wěiyuánhùi)

Neighborhood Committees
(居民委员会; jūmín-wěiyuánhùi)

History of the political divisions of China

In the context of Chinese government, a province (sheng), formally provincial level division, is the highest-level administrative division. The People's Republic of China (PRC) currently administers 33 such divisions, classified as 22 provinces, 4 municipalities, 5 autonomous regions and 2 special administrative regions.^[1]

Additionally, the PRC claims sovereignty over Taiwan Province, but since the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949 this area has been administered by the Republic of China (ROC) under a province of the same name. The ROC also administers some offshore islands including Quemoy/Kinmen (Jinmen) and Matsu (Mazu), which form Fujian Province, ROC. These were part of an originally unified Fujian province, which since 1949 has been divided between the PRC and ROC.

In the People's Republic of China, every province has a Communist Party of China provincial committee, headed by a secretary beside the two special administrative regions. The committee secretary is in charge of the province, rather than the governor of the provincial government.

1 Types of provinces
2 List of Provincial-level divisions
3 Map
4 History
- 4.1 List of former Provinces
5 Economies
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

Types of provinces [link]

Province [link]

Province (省; shěng)— A standard provincial government is nominally led by a provincial committee, headed by a secretary. The committee secretary is first-in-charge of the province, come in second is the governor of the provincial government.

The People's Republic of China claims the island of Taiwan and its surrounding islets, including Penghu, as "Taiwan Province". (Kinmen and the Matsu Islands are claimed by the PRC as part of its Fujian Province. Pratas and Itu Aba are claimed by the PRC as part of Guangdong and Hainan provinces respectively.) The territory is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC, commonly called "Taiwan").

Special administrative region (SAR)[link]

Main article: Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China

Special administrative region (SAR) (特別行政區; tèbiéxíngzhèngqū)— A highly autonomous and self-governing subnational subject of the People's Republic of China that is directly under the Central People's Government. Each SAR has a provincial level^[2]^[3]^[4] chief executive as head of the region and head of government. The region's government is not fully independent, as foreign policy and military defence are the responsibility of the central government, according to the basic laws.

Municipality [link]

Main article: Direct-controlled municipality of the People's Republic of China

Municipality (直辖市; zhíxiáshì)— A higher level of city which is directly under the Chinese government, with status equal to that of the provinces. In practice, their political status are higher than common provinces.

Autonomous region [link]

Main article: Autonomous regions of the People's Republic of China

Autonomous region (自治区; zìzhìqū)— A minority subject which has a higher population of a particular minority ethnic group along with its own local government, but an autonomous region theoretically has more legislative rights than in actual practice. The governor of the Autonomous Regions is usually appointed from the respective minority ethnic group.

List of Provincial-level divisions [link]

GB^[5]	ISO №^[6]	Province	Chinese Name	Capital	Population¹	Density²	Area³	Abbreviation/Symbol
BJ	11	Beijing Municipality	北京市 Běijīng Shì	Beijing	19,612,368	1,167.40	16,800	京 Jīng
TJ	12	Tianjin Municipality	天津市 Tiānjīn Shì	Tianjin	12,938,224	1,144.46	11,305	津 Jīn
HE	13	Hebei Province	河北省 Héběi Shěng	Shijiazhuang	71,854,202	382.81	187,700	冀 Jì
SX	14	Shanxi Province	山西省 Shānxī Shěng	Taiyuan	35,712,111	228.48	156,300	晋 Jìn
NM	15	Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Nei Mongol Autonomous Region	內蒙古自治区 Nèi Měnggǔ Zìzhìqū	Hohhot	24,706,321	20.88	1,183,000	蒙(內蒙古) Měng (Nèi Měnggǔ)
LN	21	Liaoning Province	辽宁省 Liáoníng Shěng	Shenyang	43,746,323	299.83	145,900	辽 Liáo
JL	22	Jilin Province	吉林省 Jílín Shěng	Changchun	27,462,297	146.54	187,400	吉 Jí
HL	23	Heilongjiang Province	黑龙江省 Hēilóngjiāng	Harbin	38,312,224	84.38	454,000	黑 Hēi
SH	31	Shanghai Municipality	上海市 Shànghǎi Shì	Shanghai	23,019,148	3,630.20	6,341	沪 Hù
JS	32	Jiangsu Province	江苏省 Jiāngsū Shěng	Nanjing	78,659,903	766.66	102,600	苏 Sū
ZJ	33	Zhejiang Province	浙江省 Zhèjiāng Shěng	Hangzhou	54,426,891	533.59	102,000	浙 Zhè
AH	34	Anhui Province	安徽省 Ānhuī Shěng	Hefei	59,500,510	425.91	139,700	皖 Wǎn
FJ	35	Fujian Province	福建省 Fújiàn Shěng	Fuzhou	36,894,216	304.15	121,300	闽 Mǐn
JX	36	Jiangxi Province	江西省 Jiāngxī Shěng	Nanchang	44,567,475	266.87	167,000	赣 Gàn
SD	37	Shandong Province	山东省 Shāndōng Shěng	Jinan	95,793,065	622.84	153,800	鲁(齐) Lǔ (Qí)
HA	41	Henan Province	河南省 Hénán Shěng	Zhengzhou	94,023,567	563.01	167,000	豫 Yù
HB	42	Hubei Province	湖北省 Húběi Shěng	Wuhan	57,237,740	307.89	185,900	鄂 È
HN	43	Hunan Province	湖南省 Húnán Shěng	Changsha	65,683,722	312.77	210,000	湘 Xiāng
GD	44	Guangdong Province	广东省 Guǎngdōng Shěng	Guangzhou	104,303,132	579.46	180,000	粤 Yuè
GX	45	Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region	广西壮族自治区 Guǎngxī Zhuàngzú Zìzhìqū	Nanning	46,026,629	195.02	236,000	桂 Guì
HI	46	Hainan Province	海南省 Hǎinán Shěng	Haikou	8,671,518	255.04	34,000	琼 Qióng
CQ	50	Chongqing Municipality	重庆市 Chóngqìng Shì	Chongqing	28,846,170	350.50	82,300	渝 Yú
SC	51	Sichuan Province	四川省 Sìchuān Shěng	Chengdu	80,418,200	165.81	485,000	川(蜀) Chuān (Shǔ)
GZ	52	Guizhou Province	贵州省 Gùizhōu Shěng	Guiyang	34,746,468	197.42	176,000	贵(黔) Guì (Qián)
YN	53	Yunnan Province	云南省 Yúnnán Shěng	Kunming	45,966,239	116.66	394,000	云(滇) Yún (Diān)
XZ	54	Tibet Autonomous Region Xizang Autonomous Region	西藏自治区 Xīzàng Zìzhìqū	Lhasa	3,002,166	2.44	1,228,400	藏 Zàng
SN	61	Shaanxi Province	陕西省 Shǎnxī Shěng	Xi'an	37,327,378	181.55	205,600	陕(秦) Shǎn (Qín)
GS	62	Gansu Province	甘肃省 Gānsù Shěng	Lanzhou	25,575,254	56.29	454,300	甘(陇) Gān (Lǒng)
QH	63	Qinghai Province	青海省 Qīnghǎi Shěng	Xining	5,626,722	7.80	721,200	青 Qīng
NX	64	Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region	宁夏回族自治区 Níngxià Huízú Zìzhìqū	Yinchuan	6,301,350	94.89	66,400	宁 Níng
XJ	65	Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region	新疆维吾尔自治区 Xīnjiāng Wéiwú'ěr Zìzhìqū	Ürümqi	21,813,334	13.13	1,660,400	新 Xīn
HK	91	Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Xianggang Special Administrative Region	香港特别行政区 Xiānggǎng Tèbié Xíngzhèngqū	Hong Kong	7,061,200	6,396.01	1,104	港 Gǎng
MC	92	Macau Special Administrative Region Aomen Special Administrative Region	澳门特别行政区 Àomén Tèbié Xíngzhèngqū	Macau	552,300	19,044.82	29	澳 Ào
TW	71	Taiwan Province †	台湾省 Táiwān Shěng	Taibei	23,140,000	650.34	35,581	台 Tái

Notes:

¹: as of 2010

²: per km²

³: km²

†: Since its founding in 1949, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has considered Taiwan to be its 23rd province. However, the PRC has never controlled Taiwan. The Republic of China (ROC, "Taiwan") currently administers Taiwan which it governs as part of Taiwan Area, consisting of Taiwan island, Penghu, as well as Kinmen and Matsu located off the coast of mainland Fujian Province, Republic of China.

Map [link]

History [link]

Administrative divisions of the Republic of China. Note: this map depicts the theoretical administrative divisions of the Republic of China, which are not synchronized with the actual administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China. The ROC controls Taiwan and nearby islands while the PRC controls Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau.

The rulers of China first set up provinces - initially 10 in number - during the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368). By the time of the establishment of the Qing Dynasty in 1644 there were 18 provinces, all of them in China proper. These were:

Each province had a xunfu (巡撫; translated as "governor"), a political overseer on behalf of the emperor, and a tidu (提督; translated as "Captain General"), a military governor. In addition, there was a zongdu (總督), a general military inspector or governor general, for every two to three provinces.

Outer regions of China (those beyond China proper) were not divided into provinces. Military leaders or generals (將軍) oversaw Manchuria (consisting of Fengtian (now Liaoning), Jilin, Heilongjiang), Xinjiang, and Mongolia, while vice-dutong (副都統) and civilian leaders headed the leagues (盟長), a subdivision of Mongolia. The ambans (驻藏大臣) supervised the administration of Tibet.

In 1884 Xinjiang became a province; in 1907 Fengtian, Jilin, and Heilongjiang were made provinces as well. Taiwan became a province in 1885, but China ceded Taiwan to Japan in 1895. As a result, there were 22 provinces in China (Outer China and China proper) near the end of the Qing Dynasty.

The Republic of China, established in 1912, set up 4 more provinces in Inner Mongolia and 2 provinces in historic Tibet, bringing the total to 28. But China lost four provinces with the establishment of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in Manchuria. After the defeat of Japan in World War II in 1945, China re-incorporated Manchuria as 10 provinces, and assumed control of Taiwan as a province. As a result, the Republic of China in 1946 had 35 provinces. Although the Republic of China now only controls one province, (Taiwan), and some islands of a second province (Fujian), it continues to formally claim all 35 provinces.

List of former Provinces [link]

List of former province-level subdivisions

Division	Chinese	abbreviation	Capital	Administration period	belongs today to
Andong Province	安东 Āndōng	安 Ān	Tonghua 通化	1934–1939, 1945–1949	today part of Liaoning and Jilin In 1949 it became Liaodong
Anshan Municipality	鞍山 Ānshān	鞍 Ān	none	1949–1954	today part of Liaoning
Benxi Municipality	本溪 Běnxī	本 Běn	none	1949–1954	today part of Liaoning
Chahar Province	察哈爾 Cháhāěr	察 Chá	Zhangyuan 张垣	1928–1936, 1945–1952	today part of Inner Mongolia
Changchun Municipality	长春 Chángchūn	春 Chūn	none	1953–1954	today part of Jilin
Changdu Territory (Qamdo Territory)	昌都 Chāngdū	昌 Chāng	Changdu Town 昌都镇	1949–1965	today part of Tibet
Chuanbei Administrative Territory	川北 Chuānběi	充 Chōng	Nanchong 南充	1950–1952	today part of Sichuan
Chuandong Administrative Territory	川东 Chuāndōng	渝 Yú	Chongqing 重庆	1950–1952	today part of Sichuan
Chuannan Administrative Territory	川南 Chuānnán	泸 Lú	Luzhou 泸州	1950–1952	today part of Sichuan
Chuanxi Administrative Territory	川西 Chuānxī	蓉 Róng	Chengdu 成都	1950–1952	today part of Sichuan
Dalian Municipality	大连 Dàlián	连 Lián	none	1927–1949, 1950–1954	today part of Liaoning
Fengtian Province	奉天 Fèngtiān	奉 Fèng	Shengjing 盛京	1911–1929	today part of Liaoning. The former name of Liaoning province from 1907 to 1929. Under the Manchukuo regime, the name was revived, but was again abolished in 1945.
Fushun Municipality	抚顺 Fǔshùn	抚 Fǔ	none	1949–1954	today part of Liaoning
Guangzhou Municipality	广州 Guǎngzhōu	穗 Suì	none	1927–195	today part of Guangdong
Hankou Municipality	汉口 Hànkǒu	汉 Hàn	none	1927–1949	today part of Hubei In 1949 it merge with Hanyang and Wuchang to form Wuhan
Harbin Municipality	哈尔滨 Hāěrbīn	哈 Hā	none	1927–1949, 1953–1954	today part of Heilongjiang
Hejiang Province	合江 Héjiāng	合 Hé	Jiamusi 佳木斯	1945–1948	today part of Heilongjiang In 1948 it became part of Songjiang
Liaobei Province	遼北 Liáoběi	洮 Tāo	Liaoyuan 辽源	1947–1949	today part of Inner Mongolia
Liaodong Province	辽东 Liáoodōng	关 Guān	Andong 安东	1949–1954	today part of eastern Liaoning
Liaoxi Province	辽西 Liáoxī	辽 Liáo	Jinzhou 锦州	1949–1954	today part of western Liaoning and Jilin
Nenjiang Province	嫩江 Nènjiāng	嫩 Nèn	Qiqihar 齐齐哈尔	1947–1950	today part of Heilongjiang In 1949 it merged with Xing'an In 1950 it merged with Heilongjiang
Mudanjiang Province	牡丹江 Mǔdānjiāng	丹 Dān	Mudanjiang 牡丹江	1946–1948	today mostly part of Heilongjiang In 1948 it became Songjiang
Nanjing Municipality	南京 Nánjīng	京(1927) / 宁(1949) Jīng / Níng	none	1927–1952	today part of Jiangsu
Mongolia Area (Outer)	蒙古 Měnggǔ	蒙 Měng	Kulun 库伦	1911–1921	today part of the country of Mongolia
Pingyuan Province	平原 Píngyuán	平 Píng	Xinxiang 新乡	1949–1952	today part of Hebei and Henan
Qingdao Municipality	青岛 Qīngdǎo	青 Qīng	none	1927–1949	today part of Shandong
Rehe Province	熱河 Rèhé	熱 Rè	Chengde 承德	1928–1955	today mostly part of Hebei
Shenyang Municipality	沈阳 Shěnyáng	沈 Shěn	none	1929–1954	today part of Liaoning
Songjiang Province	松江 Sōngjiāng	松 Sōng	Mudanjiang 牡丹江	1948–1950	today part of Heilongjiang In 1948 it merge with Hejiang In 1950 it became Heilongjiang
Subei Administrative Territory	苏北 Sūběi	扬 Yáng	Yangzhou 扬州	1950–1952	today part of Jiangsu
Suiyuan Province	绥宁 Suīyuǎn	綏 Suī	Guisui 归绥	1946–1947	today part of Inner Mongolia
Sunan Administrative Territory	苏南 Sūnán	锡 Xī	Wuxi 无锡	1950–1952	today part of Jiangsu
Wanbei Administrative Territory	皖北 Wǎnběi	合 or 庐 Hé or Lú	Hefei 合肥	1950–1952	today part of Anhui
Wannan Administrative Territory	皖南 Wǎnnán	芜	Wuhu 芜湖	1950–1952	today part of Anhui
Wuhan Municipality	武汉 Wǔhàn	汉 Hàn	none	1927–1949	today part of Hubei
Xi'an Municipality	西安 Xī'ān	鎬 Hào	none	1927–1954	today part of Shaanxi
Xikang Province	西康 Xīkāng	康 Kāng	Kangding 康定	1939–1955	Its western part today belongs to Tibet, its eastern part to Sichuan.
Xing'an Province	兴安 Xīng'ān	兴 Xīng	Hailar 海拉尔	1947–1949	today part of Heilongjiang and Liaoning In 1949 it became part of Nenjiang
Zhili Province	直隶 Zhílì	直 Zhí	Tianjin 天津	1911–1928	today part of Hebei, Liaoning and the Inner Mongolia

The People's Republic of China abolished many of the provinces in the 1950s and converted a number of them into autonomous regions. Hainan became a separate province in 1988, bringing the total number of provinces under PRC control to 22.

Economies [link]

The provinces in south coastal area of China - such as Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian and (mainly) Guangdong - tend to be more industrialized, with regions in the hinterland less developed.

References [link]

^ Administrative divisions of China
^ Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China (中华人民共和国行政区划; Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Xíngzhèng Qūhuà), 15 June, http://www.gov.cn/test/2005-06/15/content_18253.htm, retrieved 5 June 2010
^ Chapter II : Relationship between the Central Authorities and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Article 12, http://www.basiclaw.gov.hk/en/basiclawtext/chapter_2.html, retrieved 5 June 2010
^ Chapter II Relationship between the Central Authorities and the Macao Special Administrative Region, Article 12, http://bo.io.gov.mo/bo/i/1999/leibasica/index_uk.asp#c2, retrieved 5 June 2010
^ GB/T 2260 codes for the provinces of China
^ ISO 3166-2:CN (ISO 3166-2 codes for the provinces of China)

External links [link]

Interactive WebMap with economic indicators over all provinces

http://wn.com/Provinces_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China

http://ru.wn.com/Провинция (КНР)

http://fr.wn.com/Provinces de Chine

http://pt.wn.com/Províncias da República Popular da China

http://it.wn.com/Province della Cina

http://cs.wn.com/Čínské provincie

http://id.wn.com/Daftar provinsi Republik Rakyat Cina

http://es.wn.com/Provincia de China

This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

This article is about the People's Republic of China. For other uses, see China (disambiguation).

"PRC" redirects here. For other uses, see PRC (disambiguation).

People's Republic of China

中华人民共和国
Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó


Flag	National Emblem

Anthem:

"March of the Volunteers"
《义勇军进行曲》 (Pinyin: "Yìyǒngjūn Jìnxíngqǔ")

Capital Beijing
39°55′N 116°23′E / 39.917°N 116.383°E / 39.917; 116.383

Largest city Shanghai^[1]^[2]

Official language(s) Standard Chinese^[3]

Recognised regional languages Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur, Zhuang, and various others

Official written language Vernacular Chinese

Official script Simplified Chinese^[3]

Ethnic groups

91.51% Han;^[4] 55 recognised minorities

List of ethnic groups

1.30% Zhuang
0.86% Manchu
0.79% Uyghur
0.79% Hui
0.72% Miao
0.65% Yi
0.62% Tujia
0.47% Mongol
0.44% Tibetan
0.26% Buyei
0.15% Korean
1.05% other

Demonym

Chinese

Government Nominally Marxist–Leninist single-party state^[5]^[a]

- President^[b] Hu Jintao

- Congress Chairman Wu Bangguo

- Premier Wen Jiabao

- Conference Chairman Jia Qinglin

Legislature National People's Congress

Establishment

- Unification of China under the Qin Dynasty 221 BC

- Republic established 1 January 1912

- People's Republic proclaimed 1 October 1949

Area

- Total 9,640,821 km² ^[c] or 9,671,018 km² ^[c](3rd/4th)
3,704,427 sq mi

- Water (%) 2.8^[d]

Population

- 2010 census 1,339,724,852^[4] (1st)

- Density 139.6/km² (53rd)
363.3/sq mi

GDP (PPP) 2011 estimate

- Total $11.299 trillion^[6] (2nd)

- Per capita $8,382^[6] (91st)

GDP (nominal) 2011 estimate

- Total $7.298 trillion^[6] (2nd)

- Per capita $5,413^[6] (90th)

Gini (2007) 41.5^[7]

HDI (2011) 0.687^[8] (medium) (101st)

Currency Renminbi (yuan) (¥) (CNY)

Time zone China Standard Time (UTC+8)

Date formats yyyy-mm-dd
or yyyy年m月d日
(CE; CE-1949)

Drives on the right, except for Hong Kong & Macau

ISO 3166 code

Internet TLD .cn^[c] .中國^[9] .中国

Calling code +86^[c]

a. ^ Simple characterizations of the political structure since the 1980s are no longer possible.^[10]

b. ^ As paramount leader, Hu Jintao holds four concurrent positions: General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, President of the People's Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission for both state and party.^[11]

c. ^ 9,598,086 km² (3,705,842 sq mi) excludes all disputed territories.
9,640,821 km² (3,722,342 sq mi) Includes Chinese-administered area (Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract, both territories claimed by India), Taiwan is not included.^[12]

d. ^ Information for mainland China only. Hong Kong, Macau, and territories under the jurisdiction of the Republic of China (Taiwan) are excluded.

China (ⁱ/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area,^[13] and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.^[14]

The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China.^[15] It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau).^[16] Its capital city is Beijing.^[17] The PRC also claims Taiwan—which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity—as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War. The PRC government denies the legitimacy of the ROC.

China's landscape is vast and diverse, with forest steppes and the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts occupying the arid north and northwest near Mongolia and Central Asia, and subtropical forests being prevalent in the wetter south near Southeast Asia. The terrain of western China is rugged and elevated, with the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separating China from South and Central Asia. The world's apex, Mt. Everest (8,848 m), lies on the China–Nepal border, while the world's second-highest point, K2 (8,611 m), is situated on China's border with Pakistan. The country's lowest and the world's third-lowest point, Lake Ayding (−154 m), is located in the Turpan Depression. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third- and sixth-longest in the world, have their sources in the Tibetan Plateau and continue to the densely populated eastern seaboard. China's coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometres (9,000 mi) long—the 11th-longest in the world—and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East and South China Seas.

The nation of China has had numerous historical incarnations. The ancient Chinese civilization—one of the world's earliest—flourished in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain.^[18] China's political system was based on hereditary monarchies, known as dynasties, beginning with the semi-mythological Xia of the Yellow River basin (approx. 2000 BC) and ending with the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. Since 221 BC, when the Qin Dynasty first conquered several states to form a Chinese empire, the country has expanded, fractured and been reformed numerous times. The Republic of China, founded in 1911 after the overthrow of the Qing dynasty, ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949. In 1945, the ROC acquired Taiwan from Japan following World War II.

In the 1946–1949 phase of the Chinese Civil War, the Chinese Communist Party defeated the nationalist Kuomintang in mainland China and established the People's Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949. The Kuomintang relocated the ROC government to Taiwan, establishing its capital in Taipei. The ROC's jurisdiction is now limited to Taiwan and several outlying islands, including Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. Since 1949, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (now widely known as "Taiwan") have remained in dispute over the sovereignty of China and the political status of Taiwan, mutually claiming each other's territory and competing for international diplomatic recognition. In 1971, the PRC gained admission to the United Nations and took the Chinese seat as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the BCIM and the G-20. As of September 2011, all but 23 countries have recognized the PRC as the sole legitimate government of China.

Since the introduction of market-based economic reforms in 1978, China has become the world's fastest-growing major economy.^[19] As of 2012, it is the world's second-largest economy, after the United States, by both nominal GDP and purchasing power parity (PPP),^[20] and is also the world's largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. In per capita terms, China ranked 90th by nominal GDP and 91st by GDP (PPP) in 2011, according to the IMF. China is a recognized nuclear weapons state and has the world's largest standing army, with the second-largest defense budget. In 2003, China became the third nation in the world, after the former Soviet Union and the United States, to independently launch a successful manned space mission. China has been characterized as a potential superpower by a number of academics,^[21] military analysts,^[22] and public policy and economics analysts.^[23]

1 Etymology
2 History
3 Geography
4 Politics
5 Military
6 Economy
7 Science and technology
8 Infrastructure
- 8.1 Communications
- 8.2 Transport
9 Demographics
10 Culture
- 10.1 Cuisine
- 10.2 Sports
11 See also
12 References
13 Further reading
14 External links

Etymology [link]

Main article: Names of China

China

Chinese name

Literal meaning:

Middle Kingdom^[24]^[25]

Transliterations
Gan
- Romanization:	Tung-koe̍t
Kejia
- Romanization:	Dung²⁴ Gued²
Mandarin
- Hanyu Pinyin:	Zhōngguó
- Wade-Giles:	Chung-kuo
- Bopomofo	ㄓㄨㄥㄍㄨㄛˊ
Min
- Hokkien POJ:	Tiong-kok
- Min Dong BUC:	Dṳ̆ng-guók
Wu
- Romanization:	Tson^平 koh^入
Yue
- Jyutping:	Zung¹ gwok³
- Yale Romanization:	Jūnggwok

People's Republic of China

Alternative Chinese name

Transliterations
Gan
- Romanization:	Chungfa Ninmin Khungfokoet
Hakka
- Romanization:	Dung²⁴ fa¹¹ ngin¹¹ min¹¹ kiung⁵⁵ fo¹¹ gued²
Mandarin
- Hanyu Pinyin:	Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó
Min
- Hokkien POJ:	Tiong-hôa jîn-bîn kiōng-hô-kok
- Min Dong BUC:	Dṳ̆ng-huà Ìng-mìng Gê̤ṳng-huò-guók
Wu
- Romanization:	Tson^平 gho^平 zin^平 min^平 gon^去 ghu^平 koh^入
Yue
- Jyutping:	Zung¹ waa⁴ jan⁴ man⁴ gung⁶ wo⁴ gwok³
- Yale Romanization:	Jūngwàh Yàhnmàhn Guhngwòhgwok

Mongolian name

Mongolian:

Tibetan name

Tibetan:

ཀྲུང་ཧྭ་མི་དམངས་སྤྱི
མཐུན་རྒྱལ་ཁབ

Transliterations
- Wylie:	krung hwa mi dmangs spyi mthun rgyal khab
- Zangwen Pinyin:	Zhunghua Mimang Jitun Gyalkab

Uyghur name

Uyghur:

جۇڭخۇا خەلق جۇمھۇرىيىت

Transliterations
- Latin Yëziqi:	Jungxua Xelq Jumhuriyiti
- Yengi Yezik̡:	Junghua Həlk̡ Jumh̡uriyiti
- SASM/GNC:	Junghua Hälk̂ Jumĥuriyiti
- Siril Yëziqi:	Җуңхуа Хәлқ Җумһурийити

Zhuang name

Zhuang:

Cunghvaz Yinzminz Gunghozgoz

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

The word "China" is derived from Cin (چین), a Persian name for China popularized in medieval Europe by the account of the 13th-century Venetian explorer Marco Polo.^[26]^[27] The first recorded use in English dates from 1555.^[28] The Persian word is, in turn, derived from the Sanskrit word Cīna (चीन),^[29] which was used as a name for China as early as AD 150.^[30] There are various scholarly theories regarding the origin of this word. The traditional theory, proposed in the 17th century by Martino Martini, is that "China" is derived from "Qin" (秦), the westernmost of the Chinese kingdoms during the Zhou Dynasty, or from the succeeding Qin Dynasty (221–206 BC).^[31] The word Cīna is used in two Hindu scriptures – the Mahābhārata of the 5th century BC and the Laws of Manu of the 2nd century BC – to refer to a country located in the Tibetan-Burman borderlands east of India.^[32]^[33]

In China, common names for the country include Zhōngguó (Chinese: 中国; literally "the Central State(s)") and Zhōnghuá (Chinese: 中华), although the country's official name has been changed numerous times by successive dynasties and modern governments. The term Zhongguo appeared in various ancient texts, such as the Classic of History of the 6th century BC,^[34] and in pre-imperial times it was often used as a cultural concept to distinguish the Huaxia from the barbarians. The term, which can be either singular or plural, referred to the group of states in the central plain. It was only in the nineteenth century that the term emerged as the formal name of the country. The Chinese were not unique in regarding their country as "central", since other civilizations had the same view.^[35]

History [link]

Main articles: History of China and Timeline of Chinese history

Prehistory [link]

Main article: Chinese prehistory

Archaeological evidence suggests that early hominids inhabited China between 250,000 and 2.24 million years ago.^[36] A cave in Zhoukoudian (near present-day Beijing) exhibits fossils dated at between 300,000 and 780,000 BC.^[37]^[38]^[39] The fossils are of Peking Man, an example of Homo erectus who used fire. There are also remains of Homo sapiens dating back to 18,000–11,000 BC found at the Peking Man site.^[40]

Early dynastic rule [link]

Imperial China [link]

The first unified Chinese state was established by Qin Shi Huang of the Qin state in 221 BC. Qin Shi Huang proclaimed himself the "First Emperor" (始皇帝), and imposed many reforms throughout China, notably the forced standardization of the Chinese language, measurements, length of cart axles, and currency. The Qin Dynasty lasted only fifteen years, falling soon after Qin Shi Huang's death, as its harsh legalist and authoritarian policies led to widespread rebellion.^[42]^[43]

The subsequent Han Dynasty ruled China between 206 BC and 220 AD, and created a lasting Han cultural identity among its populace that extends to the present day.^[42]^[43] The Han Dynasty expanded the empire's territory considerably with military campaigns reaching Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia and Central Asia, and also helped establish the Silk Road in Central Asia. China was for a large part of the last two millennia the world's largest economy.^[44] However, in the later part of the Qing Dynasty, China's economic development began to slow and Europe's rapid development during and after the Industrial Revolution enabled it to surpass China.

After the collapse of Han, another period of disunion followed, including the highly chivalric period of the Three Kingdoms.^[45] Independent Chinese states of this period such as Wu opened diplomatic relations with Japan,^[46] introducing the Chinese writing system there. In 580 AD, China was reunited under the Sui.^[47] However, the Sui Dynasty was short-lived after a failure in the Goguryeo-Sui Wars (598–614) weakened it.^[48]^[49]

Under the succeeding Tang and Song dynasties, Chinese technology and culture reached its zenith.^[50] The Tang Empire was at its height of power until the middle of the 8th century, when the An Shi Rebellion destroyed the prosperity of the empire.^[51] The Song Dynasty was the first government in world history to issue paper money and the first Chinese polity to establish a permanent standing navy.^[52] Between the 10th and 11th centuries, the population of China doubled in size. This growth came about through expanded rice cultivation in central and southern China, and the production of abundant food surpluses.

Within its borders, the Northern Song Dynasty had a population of some 100 million people. The Song Dynasty was a culturally rich period for philosophy and the arts. Landscape art and portrait painting were brought to new levels of maturity and complexity after the Tang Dynasty, and social elites gathered to view art, share their own, and trade precious artworks. Philosophers such as Cheng Yi and Chu Hsi reinvigorated Confucianism with new commentary, infused Buddhist ideals, and emphasized a new organization of classic texts that brought about the core doctrine of Neo-Confucianism.

Detail from Along the River During the Qingming Festival, a 12th-century painting showing everyday life in the Song Dynasty's capital city, Bianjing (today's Kaifeng).

In 1271, the Mongol leader and fifth Khagan of the Mongol Empire Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty, with the last remnant of the Song Dynasty falling to the Yuan in 1279. Before the Mongol invasion, Chinese dynasties reportedly had approximately 120 million inhabitants; after the conquest was completed in 1279, the 1300 census reported roughly 60 million people.^[53]

Late dynastic rule [link]

A peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang overthrew the Yuan Dynasty in 1368 and founded the Ming Dynasty.^[54] Ming Dynasty thinkers such as Wang Yangming would further critique and expand Neo-Confucianism with ideas of individualism and innate morality that would have tremendous impact on later Japanese thought. Chosun Korea also became a nominal vassal state of Ming China and adopted much of its Neo-Confucian bureaucratic structure.

Under the Ming Dynasty, China enjoyed another golden age, developing one of the strongest navies in the world and a rich and prosperous economy amid a flourishing of art and culture. It was during this period that Zheng He led explorations throughout the world, possibly reaching America. During the early Ming Dynasty, China's capital was moved from Nanjing to Beijing. In 1644, Beijing was sacked by a coalition of rebel forces led by Li Zicheng, a minor Ming official turned leader of the peasant revolt. The last Ming Chongzhen Emperor committed suicide when the city fell. The Manchu Qing Dynasty then allied with Ming Dynasty general Wu Sangui and overthrew Li's short-lived Shun Dynasty, and subsequently seized control of Beijing, which became the new capital of the Qing Dynasty.

The Qing Dynasty, which lasted until 1912, was the last imperial dynasty of China. In the 19th century, the Qing Dynasty adopted a defensive posture towards European imperialism, even though it engaged in an imperialistic expansion of its own into Central Asia. At this time, China awoke to the significance of the rest of the world, the West in particular. As China opened up to foreign trade and missionary activity, opium produced by British India was forced onto Qing China. Two Opium Wars with Britain weakened the Emperor's control. European imperialism proved to be disastrous for China:

The Arrow War (1856–1860) [2nd Opium War] saw another disastrous defeat for China. The subsequent passing of the humiliating Treaty of Tianjin in 1856 and the Beijing Conventions of 1860 opened up more of the country to foreign penetrations and more ports for their vessels. Hong Kong was ceded over to the British. Thus, the "unequal treaties system" was established. Heavy indemnities had to be paid by China, and more territory and control were taken over by the foreigners.^[55]

A 19th-century painting depicting the Taiping Rebellion of 1850–1864.

The weakening of the Qing regime, and the apparent humiliation of the unequal treaties in the eyes of the Chinese people had several consequences. One consequence^{[according to whom?]} was the Taiping Rebellion, a civil war which lasted from 1851 to 1862. The rebellion was led by Hong Xiuquan, who was partly influenced by an idiosyncratic interpretation of Christianity. Hong believed himself to be the son of God and the younger brother of Jesus. Although the Qing forces were eventually victorious, the civil war was one of the bloodiest in human history, costing at least 20 million lives (more than the total number of fatalities in World War I), with some estimates of up to two hundred million. Other costly rebellions followed the Taiping Rebellion, such as the Punti-Hakka Clan Wars (1855–67), Nien Rebellion (1851–1868), Miao Rebellion (1854–73), Panthay Rebellion (1856–1873) and the Dungan revolt (1862–1877).^[56]^[57]

These rebellions resulted in an estimated loss of several million lives each and led to disastrous results for the economy and the countryside.^[58]^[59]^[60] The flow of British opium hastened the empire's decline. In the 19th century, the age of colonialism was at its height and the great Chinese Diaspora began; today, about 35 million overseas Chinese live in Southeast Asia.^[61] Emigration rates were strengthened by domestic catastrophes such as the famine of 1876–79, which claimed between 9 and 13 million lives in northern China.^[62] From 108 BC to 1911 AD, China experienced 1,828 famines,^[63] or one per year, somewhere in the empire.^[64]

While China was wracked by continuous war, Meiji Japan succeeded in rapidly modernizing its military, and set its sights on the conquest of Korea and Manchuria. At the request of the Korean emperor, the Qing government sent troops to aid in suppressing the Tonghak Rebellion in 1894. However, Japan also sent troops to Korea, leading to the First Sino-Japanese War, which resulted in Qing China's loss of influence in the Korean Peninsula as well as the cession of Taiwan (including the Pescadores) to Japan.

Following this series of defeats, a reform plan for the empire to become a modern Meiji-style constitutional monarchy was drafted by the Guangxu Emperor in 1898, but was opposed and stopped by the Empress Dowager Cixi, who placed Emperor Guangxu under house arrest in a coup d'état. Further destruction followed the ill-fated 1900 Boxer Rebellion against westerners in Beijing.

By the early 20th century, mass civil disorder had begun, and calls for reform and revolution were heard across the country. The 38-year-old Emperor Guangxu died under house arrest on 14 November 1908, suspiciously just a day before Cixi's own death. With the throne empty, he was succeeded by Cixi's handpicked heir, his two year old nephew Puyi, who became the Xuantong Emperor. Guangxu's consort became the Empress Dowager Longyu. In another coup de'tat, Yuan Shikai overthrew the last Qing emperor, and forced empress Dowager Longyu to sign the abdication decree as regent in 1912, ending two thousand years of imperial rule in China. She died, childless, in 1913.

Republic of China (1912–1949)[link]

Main articles: Republic of China (1912–1949) and History of the Republic of China

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2011)

Sun Yat-sen, the father of modern China (seated on right), and Chiang Kai-shek, later President of the Republic of China.

On 1 January 1912, the Republic of China was established, heralding the end of Imperial China. Sun Yat-sen of the Kuomintang (the KMT or Nationalist Party) was proclaimed provisional president of the republic. However, the presidency was later given to Yuan Shikai, a former Qing general, who had ensured the defection of the entire Beiyang Army from the Qing Empire to the revolution. In 1915, Yuan proclaimed himself Emperor of China, but was forced to abdicate and reestablish the republic in the face of popular condemnation, not only from the general population but also from among his own Beiyang Army and its commanders.

After Yuan Shikai's death in 1916, China was politically fragmented, with an internationally recognized but virtually powerless national government seated in Beijing. Regional warlords exercised actual control over their respective territories. In the late 1920s, the nationalist Kuomintang, under Chiang Kai-shek, was able to reunify the country under its own control with a series of deft military and political maneuverings, known collectively as the Northern Expedition. The Kuomintang moved the nation's capital to Nanjing and implemented "political tutelage", an intermediate stage of political development outlined in Sun Yat-sen's San-min program for transforming China into a modern democratic state. Effectively, political tutelage meant one-party rule by the Kuomintang, but the party was politically divided into competing cliques. This political division made it difficult for Chiang to battle the Communists, which the Kuomintang had been warring against since 1927 in the Chinese Civil War. This war continued successfully for the Kuomintang, especially after the Communists were forced to retreat in the Long March, until the Xi'an Incident and Japanese aggression forced Chiang to confront Imperial Japan.

The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), a part of World War II, forced an uneasy alliance between the Kuomintang and the Communists. The Japanese "three-all policy" in northern China—"kill all, burn all and destroy all"—led to numerous war atrocities being committed against the civilian population; in all, as many as 20 million Chinese civilians were killed.^[65]^[66] An estimated 200,000 Chinese were massacred in the city of Nanjing alone during the Japanese occupation.^[67] Japan unconditionally surrendered to China in 1945. Taiwan, including the Pescadores, was retroceded. China emerged victorious but war-ravaged and financially drained. The continued distrust between the Kuomintang and the Communists led to the resumption of the Chinese Civil War. In 1947, constitutional rule was established, but because of the ongoing Civil War many provisions of the ROC constitution were never implemented in mainland China.^{[citation needed]}

People's Republic of China (1949–present)[link]

Main article: History of the People's Republic of China

Major combat in the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949 with the Communist Party in control of mainland China, and the Kuomintang retreating offshore, reducing the ROC's territory to only Taiwan, Hainan, and their surrounding islands. On 1 October 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China,^[68] which was commonly known in the West as "Communist China" or "Red China" during the Cold War.^[69] In 1950, the People's Liberation Army succeeded in capturing Hainan from the ROC, occupying Tibet, and defeating the majority of the remaining Kuomintang forces in Yunnan and Xinjiang provinces, though some Kuomintang holdouts survived until much later.

Mao Zedong proclaiming the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Mao encouraged population growth, and under his leadership the Chinese population almost doubled from around 550 million to over 900 million.^[70] However, Mao's Great Leap Forward, a large-scale economic and social reform project, resulted in an estimated 45 million deaths between 1958 and 1961, mostly from starvation.^[71] In 1966, Mao and his allies launched the Cultural Revolution, which would last until Mao's death a decade later. The Cultural Revolution, motivated by power struggles within the Party and a fear of the Soviet Union, led to a major upheaval in Chinese society. In October 1971, the PRC replaced the Republic of China in the United Nations, and took its seat as a permanent member of the Security Council. In that same year, for the first time, the number of countries recognizing the PRC surpassed those recognizing the ROC in Taipei as the government of China.^[72] In February 1972, at the peak of the Sino-Soviet split, Mao and Zhou Enlai met Richard Nixon in Beijing. However, the U.S. did not officially recognise the PRC as China's sole legitimate government until 1 January 1979.

After Mao's death in 1976 and the arrest of the Gang of Four, who were blamed for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping quickly wrested power from Mao's anointed successor Hua Guofeng. Although he never became the head of the party or state himself, Deng was in fact the Paramount Leader of China at that time, his influence within the Party led the country to significant economic reforms. The Communist Party subsequently loosened governmental control over citizens' personal lives and the communes were disbanded with many peasants receiving multiple land leases, which greatly increased incentives and agricultural production. This turn of events marked China's transition from a planned economy to a mixed economy with an increasingly open market environment, a system termed by some "market socialism";^[73] the Communist Party of China officially describes it as "socialism with Chinese characteristics". China adopted its current constitution on 4 December 1982.

The death of pro-reform official Hu Yaobang helped to spark the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, during which students and others campaigned for several months, speaking out against corruption and in favour of greater political reform, including democratic rights and freedom of speech. However, they were eventually put down on 4 June when PLA troops and vehicles entered and forcibly cleared the square, resulting in numerous casualties. This event was widely reported and brought worldwide condemnation and sanctions against the government.^[74]^[75] The "Tank Man" incident in particular became famous.

The city of Shanghai has become a symbol of China's rapid economic expansion since the 1990s.

President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji, both former mayors of Shanghai, led the nation in the 1990s. Under Jiang and Zhu's ten years of administration, China's economic performance pulled an estimated 150 million peasants out of poverty and sustained an average annual gross domestic product growth rate of 11.2%.^[76]^[77] The country formally joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.

Although rapid economic growth has made the Chinese economy the world's second-largest, this growth has also severely impacted the country's resources and environment.^[78] Another concern is that the benefits of economic development has not been distributed evenly, resulting in a wide development gap between urban and rural areas. As a result, under President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, the Chinese government initiated policies to address these issues of equitable distribution of resources, though the outcome remains to be seen.^[79] More than 40 million farmers have been displaced from their land,^[80] usually for economic development, contributing to the 87,000 demonstrations and riots across China in 2005.^[81] Living standards have improved significantly but political controls remain tight.^[82]

Geography [link]

Main article: Geography of the People's Republic of China

Political geography [link]

The People's Republic of China is the second-largest country in the world by land area after Russia^[13] and is either the third- or fourth-largest by total area, after Russia, Canada and, depending on the definition of total area, the United States.^[83] China's total area is generally stated as being approximately 9,600,000 km² (3,700,000 sq mi).^[84] Specific area figures range from 9,572,900 km² (3,696,100 sq mi) according to the Encyclopædia Britannica,^[85] 9,596,961 km² (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the UN Demographic Yearbook,^[86] to 9,596,961 km² (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the CIA World Factbook,^[87] and 9,640,011 km² (3,722,029 sq mi) including Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract, which are controlled by China and claimed by India.^[88] None of these figures include the 1,000 square kilometres (386.1 sq mi) of territory ceded to China by Tajikistan following the ratification of a Sino-Tajik border agreement in January 2011.^[89]

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the total area of the United States, at 9,522,055 km² (3,676,486 sq mi), is slightly smaller than that of China. Meanwhile, the CIA World Factbook states that China's total area was greater than that of the United States until the coastal waters of the Great Lakes was added to the United States' total area in 1996.^[90]

China has the longest combined land border in the world, measuring 22,117 km (13,743 mi) from the mouth of the Yalu River to the Gulf of Tonkin. China borders 14 nations, more than any other country except Russia, which also borders 14. China extends across much of East Asia, bordering Vietnam, Laos, and Burma in Southeast Asia; India, Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan^[91] in South Asia; Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in Central Asia; a small section of Russian Altai and Mongolia in Inner Asia; and the Russian Far East and North Korea in Northeast Asia.

Additionally, China shares maritime boundaries with South Korea, Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines. The PRC and the Republic of China (Taiwan) make mutual claims over each other's territory and the frontier between areas under their respective control is closest near the islands of Kinmen and Matsu, off the Fujian coast, but otherwise run through the Taiwan Strait. The PRC and ROC assert identical claims over the entirety of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, and the southern-most extent of these claims reach Zengmu Ansha (James Shoal), which would form a maritime frontier with Malaysia.

Landscape and climate [link]

Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, in Tibet.

The South China Sea coast at Hainan.

The territory of China lies between latitudes 18° and 54° N, and longitudes 73° and 135° E. China's landscapes vary significantly across its vast width. In the east, along the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, there are extensive and densely populated alluvial plains, while on the edges of the Inner Mongolian plateau in the north, broad grasslands predominate. Southern China is dominated by hills and low mountain ranges, while the central-east hosts the deltas of China's two major rivers, the Yellow River and the Yangtze River. Other major rivers include the Xi, Mekong, Brahmaputra and Amur. To the west, major mountain ranges, most notably the Himalayas, and high plateaus feature among the more arid landscapes of the north, such as the Taklamakan and the Gobi Desert. China's highest point, Mt. Everest (8848m), lies on the Sino-Nepalese border. The country's lowest point is the dried lake bed of Ayding Lake (−154m) in the Turpan Depression.

A major environmental issue in China is the continued expansion of its deserts, particularly the Gobi Desert, which is currently the world's fifth-largest desert.^[92]^[93] Although barrier tree lines planted since the 1970s have reduced the frequency of sandstorms, prolonged drought and poor agricultural practices have resulted in dust storms plaguing northern China each spring, which then spread to other parts of East Asia, including Korea and Japan. According to China's environmental watchdog, Sepa, China is losing a million acres (4,000 km²) per year to desertification.^[94] Water quality, erosion, and pollution control have become important issues in China's relations with other countries. Melting glaciers in the Himalayas could potentially lead to water shortages for hundreds of millions of people.^[95]

China's climate is mainly dominated by dry seasons and wet monsoons, which lead to a pronounced temperature differences between winter and summer. In the winter, northern winds coming from high-latitude areas are cold and dry; in summer, southern winds from coastal areas at lower latitudes are warm and moist. The climate in China differs from region to region because of the country's extensive and complex topography.

Biodiversity [link]

Main article: Wildlife of China

A giant panda photographed in Sichuan.

China is one of 17 megadiverse countries,^[96] lying in two of the world's major ecozones: the Palearctic and the Indomalaya. In the Palearctic zone, mammals such as the horse, camel, tapir, and jerboa can be found. Among the species found in the Indomalaya region are the Leopard Cat, bamboo rat, treeshrew, and various monkey and ape species. Some overlap exists between the two regions due to natural dispersal and migration; deer, antelope, bears, wolves, pigs, and numerous rodent species can all be found in China's diverse climatic and geological environments. The famous giant panda is found only in a limited area along the Yangtze River. China suffers from a continuing problem with trade in endangered species, although there are now laws to prohibit such activities.

China also hosts a variety of forest types. Cold coniferous forests predominate in the north of the country, supporting animal species such as moose and the Asian black bear, along with over 120 bird species. Moist conifer forests can have thickets of bamboo as an understorey, replaced by rhododendrons in higher montane stands of juniper and yew. Subtropical forests, which dominate central and southern China, support as many as 146,000 species of flora. Tropical and seasonal rainforests, though confined to Yunnan and Hainan Island, contain a quarter of all the plant and animal species found in China.

Environmental issues [link]

Main article: Environment in the People's Republic of China

Wind turbines in Xinjiang. The Dabancheng project is Asia's largest wind farm.

In recent decades, China has suffered from severe environmental deterioration and pollution.^[97] While regulations such as the 1979 Environmental Protection Law are fairly stringent, enforcement of them is poor, as they are frequently disregarded by local communities and government officials in favour of rapid economic development.

Environmental campaigners such as Ma Jun have warned of the danger that water pollution poses to Chinese society.^[98] According to the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources, roughly 300 million Chinese do not have access to safe drinking water, and 40% of China’s rivers have been polluted by industrial and agricultural waste as of late 2011.^[99] This crisis is compounded by the perennial problem of water shortages, with 400 out of 600 surveyed Chinese cities reportedly short of drinking water.^[100]^[101]

However, China is the world's leading investor in renewable energy technologies, with $34.6 billion invested in 2009 alone.^[102]^[103] China produces more wind turbines and solar panels than any other country,^[104] and renewable energy projects, such as solar water heating, are widely pursued at the local level.^[105] By 2009, over 17% of China's energy was derived from renewable sources – most notably hydroelectric power plants, of which China has a total installed capacity of 197 GW.^[106] In 2011, the Chinese government announced plans to invest four trillion yuan (US$618.55 billion) in water infrastructure projects over a ten-year period, and to complete construction of a flood prevention and anti-drought system by 2020.^[107]

Politics [link]

Main article: Politics of the People's Republic of China

The People's Republic of China, along with Vietnam, North Korea, Laos, and Cuba, is one of the five remaining official Communist states in the world.^[108]^[109] but simple characterizations of China's political structure since the 1980s are no longer possible.^[10] The Chinese government has been variously described as communist and socialist, but also as authoritarian, with heavy restrictions remaining in many areas, most notably on the Internet, the press, freedom of assembly, reproductive rights, and freedom of religion.^[110] Its current political/economic system has been termed by its leaders as "Socialism with Chinese characteristics".

Compared to its closed-door policies until the mid-1970s, the liberalization of China has resulted in the administrative climate being less restrictive than before. China is far different from liberal democracy or social democracy that exists in most of Europe or North America, and the National People's Congress (highest state body) has been described as a "rubber stamp" body.^[111] China's incumbent President is Hu Jintao, who is also the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, and its Premier is Wen Jiabao, who is also a senior member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee.

The Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where the National People's Congress convenes.

The country is ruled by the Communist Party of China (CPC), whose power is enshrined in China's constitution.^[112] The Chinese electoral system is hierarchical, whereby local People's Congresses are directly elected, and all higher levels of People's Congresses up to the National People's Congress (NPC) are indirectly elected by the People's Congress of the level immediately below.^[113] The political system is partly decentralized,^[114] with limited democratic processes internal to the party and at local village levels, although these experiments have been marred by corruption. There are other political parties in China, referred to in China as democratic parties, which participate in the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

There have been some moves toward political liberalization, in that open contested elections are now held at the village and town levels,^[115]^[116] and that legislatures have shown some assertiveness from time to time. However, the Party retains effective control over government appointments: in the absence of meaningful opposition, the CPC wins by default most of the time. Political concerns in China include lessening the growing gap between rich and poor and fighting corruption within the government leadership.^[117]

The level of support to the government action and the management of the nation is among the highest in the world, with 86% of people who express satisfaction with the way things are going in their country and with their nation's economy according to a 2008 Pew Research Center survey.^[118]

Administrative divisions [link]

Main articles: Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China, Districts of Hong Kong, and Municipalities of Macau

The People's Republic of China has administrative control over 22 provinces, and considers Taiwan to be its 23rd province, although Taiwan is currently governed by the Republic of China, which disputes the PRC's claim.^[119] China also has five subdivisions officially termed autonomous regions, each with a designated minority group; four municipalities; and two Special Administrative Regions (SARs), which enjoy a degree of political autonomy. These 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, and four municipalities can be collectively referred to as "mainland China", a term which usually excludes the SARs of Hong Kong and Macau.

Provinces (省)
Anhui (安省徽) Fujian (福建省) Gansu (甘肃省) Guangdong (广东省) Guizhou (贵州省)	Hainan (海南省) Hebei (河北省) Heilongjiang (黑龙江省) Henan (河南省) Hubei (湖北省)	Hunan (湖南省) Jiangsu (江苏省) Jiangxi (江西省) Jilin (吉林省) Liaoning (辽宁省)	Qinghai (青海省) Shaanxi (陕西省) Shandong (山东v) Shanxi (山西省) Sichuan (四川省)	Taiwan (台湾省)^† Yunnan (云南省) Zhejiang (浙江省)
^†Taiwan is claimed by the PRC but governed by the Republic of China
Autonomous regions (自治区)		Municipalities (直辖市)		Special administrative regions (特别行政区)
Guangxi (广西壮族自治区) Inner Mongolia / Nei Mongol (内蒙古自治区) Ningxia (宁夏回族自治区) Xinjiang (新疆维吾尔自治区) Tibet / Xizang (西藏自治区)		Beijing (北京市) Chongqing (重庆市) Shanghai (上海市) Tianjin (天津市)		Hong Kong / Xianggang (香港特别行政区) Macau / Aomen (澳门特别行政区)

Foreign relations [link]

Main article: Foreign relations of the People's Republic of China

Hu Jintao with former US President George W. Bush in 2006.

China has diplomatic relations with 171 countries and maintains embassies in 162.^[120] Its legitimacy is disputed by the Republic of China and a few other countries; it is thus the largest and most populous state with limited recognition. Sweden was the first western country to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic on 9 May 1950.^[121] In 1971, the PRC replaced the Republic of China as the sole representative of China in the United Nations and as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.^[122] China was also a former member and leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, and still considers itself an advocate for developing countries.^[123]

Under its interpretation of the One-China policy, China has made it a precondition to establishing diplomatic relations that the other country acknowledges its claim to Taiwan and severs official ties with the government of the Republic of China. Chinese officials have protested on numerous occasions when foreign countries have made diplomatic overtures to Taiwan,^[124] especially in the matter of armament sales.^[125] Political meetings between foreign government officials and the 14th Dalai Lama are also opposed by China, as it considers Tibet to be formally part of China.^[126]

Much of China's current foreign policy is reportedly based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence of Zhou Enlai—non-interference in other states' affairs, non-aggression, peaceful coexistence, equality and mutual benefits. China's foreign policy is also driven by the concept of "harmony without uniformity", which encourages diplomatic relations between states despite ideological differences. This policy has led China to support states that are regarded as dangerous or repressive by Western nations, such as Zimbabwe, North Korea, and Iran.^[127] Conflicts with foreign countries have occurred at times in China's recent history, particularly with the United States; for example, the US bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during the Kosovo conflict in May 1999 and the US-China spy plane incident in April 2001. China's foreign relations with many Western nations suffered for a time following the military crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, although in recent years China has improved its diplomatic links with the West.^[128]^[129]

Trade relations [link]

In recent decades, China has played an increasing role in calling for free trade areas and security pacts amongst its Asia-Pacific neighbors. In 2004, China proposed an entirely new East Asia Summit (EAS) framework as a forum for regional security issues, pointedly excluding the United States.^[130] The EAS, which includes ASEAN Plus Three, India, Australia and New Zealand, held its inaugural summit in 2005. China is also a founding member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), along with Russia and the Central Asian republics.

In 2000, the U.S. Congress approved "permanent normal trade relations" (PNTR) with China, allowing Chinese exports in at the same low tariffs as goods from most other countries.^[131] Both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush asserted that free trade would gradually open China to democratic reform.^[132] Bush was furthermore an advocate of China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).^[133] China has a significant trade surplus with the United States, its most important export market.^[134] In the early 2010s, U.S. politicians argued that the Chinese yuan was significantly undervalued, giving China an unfair trade advantage.^[135]

Sinophobic attitudes often target Chinese minorities and nationals living outside of China. Sometimes, such anti-Chinese attitudes turn violent, as occurred during the 13 May Incident in Malaysia in 1969 and the Jakarta riots of May 1998 in Indonesia, in which more than 2,000 people died.^[136] In recent years, a number of anti-Chinese riots and incidents have also occurred in Africa and Oceania.^[137]^[138] Anti-Chinese sentiment is often rooted in socio-economics.^[139]

Territorial disputes [link]

Map depicting territorial disputes between the PRC and its neighboring regimes. For a larger map, see here.

Main article: Foreign relations of the People's Republic of China#International territorial disputes

China has been involved in a number of international territorial disputes, mostly resulting from the legacy of unequal treaties imposed on China during the historical period of New Imperialism. Since the 1990s, China has been entering negotiations to resolve its disputed land borders, usually by offering concessions and accepting less than half of the disputed territory with each party. China's only remaining land border disputes are a disputed border with India and an undefined border with Bhutan. China is additionally involved in more minor multilateral disputes over the ownership of several small islands in the East and South China Seas.^[140]^[141]

Sino-Japanese relations [link]

Main article: Sino-Japanese relations

The relationship between China and Japan has been strained at times by Japan's refusal to acknowledge its wartime past to the satisfaction of China. Revisionist comments made by prominent Japanese officials and some Japanese history textbooks regarding the 1937 Nanjing Massacre have been a focus of particular controversy. Sino-Japanese relations warmed considerably after Shinzo Abe became the Prime Minister of Japan in September 2006, and a joint historical study conducted by China and Japan released a report in 2010 which pointed toward a new consensus on the issue of World War 2-era atrocities.^[142] However, in the early 2010s, relations cooled once more, with Japan accusing China of withholding its reserves of valuable rare earth elements.^[143]

China and the developing world [link]

A meeting of G5 leaders in 2007, with China's Hu Jintao second from right.

China is heavily engaged, both politically and economically, with numerous nations in the developing world. Most notably, they have followed a policy of engaging with African nations for trade and bilateral co-operation.^[144]^[145] Xinhua, China's official news agency, states that there are no less than 750,000 Chinese nationals working or living in Africa.^[146] China has furthermore strengthened its ties with major South American economies, becoming the largest trading partner of Brazil and building strategic links with Argentina.^[147]^[148] Along with Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, China is a member of the BRICS group of emerging major economies, and hosted the group's third official summit at Sanya in Hainan Province in April 2011.^[149]

Emerging superpower status [link]

China is regularly hailed as a potential new superpower, with certain commentators citing its rapid economic progress, growing military might, very large population, and increasing international influence as signs that it will play a prominent global role in the 21st century. Others, however, warn that economic bubbles and demographic imbalances could slow or even halt China's growth as the century progresses.^[150]^[151]^[152]^[153]^[154]

Sociopolitical issues and reform [link]

The Chinese democracy movement, social activists, and some members of the Communist Party of China have all identified the need for social and political reform. While economic and social controls have been greatly relaxed in China since the 1970s, political freedom is still tightly restricted. The Constitution of the People's Republic of China states that the "fundamental rights" of citizens include freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to a fair trial, freedom of religion, universal suffrage, and property rights. However, in practice, these provisions do not afford significant protection against criminal prosecution by the State.^[155]^[156]^[157]

As the Chinese economy expanded following Deng Xiaoping's 1978 reforms, tens of millions of rural Chinese who have moved to the cities^[158] find themselves treated as second-class citizens by China's hukou household registration system, which controls state benefits.^[159] Property rights are often poorly protected, and eminent domain land seizures have had a disproportionate effect on poorer peasants.^[158] In 2003, the average Chinese farmer paid three times more taxes than the average urban dweller, despite having one-sixth of the annual income.^[159] However, a number of rural taxes have since been reduced or abolished, and additional social services provided to rural dwellers.^[160]^[161]^[162]

Censorship of political speech and information, most notably on the Internet,^[163] is openly and routinely used in China to silence criticism of the government and the ruling Communist Party.^[164]^[165] In 2005, Reporters Without Borders ranked China 159th out of 167 states in its Annual World Press Freedom Index, indicating a very low level of perceived press freedom.^[166] The government has suppressed demonstrations by organizations that it considers a potential threat to "social stability", as was the case with the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The Communist Party has had mixed success in controlling information: a powerful and pervasive media control system faces equally strong market forces, an increasingly educated citizenry, and technological and cultural changes that are making China more open to the wider world, especially on environmental issues.^[167]^[168] However, attempts are still made by the Chinese government to control public access to outside information, with online searches for politically sensitive material being blocked by the so-called Great Firewall.^[169]

A number of foreign governments and NGOs routinely criticize China's human rights record, alleging widespread civil rights violations, including systematic use of lengthy detention without trial, forced confessions, torture, mistreatment of prisoners, and restrictions of freedom of speech, assembly, association, religion, the press, and labor rights.^[110] China executes more people than any other country, accounting for 72% of the world's total in 2009, though it is not the largest executioner per capita.^[170] This high execution rate is partly due to the fact that numerous white-collar crimes, such as fraud, are punishable by death in China. However, in the early 2010s, China began restricting the application of capital punishment for some such crimes.^[171]

The Chinese government has responded to foreign criticism by arguing that the notion of human rights should take into account a country's present level of economic development, and focus more on the people's rights to subsistence and development in poorer countries.^[172] The rise in the standard of living, literacy, and life expectancy for the average Chinese since the 1970s is seen by the government as tangible progress made in human rights.^[173] Improvements in workplace safety, and efforts to combat natural disasters such as the perennial Yangtze River floods, are also portrayed in China as progress in human rights for a still largely poor country.^[172]^[174]

Some Chinese politicians have spoken out in favor of reforms, while others remain more conservative. In 2010, Premier Wen Jiabao stated that China needs "to gradually improve the democratic election system so that state power will truly belong to the people and state power will be used to serve the people." Despite his status, Wen's comments were later censored by the government.^[175]

As the social, cultural and political consequences of economic growth and reform become increasingly manifest, tensions between the conservatives and reformists in the Communist Party are sharpening. Zhou Tianyong, the vice director of research of the Central Party School, argues that gradual political reform as well as repression of those pushing for overly rapid change over the next thirty years will be essential if China is to avoid an overly turbulent transition to a democratic, middle-class-dominated polity.^[176]^[177]

Military [link]

Main article: People's Liberation Army

A PLAAF Chengdu J-10 fighter aircraft.

With 2.3 million active troops, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the largest standing military force in the world, commanded by the Central Military Commission (CMC).^[178] The PLA consists of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF), the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), and a strategic nuclear force, the Second Artillery Corps. According to SIPRI, China's military expenditure in 2011 totalled US$129.2 billion (923 billion yuan), constituting the world's second-largest military budget.^[179] However, other nations, such as the United States, have claimed that China does not report its real level of military spending, which is allegedly much higher than the official budget.^[180]

As a recognised nuclear weapons state, China is considered both a major regional military power and a potential military superpower.^[181] As of August 2011, China's Second Artillery Corps is believed to maintain at least 195 nuclear missiles, including 75 ICBMs.^[182] Nonetheless, China is the only member of the UN Security Council to have relatively limited power projection capabilities.^[183] To offset this, it has begun developing power projection assets, such as aircraft carriers, and has established a network of foreign military relationships that has been compared to a string of pearls.

Members of a Chinese military honor guard. China possesses the largest standing army in the world, with around 2.3 million active personnel. Its ground forces alone total 1.7 million soldiers.

China has made significant progress in modernizing its military since the early 2000s. It has purchased advanced Russian fighter jets, such as the Sukhoi Su-30, and has also produced its own modern fighters, most notably the Chengdu J-10 and Shenyang J-11.^[184] China is furthermore engaged in developing an indigenous stealth aircraft, the Chengdu J-20.^[185]^[186]^[187] China's ground forces have also undergone significant modernisations, replacing its ageing Soviet-derived tank inventory with numerous variants of the modern Type 99 tank, and upgrading its battlefield C3I systems to enhance its network-centric warfare capabilities.^[188] China has furthermore acquired and improved upon the Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile system.^[189] Russia later produced the next-generation S-400 Triumf system, with China reportedly having spent $500 million on a downgraded export version of it.^[190] A number of indigenous missile technologies have also been developed – in 2007, China conducted a successful test of an anti-satellite missile,^[191] and its first indigenous land-attack cruise missile, the CJ-10, entered service in 2009. In 2011, the Pentagon reported that China was believed to be testing the JL-2 missile, a submarine-launched nuclear ICBM with multiple-warhead delivery capabilities.^[182]

In recent years, much attention has been focused on enhancing the blue-water capabilities of the People's Liberation Army Navy.^[192] In August 2011, China's first aircraft carrier, the refurbished Soviet vessel Varyag, began sea trials.^[193] China furthermore maintains a substantial fleet of submarines, including several nuclear-powered attack and ballistic missile submarines.^[194] On 13 March 2011, the PLAN missile frigate Xuzhou was spotted off the coast of Libya, marking the first time in history a Chinese warship sailed into the Mediterranean. The ship's entrance into the Mediterranean was officially part of a humanitarian mission to rescue Chinese nationals from the 2011 Libyan civil war, though analysts such as Fareed Zakaria viewed the mission as also being an attempt to increase China's global military presence.^[195]

Little information is available regarding the motivations supporting China's military modernization. A 2007 report by the US Secretary of Defense noted that "China's actions in certain areas increasingly appear inconsistent with its declaratory policies".^[196] For its part, China claims it maintains an army purely for defensive purposes.^[197]

Economy [link]

Main articles: Economy of the People's Republic of China and List of Chinese administrative divisions by GDP

The Shanghai Stock Exchange building in Shanghai's Lujiazui financial district. Shanghai has the 25th-largest city GDP in the world, totalling US$304 billion in 2011.^[198]

As of 2012, China has the world's second-largest economy in terms of nominal GDP, totalling approximately US$7.298 trillion according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).^[6] However, China's 2011 nominal GDP per capita of US$5,184 puts it behind around ninety countries (out of 183 countries on the IMF list) in global GDP per capita rankings.^[6] If PPP is taken into account in total GDP figures, China is again second only to the United States—in 2011, its PPP GDP reached $11.316 trillion, corresponding to $8,394 per capita.^[6] In 2009, China's primary, secondary, and tertiary industries contributed 10.6%, 46.8%, and 42.6% respectively to its total GDP.

From its founding in 1949 until late 1978, the People's Republic of China was a Soviet-style centrally planned economy, without private businesses or capitalism. To propel the country towards a modern, industrialized communist society, Mao Zedong instituted the Great Leap Forward in the early 1960s, although this had decidedly mixed economic results.^[199] Following Mao's death in 1976 and the consequent end of the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping and the new Chinese leadership began to reform the economy and move towards a more market-oriented mixed economy under one-party rule. Collectivization of the agriculture was dismantled and farmlands were privatized to increase productivity. Modern-day China is mainly characterized as having a market economy based on private property ownership,^[200]^[201] and is one of the leading examples of state capitalism.^[202]^[203]

Under the post-Mao market reforms, a wide variety of small-scale private enterprises were encouraged, while the government relaxed price controls and promoted foreign investment. Foreign trade was focused upon as a major vehicle of growth, leading to the creation of Special Economic Zones (SEZs), first in Shenzhen and then in other Chinese cities. Inefficient state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were restructured by introducing western-style management systems, with unprofitable ones being closed outright, resulting in massive job losses. By the latter part of 2010, China was reversing some of its economic liberalization initiatives, with state-owned companies buying up independent businesses in the steel, auto and energy industries.^[204]

In 1978, Deng Xiaoping initiated China's market-oriented reforms.

Since economic liberalization began in 1978, China's investment- and export-led^[205] economy has grown almost a hundredfold^[206] and is the fastest-growing major economy in the world.^[207] According to the IMF, China's annual average GDP growth between 2001 and 2010 was 10.5%, and the Chinese economy is predicted to grow at an average annual rate of 9.5% between 2011 and 2015. Between 2007 and 2011, China's economic growth rate was equivalent to all of the G7 countries' growth combined.^[208] According to the Global Growth Generators index announced by Citigroup in February 2011, China has a very high 3G growth rating.^[209]

China is the third-most-visited country in the world, with 55.7 million inbound international visitors in 2010.^[210] It is a member of the WTO and is the world's second-largest trading power behind the US, with a total international trade value of US$3.64 trillion in 2011.^[211] Its foreign exchange reserves reached US$2.85 trillion by the end of 2010, an increase of 18.7% over the previous year, making its reserves by far the world's largest.^[212]^[213] China owns an estimated $1.6 trillion of US securities.^[214] China, holding US$1.16 trillion in US Treasury bonds,^[215] is the largest foreign holder of US public debt.^[216]^[217] China is the world's third-largest recipient of inward foreign direct investment (FDI), attracting $115 billion in 2011 alone, marking a 9% increase over 2010.^[218]^[219] China also increasingly invests abroad, with a total outward FDI of $68 billion in 2010.^[220]

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A graph comparing the 2011 nominal GDPs of major economies
in US$ billions, according to IMF data.^[221]

China's success has been primarily due to manufacturing as a low-cost producer. This is attributed to a combination of cheap labor, good infrastructure, relatively high productivity, favorable government policy, and a possibly undervalued exchange rate. The latter has been sometimes blamed for China's huge trade surplus (US$262.7 billion in 2007)^[222] and has become a major source of dispute between China and its major trading partners—the US, EU, and Japan—despite the yuan having been de-pegged and having risen in value by 20% against the US dollar since 2005.^[223] China is moreover widely criticised for manufacturing large quantities of counterfeit goods—in 2005, the Asia Business Council alleged that the counterfeiting industry accounted for 8% of China's GDP at the time.^[224]^[225]

The state still dominates in strategic "pillar" industries (such as energy and heavy industries), but private enterprise (composed of around 30 million private businesses)^[226] has expanded enormously; in 2005, it accounted for anywhere between 33%^[227] to 70%^[228] of national GDP, while the OECD estimate for that year was over 50%^[229] of China's national output, up from 1% in 1978.^[230] The Shanghai Stock Exchange has raised record amounts of IPOs, and its benchmark Shanghai Composite index has doubled since 2005. SSE's market capitalization reached US$3 trillion in 2007, making it the world's fifth-largest stock exchange.

Foreign currency reserves and gold minus external debt, based on 2010 data from CIA Factbook. China's foreign currency reserves are currently the world's largest.

China now ranks 29th in the Global Competitiveness Index,^[231] although it is only ranked 135th among the 179 countries measured in the Index of Economic Freedom.^[232] 46 Chinese companies made the list in the 2010 Fortune Global 500 (Beijing alone with 30).^[233] Measured using market capitalization, four of the world's top ten most valuable companies are Chinese. Some of these include first-ranked PetroChina, third-ranked Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (the world's most valuable bank), fifth-ranked China Mobile (the world's most valuable telecommunications company) and seventh-ranked China Construction Bank.^[234]

Although a middle-income country by Western standards, China's rapid growth has pulled hundreds of millions of its people out of poverty since 1978. Today, about 10% of the Chinese population live below the poverty line of US$1 per day (down from 64% in 1978), while life expectancy has increased to 73 years. More than 93% of the population is literate,^[235] compared to only 20% in 1950.^[236] Urban unemployment in China reportedly declined to 4% by the end of 2007, although true overall unemployment may be as high as 10%.^[237]

China's middle-class population (defined as those with annual income of at least US$17,000) has reached more than 100 million as of 2011,^[238] while the number of super-rich individuals worth more than 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million) is estimated to be 825,000, according to Hurun Report.^[239] Based on the Hurun rich list, the number of US dollar billionaires in China doubled from 130 in 2009 to 271 in 2010, giving China the world's second-highest number of billionaires.^[240] China's retail market was worth RMB 8.9 trillion (US$1.302 trillion) in 2007, and is growing at 16.8% annually.^[241] China is also now the world's second-largest consumer of luxury goods behind Japan, with 27.5% of the global share.^[242]

Nanjing Road, a major shopping street in Shanghai.

In recent years, China's rapid economic growth has contributed to severe consumer inflation,^[243] causing the prices of basic goods to rise steeply. Food prices in China increased by over 21% in the first four months of 2008 alone.^[244] To curb inflation and moderate rising property prices, the Chinese government has instituted a number of fiscal regulations and amendments, raising interest rates and imposing limits on bank loans. In September 2011, consumer prices rose by 6.1% compared to a year earlier, marking a reduction in inflation from the peak of 6.5% in July 2011.^[245] A side-effect of increased economic regulation was a slowdown in overall growth – China's quarterly GDP growth fell to 9.1% in October 2011, down from 9.5% in the previous quarter,^[245] and sank to 8.1% in April 2012.^[246]

The Chinese economy is highly energy-intensive and inefficient—on average, industrial processes in China between 20% and 100% more energy than similar ones in OECD countries.^[247] China became the world's largest energy consumer in 2010,^[248] but still relies on coal to supply about 70% of its energy needs.^[249] Coupled with lax environmental regulations, this has led to massive water and air pollution, leaving China with 20 of the world's 30 most polluted cities.^[247] Consequently, the government has promised to use more renewable energy, planning to make renewables constitute 30% of China's total energy production by 2050.^[250] In 2010, China became the largest wind energy provider in the world, with a total installed wind power capacity of 41.8 GW.^[251] In January 2011, Russia began scheduled oil shipments to China, pumping 300,000 barrels of oil per day via the Eastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean oil pipeline.^[252]

Science and technology [link]

Main article: Science and technology in the People's Republic of China

History of science and technology in China

Inventions
Discoveries
By era
Han Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
Song Dynasty
People's Republic of China
Present-day China
This box: view talk edit

Value in dollars of high-tech exports by country in 2009. The value of Chinese high-tech exports was more than twice that of any other nation.

China was a world leader in science and technology until the Ming Dynasty. Ancient Chinese discoveries and inventions, such as papermaking, printing, the compass, and gunpowder (the Four Great Inventions), contributed to the economic development of Asia and Europe. However, Chinese scientific activity entered a prolonged decline in the fourteenth century. Unlike European scientists, medieval Chinese thinkers did not attempt to reduce observations of nature to mathematical laws, and they did not form a scholarly community offering peer review and progressive research. There was an increasing concentration on literature, the arts, and public administration, while science and technology were seen as trivial or restricted to limited practical applications.^[253] The causes of this Great Divergence continue to be debated.

After repeated military defeats by Western nations in the 19th century, Chinese reformers began promoting modern science and technology as part of the Self-Strengthening Movement. After the Communist victory in 1949, efforts were made to organize science and technology based on the model of the Soviet Union. However, Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution of 1966-76 had a catastrophic effect on Chinese research, as academics were persecuted and the training of scientists and engineers was severely curtailed for nearly a decade. After Mao's death in 1976, science and technology was established as one of the Four Modernizations, and the Soviet-inspired academic system was gradually reformed.^[253]

The launch of China's manned Shenzhou 7 spacecraft aboard a Long March 2F carrier rocket on 25 September 2008.

In modern China, science and technology are seen as vital for achieving economic and political goals, and are held as a source of national pride to a degree sometimes described as "techno-nationalism".^[254] Almost all of the members of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China have engineering degrees.^[255] Since the end of the Cultural Revolution, China has become one of the world's leading technological powers, spending over US$100 billion on scientific research and development in 2011 alone.^[256] China is also rapidly developing its education system with an emphasis on science, mathematics and engineering; in 2009, it produced over 10,000 Ph.D. engineering graduates, and as many as 500,000 BSc graduates, more than any other country.^[257] China is also the world's second-largest publisher of scientific papers, producing 121,500 in 2010 alone, including 5,200 in leading international scientific journals.^[258]

The Chinese space program is one of the world's most active, and is a major source of national pride.^[259] In 1970, China launched its first satellite, Dong Fang Hong I. In 2003, China became the third country to independently send humans into space, with Yang Liwei's spaceflight aboard Shenzhou 5. In 2008, China conducted its first spacewalk with the Shenzhou 7 mission. In 2011, China's first space station module, Tiangong-1, was launched, marking the first step in a project to assemble a large manned station by 2020.^[260] The active Chinese Lunar Exploration Program includes a planned lunar rover launch in 2013, and possibly a manned lunar landing in 2025.^[261] Experience gained from the lunar program may be used for future programs such as the exploration of Mars and Venus.^[262]

Infrastructure [link]

Communications [link]

Main article: Telecommunications in the People's Republic of China

China currently has the most cellphone users of any country in the world, with over 1 billion users as of May 2012.^[263]^[264] It also has the world's largest number of internet and broadband users.^[265] By December 2010, China had around 457 million internet users, an increase of 19% over the previous year, and by the end of 2011 the number of internet users had exceeded 500 million.^[266]^[267]^[268] According to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), China's average internet connection speed is 100.9 kbit/s, less than half of the global average of 212.5 kbit/s.^[269]

China Telecom and China Unicom, the country's two largest broadband providers, accounted for 20% of global broadband subscribers, whereas the world's ten largest broadband service providers combined accounted for 39% of the world's broadband customers. China Telecom alone serves 55 million broadband subscribers, while China Unicom serves more than 40 million. The massive rise in internet use in China continues to fuel rapid broadband growth, whereas the world's other major broadband ISPs operate in the mature markets of the developed world, with high levels of broadband penetration and rapidly slowing subscriber growth.^[270]

Transport [link]

Main article: Transport in the People's Republic of China

There are 85,000 km (52,800 mi) of divided expressways in China.

A high-speed maglev train leaving Pudong International Airport, Shanghai.

Transportation in mainland China has undergone intense state-led development since the late 1990s. The national road network has been significantly expanded through the creation of a network of expressways, known as the National Trunk Highway System (NTHS). By the end of 2011, China's expressways had reached a total length of 85,000 km (53,000 mi), second only to the network of the United States.^[271] Private car ownership is growing rapidly in China, which surpassed the United States as the world's largest automobile market in 2009, with total car sales of over 13.6 million.^[272] Analysts predict that annual car sales in China may rise as high as 40 million by 2020.^[273]

China also possesses the world's longest high-speed rail network, with over 9,676 km (6,012 mi) of service routes. Of these, 3,515 km (2,184 mi) serve trains with top speeds of 300 km/h (190 mph).^[274] In 2011, China unveiled a prototype train capable of reaching speeds of 310 mph (500 km/h), the first ultra-high-speed train developed solely by its domestic railway industry.^[275] China intends to operate approximately 16,000 km (9,900 mi) of high-speed rail lines by 2020.^[276]

As of 2012, China is the world's largest constructor of new airports, and the Chinese government has begun a US$250 billion five-year project to expand and modernize domestic air travel.^[277] However, long-distance transportation remains dominated by railways and charter bus systems. Railways are the vital carrier in China; they are monopolized by the state, divided into various railway bureaux in different regions. Due to huge demand, the system is regularly subject to overcrowding, particularly during holiday seasons, such as Chunyun during the Chinese New Year. The Chinese rail network carried an estimated 1.68 billion total passengers in 2010 alone.^[276]

Rapid transit systems are also rapidly developing in China's major cities, in the form of networks of underground or light rail systems. Hong Kong has one of the most developed transport systems in the world, while Shanghai has a high-speed maglev rail line connecting the city to its main international airport, Pudong International Airport. China is additionally developing its own satellite navigation system, dubbed Beidou, which began offering commercial navigation services in mainland China in 2011, and is planned to offer global coverage by 2020.^[278]

Demographics [link]

Main article: Demographics of the People's Republic of China

A population density map of the People's Republic of China. The eastern, coastal provinces are much more densely populated than the western interior.

As of July 2010, the People's Republic of China has an estimated total population of 1,338,612,968. About 21% of the population (145,461,833 males; 128,445,739 females) are 14 years old or younger, 71% (482,439,115 males; 455,960,489 females) are between 15 and 64 years old, and 8% (48,562,635 males; 53,103,902 females) are over 65 years old. The population growth rate for 2006 was 0.6%.^[279]

By end of 2010, the proportion of mainland Chinese people aged 14 or younger was 16.60%, while the number aged 60 or older grew to 13.26%, giving a total proportion of 29.86% dependents. The proportion of the population of workable age was thus around 70%.^[280]

With a population of over 1.3 billion and dwindling natural resources, China is very concerned about its population growth and has attempted, with mixed results,^[281] to implement a strict family planning policy. The government's goal is one child per family, with exceptions for ethnic minorities and a degree of flexibility in rural areas. It is hoped that population growth in China will stabilize in the early decades of the 21st century, though some projections estimate a population of anywhere between 1.4 billion and 1.6 billion by 2025. China's family planning minister has indicated that the one-child policy will be maintained until at least 2020.^[282]

Population of China from 1949 to 2008.

The one-child policy is resisted, particularly in rural areas, because of the need for agricultural labour and a traditional preference for boys (who can later serve as male heirs). Families who breach the policy often lie during the census.^[283] Official government policy opposes forced sterilization or abortion, but allegations of coercion continue as local officials, who are faced with penalties for failing to curb population growth, may resort to forcible measures, or manipulation of census figures.^{[citation needed]}

The decreasing reliability of China population statistics since family planning began in the late 1970s has made evaluating the effectiveness of the policy difficult.^[283] Data from the 2010 census implies that the total fertility rate may now be around 1.4.^[284] The government is particularly concerned with the large imbalance in the sex ratio at birth, apparently the result of a combination of traditional preference for boys and family planning pressure, which led to a ban on using ultrasound devices in an attempt to prevent sex-selective abortion.

According to the 2010 census, there were 118.06 boys born for every 100 girls, which is 0.53 points lower than the ratio obtained from a population sample survey carried out in 2005.^[285] However, the gender ratio of 118.06 is still beyond the normal range of around 105 percent, and experts warn of increased social instability should this trend continue.^[286] For the population born between the years 1900 and 2000, it is estimated that there could be 35.59 million fewer females than males.^[287] Other demographers argue that perceived gender imbalances may arise from the underreporting of female births.^[288]^[289]^[290]^[291] A recent study suggests that as many as three million Chinese babies are hidden by their parents every year.^[291] According to the 2010 census, males accounted for 51.27 percent of the total population, while females made up 48.73 percent of the total.^[285]

Ethnic groups [link]

Main articles: List of ethnic groups in China, Ethnic minorities in China, and Ethnic groups in Chinese history

Ethnic composition (2000)^[292]
Han	91.59%
Zhuang	1.28%
Manchu	0.84%
Hui	0.78%
Miao	0.71%
Uyghur	0.66%
Tujia	0.63%
Other	3.51%

China officially recognizes 56 distinct ethnic groups, the largest of which are the Han Chinese, who constitute about 91.51% of the total population.^[293] The Han Chinese—the world's largest single ethnic group—outnumber other ethnic groups in every province, municipality and autonomous region except Tibet and Xinjiang, and are descended from ancient Huaxia tribes living along the Yellow River.

Ethnic minorities account for about 8.49% of the population of China, according to the 2010 census.^[293] Compared with the 2000 population census, the Han population increased by 66,537,177 persons, or 5.74%, while the population of the 55 national minorities combined increased by 7,362,627 persons, or 6.92%.^[293]

The 2010 census recorded a total of 593,832 foreign citizens living in China. The largest such groups were from South Korea (120,750), the United States (71,493) and Japan (66,159).^[294]

Languages [link]

Main articles: Languages of China and List of endangered languages in China

1990 map of Chinese ethnolinguistic groups.

The languages most spoken in China belong to the Sino-Tibetan language family. There are also several major linguistic groups within the Chinese language itself. The most spoken varieties are Mandarin (spoken by over 70% of the population), Wu (includes Shanghainese), Yue (includes Cantonese and Taishanese), Min (includes Hokkien and Teochew), Xiang, Gan, and Hakka. Non-Sinitic languages spoken widely by ethnic minorities include Zhuang, Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur, Hmong and Korean.^[295] Standard Mandarin, a variety of Mandarin based on the Beijing dialect, is the official national language of China and is used as a lingua franca between people of different linguistic backgrounds.

Classical Chinese was the written standard in China for thousands of years, and allowed for written communication between speakers of various unintelligible languages and dialects in China. Written vernacular Chinese, or baihua, is the written standard, based on the Mandarin dialect and first popularized in Ming Dynasty novels. It was adopted, with significant modifications, during the early 20th century as the national standard. Classical Chinese is still part of the high school curriculum, and is thus intelligible to some degree to many Chinese. Since their promulgation by the government in 1956, Simplified Chinese characters have become the official standardized written script used to write the Chinese language within mainland China, supplanting the use of the earlier Traditional Chinese characters.

Urbanization [link]

Since 2000, China's cities have expanded at an average rate of 10% annually. It is estimated that China will add 400 million people to its urban population by 2025.^[296] The country's urbanization rate increased from 17.4% to 46.8% between 1978 and 2009, a scale unprecedented in human history.^[297] Between 150 and 200 million migrant workers work part-time in the major cities, returning home to the countryside periodically with their earnings.^[298]^[299]

Today, the People's Republic of China has dozens of cities with one million or more long-term residents, including the three global cities of Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. The figures in the table below are from the 2008 census, and are only estimates of the urban populations within administrative city limits; a different ranking exists when considering the total municipal populations (which includes suburban and rural populations). The large "floating populations" of migrant workers make conducting censuses in urban areas difficult;^[300] the figures below do not include the floating population, only long-term residents.

v t e Largest cities or towns of the People's Republic of China Sixth National Population Census of the People's Republic of China (2010)
	Rank	City name	Province	Pop.	Rank	City name	Province	Pop.
Shanghai Beijing	1	Shanghai	Shanghai	22,315,426	11	Shenyang	Liaoning	5,743,718	Tianjin Guangzhou
	2	Beijing	Beijing	18,827,000	12	Hangzhou	Zhejiang	5,695,313
	3	Tianjin	Tianjin	11,090,314	13	Chongqing	Chongqing	5,402,721
	4	Guangzhou	Guangdong	11,070,654	14	Harbin	Heilongjiang	4,517,549
	5	Shenzhen	Guangdong	10,357,938	15	Suzhou	Jiangsu	4,074,000
	6	Dongguan	Guangdong	8,220,937	16	Jinan	Shandong	3,922,180
	7	Chengdu	Sichuan	7,123,697	17	Xi'an	Shaanxi	3,890,098
	8	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	7,055,071	18	Wuxi	Jiangsu	3,542,319
	9	Nanjing	Jiangsu	6,852,984	19	Hefei	Anhui	3,352,076
	10	Wuhan	Hubei	6,434,373	20	Changchun	Jilin	3,341,700

Education [link]

Main article: Education in the People's Republic of China

Tsinghua University in Beijing.

In 1986, China set the long-term goal of providing compulsory nine-year basic education to every child. As of 2007, there were 396,567 primary schools, 94,116 secondary schools, and 2,236 higher education institutions in China.^[301] In February 2006, the government advanced its basic education goal by pledging to provide completely free nine-year education, including textbooks and fees.^[302] Free compulsory education in China consists of elementary school and middle school, which lasts for 9 years (ages 6–15); almost all children in urban areas continue with three years of high school.

As of 2007^[update], 93.3% of the population over age 15 are literate.^[279] In 2000, China's literacy rate among 15-to-24-year-olds was 98.9% (99.2% for males and 98.5% for females).^[303] In March 2007, the Chinese government declared education a national "strategic priority"; the central budget for national scholarships was tripled between 2007 and 2009, and 223.5 billion yuan (US$28.65 billion) of extra state funding was allocated between 2007 and 2012 to improve compulsory education in rural areas.^[304]

In 2009, Chinese students from Shanghai achieved the world's best results in mathematics, science and literacy, as tested by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a worldwide evaluation of 15-year-old school pupils' scholastic performance.^[305]

The quality of Chinese colleges and universities varies considerably across the country. The consistently top-ranked universities in mainland China are:^[306]^[307]

Beijing: Peking University, Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China, Beijing Normal University
Shanghai: Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Tongji University, East China Normal University
Harbin: Harbin Institute of Technology
Tianjin: Nankai University, Tianjin University
Xi'an: Xi'an Jiaotong University
Nanjing: Nanjing University
Hefei: University of Science and Technology of China
Hangzhou: Zhejiang University
Wuhan: Wuhan University
Guangzhou: Sun Yat-sen University (aka Zhongshan University)

Health [link]

Main article: Public health in the People's Republic of China

The Ministry of Health, together with its counterparts in the provincial health bureaux, oversees the health needs of the Chinese population.^[308] An emphasis on public health and preventive medicine has characterized health policy since the early 1950s. At that time, the Communist Party started the Patriotic Health Campaign, which was aimed at improving sanitation and hygiene, as well as treating and preventing several diseases. Diseases such as cholera, typhoid and scarlet fever, which were previously rife in China, were nearly eradicated by the campaign.

After Deng Xiaoping began instituting economic reforms in 1978, the health of the Chinese public improved rapidly due to better nutrition, although many of the free public health services provided in the countryside disappeared along with the People's Communes. Healthcare in China became mostly privatised, and experienced a significant rise in quality. The national life expectancy at birth rose from about 35 years in 1949 to 73.18 years in 2008,^[309]^[310] and infant mortality decreased from 300 per thousand in the 1950s to around 23 per thousand in 2006.^[39]^[311] Malnutrition as of 2002^[update] stood at 12% of the population, according to United Nations FAO sources.^[312] In 2009, the government began a large-scale healthcare provision initiative worth US$124 billion, which is expected to eventually cover 90% of China's population.^[313]

Despite significant improvements in health and the construction of advanced medical facilities, China has several emerging public health problems, such as respiratory illnesses caused by widespread air pollution^[314] and hundreds of millions of cigarette smokers,^[315]^[316] a possible future HIV/AIDS epidemic, and an increase in obesity among urban youths.^[317]^[318] China's large population and densely populated cities have led to serious disease outbreaks in recent years, such as the 2003 outbreak of SARS, although this has since been largely contained.^[319]

Estimates of excess deaths in China from environmental pollution (apart from smoking) are placed at 760,000 people per annum from air and water pollution (including indoor air pollution).^[320] In 2007, China overtook the United States as the world's biggest producer of carbon dioxide.^[321] Some 90% of China's cities suffer from some degree of water pollution,^[322] and nearly 500 million people lacked access to safe drinking water in 2005.^[323] Reports by the World Bank and the New York Times have claimed industrial pollution, particularly of the air, to be a significant health hazard in China.^[324]

Religion [link]

Main article: Religion in China

The Temple of Heaven, a large complex of Taoist buildings in Beijing, where the Emperor was said to commune with Heaven.

In mainland China, the government allows a degree of religious freedom to members of state-approved religious organizations. An accurate number of religious adherents is hard to obtain because of a lack of official data, but there is a general consensus that religion has been enjoying a resurgence in China since the late 1980s.^[325] A 1998 survey by Adherents.com found that 59% (over 700 million) of the population was irreligious.^[326] A later survey, conducted in 2007, found that there were 300 million religious believers in China, constituting 23% of the population, as distinct from an official figure of 100 million.^[325]

Despite the surveys' varying results, most agree that China's traditional religions—Buddhism, Taoism, and Chinese folk religions—are the dominant faiths. According to various sources, Buddhism in China accounts for between 660 million (~50% of the population) and over 1 billion (~80%),^[327]^[328]^[329]^[330] while Taoists number as many as 400 million (~30%).^[331]^[332] However, because of the fact that one person may subscribe to two or more of these traditional beliefs simultaneously, and the difficulty in clearly differentiating Buddhism, Taoism, and Chinese folk religions, there is likely a strong degree of overlap in the number of adherents of these religions. In addition, some who subscribe to Buddhism and Taoism follow their philosophies in principle but stop short of believing in any kind of deity or divinity.^[333]^[334]^[335]

Saint Sophia Cathedral in Harbin, northeast China. By 1921, Harbin had a Russian population of around 100,000, feeding the growth of Christianity in the city.^[336]

Most Chinese Buddhists are merely nominal adherents, because only a small proportion of the population (around 8% or 100 million)^[337]^[338] may have taken the formal step of going for refuge.^[339]^[340] Even then, it is still difficult to estimate accurately the number of Buddhists, because they do not have congregational memberships and often do not participate in public ceremonies.^[341] Mahayana Buddhism (大乘, Dacheng) and its subsets Pure Land (Amidism), Tiantai and Chán (better known in English by its Japanese pronunciation Zen) are the most widely practiced denominations of Buddhism. Other forms, such as Theravada and Tibetan Buddhism, are practiced largely by ethnic minorities along the geographic fringes of the Chinese mainland.^[342]

Christianity was first introduced to China during the Tang Dynasty, with the arrival of Nestorian Christianity in 635 AD. This was followed by Franciscan missionaries in the 13th century, Jesuits in the 16th century, and finally Protestants in the 19th century. Of China's minority religions, Christianity is one of the fastest-growing. The total number of Christians is difficult to determine, as many belong to unauthorized house churches, but estimates of their number have ranged from 40 million (3% of the total population)^[325]^[343] to 54 million (4%)^[344] to as many as 130 million (10%).^[345] Official government statistics put the number of Christians at 25 million, but these count only members of officially sanctioned church bodies.^[346] China is believed to now have the world's second-largest evangelical Christian population—behind only the United States—and is also experiencing a surge in mainstream Christian publishing.^[347]^[348] In 2011, it was reported that more people attended Sunday church services in China than in all of Europe.^[346]

The Masjid and Islamic Centre in Kowloon.

Islam in China dates to a mission in 651, only 18 years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims initially came to China for trade, becoming prominent in the trading ports of the Song Dynasty.^[349]^[350] Later, Muslims such as Zheng He, Lan Yu and Yeheidie'erding became influential in government circles, and Nanjing became an important center of Islamic study.^[351] Accurate statistics on China's Muslim population are hard to find; most estimates give a figure of between 20 and 30 million Muslims (1.5% to 2% of the total population).^[352]^[353]^[354]^[355]^[356]

China also plays host to numerous minority religions, including Hinduism, Dongbaism, Bön, and a number of more modern religions and sects (particularly Xiantianism). In July 1999, the Falun Gong spiritual practice was officially banned by the authorities,^[357] and many international organizations have criticized the government's treatment of Falun Gong that has occurred since then.^[358] There are no reliable estimates of the number of Falun Gong practitioners in China,^[359] although informal estimates have given figures as high as 70 million.^[360]^[361]

Culture [link]

Main articles: Culture of the People's Republic of China and Chinese culture

A traditional Beijing opera being performed.^[362]

Beijing's Forbidden City, showing its classical Chinese architectural style.

Since ancient times, Chinese culture has been heavily influenced by Confucianism and conservative philosophies. For centuries, opportunities for social advancement could be provided by high performance in the prestigious Imperial examinations, which were instituted in 605 AD to help the Emperor select skilful bureaucrats. The literary emphasis of the exams affected the general perception of cultural refinement in China, such as the belief that calligraphy and literati painting were higher forms of art than dancing or drama.

A number of more authoritarian and rational strains of thought were also influential, with Legalism being a prominent example. There was often conflict between the philosophies – for instance, the individualistic Song Dynasty neo-Confucians believed that Legalism departed from the original spirit of Confucianism. Examinations and a culture of merit remain greatly valued in China today. In recent years, a number of New Confucians have claimed that modern democratic ideals and human rights are compatible with traditional Confucian values.^[363]

The first leaders of the People's Republic of China were born into the traditional imperial order, but were influenced by the May Fourth Movement and reformist ideals. They sought to change some traditional aspects of Chinese culture, such as rural land tenure, sexism, and the Confucian system of education, while preserving others, such as the family structure and culture of obedience to the state.

Some observers see the period following the establishment of the PRC in 1949 as a continuation of traditional Chinese dynastic history, while others claim that the Communist Party's rule has damaged the foundations of Chinese culture, especially through political movements such as the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, where many aspects of traditional culture were destroyed, having been denounced as 'regressive and harmful' or 'vestiges of feudalism'. Many important aspects of traditional Chinese morals and culture, such as Confucianism, Chinese art, literature, and performing arts like Peking opera, were altered to conform to government policies and propaganda at the time.

Today, the Chinese government has accepted numerous elements of traditional Chinese culture as being integral to Chinese society. With the rise of Chinese nationalism and the end of the Cultural Revolution, various forms of traditional Chinese art, literature, music, film, fashion and architecture have seen a vigorous revival,^[364]^[365] and folk and variety art in particular have sparked interest nationally and even worldwide.^[366]

Prior to the beginning of maritime Sino-European trade in the 16th century, medieval China and the European West were linked by the Silk Road, which was a key route of cultural as well as economic exchange. Artifacts from the history of the Road, as well as from the natural history of the Gobi desert, are displayed in the Silk Route Museum in Jiuquan.^[367]

Traditional Chinese food in Tianjin, including dumpling and dandan noodles.

Cuisine [link]

This section requires expansion.

Main article: Chinese cuisine

Chinese cuisine is highly diverse, drawing on several millennia of culinary history. The dynastic emperors of ancient China were known to host banquets with over 100 dishes served at a time,^[368] employing countless imperial kitchen staff and concubines to prepare the food. Such royal dishes gradually became a part of wider Chinese culture. China's staple food is rice, but the country is also well known for its meat dishes. Spices are endemic to Chinese cuisine.

Numerous foreign offshoots of Chinese food, such as Hong Kong cuisine and American Chinese food, have emerged in the various nations which play host to the Chinese diaspora.

Sports [link]

Main article: Sport in the People's Republic of China

Dragon boat racing, a popular traditional Chinese sport.

China has one of the oldest sporting cultures in the world. There is evidence that a form of association football was played in China around 1000 AD.^[369] Today, some of the most popular sports in the country include martial arts, basketball, football, table tennis, badminton, swimming and snooker. Board games such as go (weiqi), xiangqi, and more recently chess, are also played at a professional level.^[370]

Physical fitness is widely emphasized in Chinese culture. Morning exercises are a common activity, with elderly citizens encouraged to practice qigong and t'ai chi ch'uan. Young people in China are also keen on basketball, especially in urban centers with limited space and grass areas. The American National Basketball Association has a huge following among Chinese youths, with Chinese players such as Yao Ming being held in high esteem.^[371]

Many more traditional sports are also played in China. Dragon boat racing occurs during the annual nationwide Dragon Boat Festival, and has since gained popularity abroad. In Inner Mongolia, sports such as Mongolian-style wrestling and horse racing are popular. In Tibet, archery and equestrianism are a part of traditional festivals.^[372]

China has participated at the Olympic Games since 1932, although it has only participated as the PRC since 1952. China hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and received 51 gold medals – the highest number of gold medals of any participating nation that year.^[373] China will host the 2013 East Asian Games in Tianjin and the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing.

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^ God and Caesar in China: policy implications of church-state tensions. Google Books. http://books.google.com/books?id=5jfVmF6MX7IC&pg=PA2&dq=China+now+has+the+world's+second-+largest+evangelical+Christian+population+%E2%80%94+behind+only+the+Unired+Stares+%E2%80%94+and+if+current+growth+rates+continue,+China+will+become+a+global+center+of+evangelical+Christianity+in+coming+decades&hl=en&ei=vfJrTfXYF8at8AP9sK3yBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=China%20now%20has%20the%20world's%20second-%20largest%20evangelical%20Christian%20population%20%E2%80%94%20behind%20only%20the%20Unired%20Stares%20%E2%80%94%20and%20if%20current%20growth%20rates%20continue%2C%20China%20will%20become%20a%20global%20center%20of%20evangelical%20Christianity%20in%20coming%20decades&f=false. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
^ "Discipling the Dragon: Christian Publishing Finds Success in China". Christianity Today, 20 January 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
^ "BBC Islam in China (650–present)". BBC News. 2 October 2002. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/china_1.shtml. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
^ Islamic culture in China – amended 1958 text. Religion-Online.org. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
^ "Looking East: The challenges and opportunities of Chinese Islam". http://www.hsais.org/2essay0405_4.htm. ^{[dead link]}
^ Counting up the number of people of traditionally Muslim nationalities who were enumerated in the 1990 census gives a total of 17.6 million, 96% of whom belong to just three nationalities: Hui 8.6 million, Uyghurs 7.2 million, and Kazakhs 1.1 million. Other nationalities that are traditionally Muslim include Kyrghyz, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Tatars, Salar, Bonan, and Dongxiang. See Dru C. Gladney, "Islam in China: Accommodation or Separatism?", Paper presented at Symposium on Islam in Southeast Asia and China, Hong Kong, 2002. Available at islamsymposium.cityu.edu.hk. The 2000 census reported a total of 20.3 million members of Muslim nationalities, of which again 96% belonged to just three groups: Hui 9.8 million, Uyghurs 8.4 million, and Kazakhs 1.25 million.
^ "CIA – The World Factbook – China". Cia.gov. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
^ "China (includes Hong Kong, Macau, and Tibet)". State.gov. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71338.htm. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
^ "NW China region eyes global Muslim market". China Daily. 9 July 2008. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2008-07/09/content_6831389.htm. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
^ "Muslim Media Network". Muslim Media Network. 24 March 2008. http://muslimmedianetwork.com/mmn/?p=1922. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
^ Xinhua, China Bans Falun Gong, People's Daily, 22 July 1999
^ Mary-Anne Toy, Underground existence for Falun Gong faithful, The Age, 26 July 2008.
"The US State Department, US Congress, the United Nations and human rights groups such as Amnesty say persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China is a continuing abuse of human rights."
^ Xu Jiatun, Cultural Revolution revisited in crackdown, Taipai Times, 8 September 1999.
^ Seth Faison, "In Beijing: A Roar of Silent Protestors," New York Times, 27 April 1999
^ "Falun Gong said to total tens of millions". United Press International, 24 April 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
^ "Tour Guidebook: Beijing". China National Tourism Administration. http://en.cnta.gov.cn.
^ Bary, Theodore de. "Constructive Engagement with Asian Values".^{[dead link]} Columbia University.
^ ""China: Traditional arts". Library of Congress – Country Studies". Lcweb2.loc.gov. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+cn0133). Retrieved 1 November 2011.
^ "China: Cultural life: The arts". Britannica.com. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-258942/China. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
^ ""China: Folk and Variety Arts". Library of Congress – Country Studies". Lcweb2.loc.gov. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+cn0138). Retrieved 1 November 2011.
^ "Silk Route Museum". Silk Route Museum. http://www.silkroutemuseum.com. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
^ Kong, Foong, Ling. [2002]. The Food of Asia. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 0-7946-0146-4
^ "Origins of the Great Game". Athleticscholarships.net. http://athleticscholarships.net/history-of-soccer.htm. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
^ "Chinese players dominate at Malaysia open chess championship". TheStar.com, 2 September 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
^ Beech, Hannah (28 April 2003). "Yao Ming". Time Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/asia/2003/heroes/yao_ming.html. Retrieved 30 March 2007.
^ Qinfa, Ye. Sports History of China. About.com. Retrieved 21 April 2006.
^ "China targets more golds in 2012". BBC Sport, 27 August 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2011.

External links [link]

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Overviews

China at a Glance from People's Daily
BBC News – Country Profile: China
China entry at The World Factbook
Modern China: A Primer—slideshow by Life magazine
"Rethinking ‘Capitalist Restoration’ in China" by Yiching Wu
Key Development Forecasts for China from International Futures

Documentaries

"China on the Rise" PBS Online NewsHour, October 2005
China in the Red PBS Frontline, 1998–2001
China From the Inside A documentary series co-produced by KQED Public Television and Granada Television

Government

The Central People's Government of People's Republic of China (English)
China Internet Information Center (English)—Authorized government portal site to China

Studies

Assertive Pragmatism: China's Economic Rise and Its Impact on Chinese Foreign Policy Minxin Pei, IFRI Proliferation Papers n°15, 2006
The Dragon's Dawn: China as a Rising Imperial Power, 11 February 2005
History of The People's Republic of China—Timeline of key events since 1949
Media, advertising, and urban life in China

Travel

China National Tourist Office (CNTO)
China travel guide from Wikitravel

Maps

Google Maps—China
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Wikimedia Atlas of the People's Republic of China
Geographic data related to China at OpenStreetMap

Coordinates: 35°N 103°E / 35°N 103°E / 35; 103

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lez:Чин

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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

This article is about the country. For other uses, see Taiwan (disambiguation).

"Republic of China" redirects here. For other uses, see Republic of China (disambiguation).

Republic of China

中華民國
Zhōnghuá Mínguó^[a]


Flag	Emblem

Anthem:
"National Anthem of the Republic of China"
《中華民國國歌》

"National Flag Anthem"
《中華民國國旗歌》

depicting the Free area of the Republic of China

Capital Taipei^[1]
25°02′N 121°38′E / 25.033°N 121.633°E / 25.033; 121.633

Largest city New Taipei

Official language(s) Mandarin^[2]

Recognised regional languages Taiwanese
Hakka
Formosan languages^[3]

Official scripts

Traditional Chinese

Ethnic groups

98% Han^[4]^[5]

70% Hoklo
14% Hakka
14% Mainlanders^[b]

2% Taiwanese aborigines^[c]

Demonym Taiwanese^[6]^[7]^[8] or Chinese^[d] or both

Government

Unitary semi-presidential republic

- President Ma Ying-jeou (KMT)^[9]

- Vice President Wu Den-yih (KMT)^[10]

- Premier Sean Chen (KMT)^[11]

- President of the Legislative Yuan Wang Jin-pyng (KMT)^[12]

- President of the Judicial Yuan Rai Hau-min^[13]

- President of the Control Yuan Wang Chien-shien (NP)^[14]

- President of the Examination Yuan Kuan Chung (KMT)^[15]

Legislature Legislative Yuan

Establishment

Xinhai Revolution

- Wuchang Uprising 10 October 1911

- Republic established 1 January 1912

- Constitution 25 December 1947

Area

- Total 36,192^[16] km² (136th)
13,974 sq mi

- Water (%) 10.34

Population

- 2012 estimate 23,239,268^[16] (50th)

- Density 641/km² (17th)
1,662/sq mi

GDP (PPP) 2011 estimate

- Total $876.035 billion^[17] (19th)

- Per capita $37,719^[17] (19th)

GDP (nominal) 2011 estimate

- Total $466.832 billion^[17] (26th)

- Per capita $20,100^[17] (39th)

Gini (2010) 34.2^[18] (medium)

HDI (2010) 0.868*^[e]^[19] (Very high)

Currency New Taiwan dollar (NT$) (TWD)

Time zone CST (UTC +8)

- Summer (DST) not observed (UTC +8)

Date formats yyyy-mm-dd
yyyy年m月d日
(CE; CE+2697) or 民國yy年m月d日

Drives on the right

ISO 3166 code

Internet TLD .tw, .台灣, .台湾^[20]

Taiwan

臺灣 or 台灣

Transcriptions
Hakka
- Romanization	Thòi-vàn
Mandarin
- Hanyu Pinyin	Táiwān
- Tongyong Pinyin	Táiwan
- Wade–Giles	T'ai²-wan¹
- Postal Map	Taiwan
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh	Tair'uan
- MPS2	Táiwān
- Bopomofo	ㄊㄞˊ ㄨㄢ
Min
- Hokkien POJ	Tâi-oân
- Tâi-Lô	Tâi-uân
- Min-dong BUC	Dài-uăng
Cantonese (Yue)
- Jyutping	Toi⁴ Waan¹

Republic of China

Transcriptions
Gan
- Romanization	tung¹ fa⁴ min⁴ koet⁷
Hakka
- Romanization	Chûng-fà Mìn-koet
Mandarin
- Hanyu Pinyin	Zhōnghuá Mínguó
- Tongyong Pinyin	Jhonghuá Mínguó
- Wade–Giles	Chung¹-hua² Min²-kuo²
- Postal Map	Chunghwa Minkwo
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh	Jonghwa Min'gwo
- MPS2	Jūng-huá Mín-guó
- Bopomofo	ㄓㄨㄥㄏㄨㄚˊ ㄇㄧㄣˊ ㄍㄨㄛˊ
Min
- Hokkien POJ	Tiong-hôa Bîn-kok
- Min-dong BUC	Dṳ̆ng-huà Mìng-guók
Wu
- Romanization	tson^平 gho^平 min^平 koh^入
Cantonese (Yue)
- Jyutping	zung¹ waa⁴ man⁴ gwok³

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

Taiwan (ⁱ/ˌtaɪˈwɑːn/ TY-WAHN; Chinese: 臺灣 or 台灣; pinyin: Táiwān; see below), officially the Republic of China (ROC; Chinese: 中華民國; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó), is a state in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China now governs the island of Taiwan (formerly known as Formosa), which forms over 99% of its current territory,^[f] as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and other minor islands. Neighboring states include the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east and northeast, and the Philippines to the south. Taipei is the capital city and economic and cultural centre of the country,^[1] and New Taipei is the most populous city.

The earliest evidence of inhabitation of Taiwan dates back to the late Paleolithic era. The island of Taiwan was mainly inhabited by Taiwanese aborigines before being colonized in the 17th century by the Dutch and the Spanish Empire. The first Han Chinese polity on Taiwan began when Koxinga's troops defeated Dutch forces and established the Kingdom of Tungning. The island was subsequently ruled by the Qing Dynasty after the kingdom's defeat in the Battle of Penghu in 1683, a period that lasted for over 200 years. Following Japan's victory over the Qing Dynasty in the first Sino-Japanese war, Taiwan was ceded to Japan under the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895.

The Republic of China was established in mainland China in 1912 and governed varying amounts of the mainland until 1949. At the end of World War II, Japan surrendered Taiwan and associated islands to ROC forces. When Communist forces took control of mainland China and founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the ROC government moved to Taiwan. Since the founding of the PRC, international recognition of the ROC has gradually eroded as most countries switched recognition to the PRC. In 1971, the PRC assumed China's seat at the United Nations. Only 23 states now recognize the ROC as a sovereign state and maintain formal diplomatic relations with it.

Officially, the ROC government still claims sovereignty over all of "China", in a definition that includes mainland China and Mongolia, as well as Taiwan, via the ROC Constitution^[21] but has not made retaking the mainland a political goal since 1992.^[22] However, the government's stance on whether "retaking" or "reuniting" with China is desired or whether Taiwan and China are separate countries or are regions of one country depends on the which administration is in power (See Politics below). Meanwhile, the PRC also officially asserts itself to be the sole legal representation of China and actively claims Taiwan to be under its sovereignty, denying the status and existence of ROC as a sovereign state. It has not renounced the use of force as a response to any formal declaration of Taiwanese independence, or if it deems peaceful reunification no longer possible.^[23] Cross-strait relations between Taiwan and China as well as issues of national identity within the country are important factors in Taiwanese politics and a cause of social and political division among political parties and their respective supporters.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, Taiwan evolved into a multi-party democracy with universal suffrage. Building on the infrastructure and education improvements initiated during the Japanese era, Taiwan has experienced rapid economic growth and industrialization during the latter half of the 20th century and is now an advanced industrial economy. It is one of the Four Asian Tigers and a member of the WTO and APEC. The 19th-largest economy in the world,^[24]^[25] its advanced technology industry plays a key role in the global economy. Taiwan is ranked highly in terms of freedom of the press, health care,^[26] public education, economic freedom, and human development.^[e]^[19]^[27]

1 Names
2 History
3 Geography
- 3.1 Geology
4 Political and legal status
5 Government
6 Politics
7 Military
8 Administrative divisions
9 Economy
10 Education
11 Demographics
12 Public health
13 Culture
- 13.1 Sports
- 13.2 Calendar
14 See also
15 Notes
16 References
17 Works cited
18 Further reading
19 External links

[edit] Names

Main article: Names of the Republic of China

History [link]

Main article: History of Taiwan

Evidence of inhabitation on Taiwan dates back to the late Paleolithic era. Organized control of parts of Taiwan was first established by the Dutch East India Company in the 17th century and from 1683, Taiwan was placed under Qing rule until its cession to Japan in 1895, in the aftermath of the First Sino-Japanese War.

On mainland China, the rule of Qing Dynasty ended when the Republic of China was formally established in 1912. The early years of the nation were rife with fights for power among factions. From the latter half of the 1920s, rivalry intensified between the ruling Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China, eventually leading to the Chinese Civil War.

In 1945, after the end of World War II, Taiwan was surrendered to ROC forces. In 1949, the central government of the ROC evacuated to Taiwan after it lost the civil war to the communists. The government on Taiwan was authoritarian until gradual liberalization from the mid-1980s onwards.

Aboriginal Taiwan [link]

Main article: Prehistory of Taiwan

A young Tsou man

Taiwan was joined to the Asian mainland in the Late Pleistocene, until sea levels rose about 10,000 years ago. Fragmentary human remains have been found on the island, dated 20,000 to 30,000 years ago, as well as later artifacts of a Paleolithic culture.^[32]^[33]^[34]

More than 4,000 years ago farmers from mainland China, believed to be the ancestors of current Taiwanese aborigines, settled on Taiwan. Their languages belong to the Austronesian language family, which also includes the Malayo-Polynesian languages spanning a huge area from Madagascar to Easter Island. The aboriginal languages on Taiwan show much greater diversity than the rest of Austronesian put together, leading linguists to propose Taiwan as the Urheimat of the family, from which sea-faring peoples dispersed across southeast Asia and the Pacific and Indian Oceans.^[35]^[36]

Han Chinese began settling in the Penghu islands in the 13th century, but Taiwan's hostile tribes and its lack of trade resources valued in that era rendered it unattractive to all but "occasional adventurers or fishermen engaging in barter" until the 16th century.^[37]

Opening in the 17th century [link]

Main articles: Dutch Formosa, Spanish Formosa, and Kingdom of Tungning

Overview of Fort Zeelandia, painted around 1635

The Dutch East India Company attempted to establish a trading outpost on the Penghu Islands (Pescadores) in 1622, but were driven off by the Ming authorities.^[38] In 1624, the Company established a stronghold called Fort Zeelandia on an coastal islet of Tayouan, which is now part of the main island at Anping, Tainan.^[29] David Wright, a Scottish agent of the Company who lived on the island in the 1650s, described the lowland areas of the island as being divided among 11 chiefdoms ranging in size from two settlements to 72. Some of these fell under Dutch control while others remained independent.^[29]^[39] The Company began to import laborers from Fujian and Penghu (Pescadores), many of whom settled.^[38]

In 1626, the Spanish landed on and occupied northern Taiwan, at the ports of Keelung and Tamsui, as a base to extend their trading. This colonial period lasted sixteen years until 1642, when the last Spanish fortress fell to Dutch forces.

Following the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong), a self-styled Ming loyalist, arrived on the island and captured Fort Zeelandia in 1662, expelling the Dutch government and military from the island. Koxinga established the Kingdom of Tungning (1662–1683), with his capital at Tainan. He and his heirs, Zheng Jing, who ruled from 1662 to 1682, and Zheng Keshuang, who ruled less than a year, continued to launch raids on the south-east coast of mainland China well into the Qing Dynasty.^[38]

Qing rule [link]

Main article: Taiwan under Qing Dynasty rule

Hunting deer. Painted in 1746.

In 1683, following the defeat of Koxinga's grandson by an armada led by Admiral Shi Lang of southern Fujian, the Qing formally annexed Taiwan, placing it under the jurisdiction of Fujian province. The Qing imperial government tried to reduce piracy and vagrancy in the area, issuing a series of edicts to manage immigration and respect aboriginal land rights. Immigrants mostly from southern Fujian continued to enter Taiwan. The border between taxpaying lands and "savage" lands shifted eastward, with some aborigines becoming Sinicized while others retreated into the mountains. During this time, there were a number of conflicts between Chinese from different regions of southern Fujian, and between southern Fujian Chinese and aborigines.^[28]

Northern Taiwan and the Penghu Islands were the scene of subsidiary campaigns in the Sino-French War (August 1884 to April 1885). The French occupied Keelung on 1 October 1884, but were repulsed from Tamsui a few days later. The French won some tactical victories but were unable to exploit them and the Keelung Campaign ended in stalemate. The Pescadores Campaign, beginning on 31 March 1885, was a French victory, but had no long-term consequences. The French evacuated both Keelung and the Penghu archipelago after the end of the war.

In 1885, the Qing redesignated Taiwan Prefecture of Fujian as Taiwan Province, the twentieth in the empire, with its capital at Taipei.^[28] This was accompanied by a modernization drive that included building Taiwan's first railroad and starting a postal service.^[40]

Japanese rule [link]

Main articles: Taiwan under Japanese rule and Republic of Formosa

Japanese soldiers entering Taipei in 1895 after the Treaty of Shimonoseki

The Qing Dynasty was defeated in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) and Taiwan and Penghu were ceded in full sovereignty to the Empire of Japan. Inhabitants wishing to remain Qing subjects were given a two-year grace period to sell their property and move to mainland China. Very few Taiwanese saw this as feasible.^[41] On 25 May 1895, a group of pro-Qing high officials proclaimed the Republic of Formosa to resist impending Japanese rule. Japanese forces entered the capital at Tainan and quelled this resistance on 21 October 1895.^[42]

The ROC Presidential Office Building was originally built as the Office of the Governor-General by the Japanese government.

Japanese rule was instrumental in the industrialization of the island, extending the railroads and other transportation networks, building an extensive sanitation system and establishing a formal education system.^[43] Japanese rule ended the practice of headhunting.^[44] During this period, both rice and sugarcane production greatly increased. By 1939, Taiwan was the seventh greatest sugar producer in the world.^[45] Still, the Taiwanese and aborigines were classified as second- and third-class citizens. After supressing Chinese guerillas in the first decade of their rule, Japanese authorites engaged in a series of bloody campaigns against the mountain aboriginals, culminating in the Wushe Incident of 1930.^[46]

Around 1935, the Japanese began an island-wide assimilation project to bind the island more firmly to the Japanese Empire and people were taught to see themselves as Japanese. During World War II, tens of thousands of Taiwanese served in the Japanese military.^[47] For example, former ROC President Lee Teng-hui's elder brother served in the Japanese navy and died while on duty in the Philippines in February 1945. The Imperial Japanese Navy operated heavily out of Taiwanese ports. The "South Strike Group" was based at the Taihoku Imperial University in Taipei. Many of the Japanese forces participating in the Aerial Battle of Taiwan-Okinawa were based in Taiwan. Important Japanese military bases and industrial centers throughout Taiwan, like Kaohsiung, were targets of heavy American bombing.^[48]

In 1938 there were 309,000 Japanese settlers in Taiwan.^[49] After World War II, most of the Japanese were repatriated to Japan.

After World War II [link]

Further information: Taiwan after World War II and Taiwan Strait Crisis

On 25 October 1945, the US Navy ferried ROC troops to Taiwan in order to accept the formal surrender of Japanese military forces in Taipei (then called "Taihoku"). General Rikichi Andō, governor-general of Taiwan and commander-in-chief of all Japanese forces on the island, signed the instrument of surrender and handed it over to General Chen Yi of the ROC military to complete the official turnover. Chen Yi proclaimed that day to be "Retrocession Day of Taiwan," but the Allies considered Taiwan and the Penghu Islands to be under military occupation but still under Japanese sovereignty until 1952.^[50]^[51]

The ROC administration of Taiwan under Chen Yi was strained by increasing tensions between Taiwanese and mainlanders, which were compounded by economic woes, such as hyperinflation. Furthermore, cultural and linguistic conflicts between Taiwanese and the mainland Chinese quickly led to the loss of popular support for the new government.^[52] The shooting of a civilian on 28 February 1947 triggered island-wide unrest, which was suppressed with military force in what is now called the 228 Incident. Mainstream estimates of the number killed range from 18,000 to 30,000, mainly Taiwanese elites.^[53]^[54]

Chinese Nationalist one-party rule [link]

Main articles: Republic of China (1912–1949) and Nationalist Government

A Chinese man in military uniform, smiling and looking towards the left. He holds a sword in his left hand and has a medal in shape of a sun on his chest.

Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Kuomintang from 1925 until his death

After the end of World War II, the Chinese Civil War resumed between the Chinese Nationalists (Kuomintang), led by Chiang Kai-shek, and the Chinese Communist Party, led by Mao Zedong. By 1949, a series of Chinese Communist offensives led to the defeat of the Nationalist army, and the Communists founded the People's Republic of China on 1 October.^[55]

In December 1949, Chiang evacuated his government to Taiwan and made Taipei the temporary capital of the ROC (also called the "wartime capital" by Chiang Kai-shek).^[56] Some 2 million people, consisting mainly of soldiers, members of the ruling Kuomintang party and the intellectual and business elites, were evacuated from mainland China to Taiwan at that time, adding to the earlier population of approximately six million. In addition, the ROC government took to Taipei many national treasures including China's gold reserves and foreign currency reserves.^[57]^[58]^[59]

With President Chiang Kai-shek, the U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower waved to Taiwanese crowds during his visit to Taipei, Taiwan in June 1960.

From this point onwards, the Kuomintang was reduced to control of Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu Islands, and two major islands of Dongsha Islands and Nansha Islands. The Kuomintang continued to claim sovereignty over all "China", which it defined to include mainland China, Taiwan, Outer Mongolia and other areas. On mainland China, the victorious Communists claimed they ruled the sole and only China (which they claimed included Taiwan) and that the Republic of China no longer existed.^[60]

Martial law, declared on Taiwan in May 1949,^[61] continued to be in effect after the central government relocated to Taiwan. It was not repealed until 1987,^[61] and was used as a way to suppress the political opposition in the intervening years.^[62] During the White Terror, as the period is known, 140,000 people were imprisoned or executed for being perceived as anti-KMT or pro-Communist.^[63] Many citizens were arrested, tortured, imprisoned and executed for their real or perceived opposition to the Kuomintang. Since these people were mainly from the intellectual and social elite, an entire generation of political and social leaders was decimated. It was not until 2008 that a public apology was made for those actions. No form of restitution or compensation has been made as of 2010.^[64]

From this period through the 1980s, Taiwan was governed under the "Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion". During this period of one-party rule, little distinction was made between the government and the Kuomintang, with public property, government property, and party property being largely interchangeable. Government workers and party members were mostly indistinguishable, with many government workers required to become KMT members, and party workers paid salaries and promised retirement benefits along the lines of government employees. In addition, the creation of other parties was outlawed, and many political opponents were persecuted and incarcerated.^{[citation needed]}

Initially, the United States abandoned the KMT and expected that Taiwan would fall to the Communists. However, in 1950 the conflict between North Korea and South Korea, which had been ongoing since the Japanese withdrawal in 1945, escalated into full-blown war, and in the context of the Cold War, US President Harry S. Truman intervened again and dispatched the 7th Fleet into the Taiwan Straits to prevent hostilities between Taiwan and mainland China.^[65] In the Treaty of San Francisco and the Treaty of Taipei, which came into force respectively on 28 April 1952 and 5 August 1952, Japan formally renounced all right, claim and title to Taiwan and Penghu, and renounced all treaties signed with China before 1942. Neither treaty specified to whom sovereignty over the islands should be transferred, because the United States and the United Kingdom disagreed on whether the ROC or the PRC was the legitimate government of China.^[66] Continuing conflict of the Chinese Civil War through the 1950s, and intervention by the United States notably resulted in legislation such as the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty and the Formosa Resolution of 1955.

As the Chinese Civil War continued without truce, the government built up military fortifications throughout Taiwan. Within this effort, former KMT soldiers built the now famous Central Cross-Island Highway through the Taroko Gorge in the 1950s. The two sides would continue to engage in sporadic military clashes with seldom publicized details well into the 1960s on the nearby islands with an unknown number of night raids. During the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis in September 1958, Taiwan's landscape saw Nike-Hercules missile batteries added, with the formation of the 1st Missile Battalion Chinese Army that would not be deactivated until 1997. Newer generations of missile batteries have since replaced the Nike Hercules systems throughout the island.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the ROC maintained an authoritarian, single-party government while its economy became industrialized and technology oriented. This rapid economical growth, known as the Taiwan Miracle, was the result of a fiscal regime independent from mainland China and backed up, among others, by the support of US funds and demand for Taiwanese products.^[67]^[68] In the 1970s, Taiwan was economically the second fastest growing state in Asia after Japan.^[69] Taiwan, along with Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore, became known as one of the Four Asian Tigers. Because of the Cold War, most Western nations and the United Nations regarded the ROC as the sole legitimate government of China until the 1970s. Later, especially after the termination of the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, most nations switched diplomatic recognition to the PRC (see United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758).

Up until the 1970s, the government was regarded by Western critics as undemocratic for upholding martial law, for severely repressing any political opposition and for controlling media. The KMT did not allow the creation of new parties and those that existed did not seriously compete with the KMT. Thus, competitive democratic elections did not exist.^[70]^[71]^[72]^[73]^[74] From the late 1970s to the 1990s, however, Taiwan went through reforms and social changes that transformed it from an authoritarian state to a democracy. In 1979, a pro-democracy protest known as the Kaohsiung Incident took place in Kaohsiung to celebrate Human Rights Day. Although the protest was rapidly crushed by the authorities, it is today considered as the main event that united Taiwan's opposition.^[75]

Democratization [link]

Main article: Democratic reforms

Chiang Ching-kuo, Chiang Kai-shek's son and successor as the president, began to liberalize the political system in the mid-1980s. In 1984, the younger Chiang selected Lee Teng-hui, an ethnically Taiwanese and U.S.-educated technocrat, to be his vice president. In 1986, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was formed and inaugurated as the first opposition party in Taiwan to counter the KMT. A year later Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law. With the advent of democratization, the issue of the political status of Taiwan has resurfaced as a controversial issue (previously, discussion of anything other than unification under the ROC was taboo).

After the death of Chiang Ching-kuo in January 1988, Lee Teng-hui succeeded him and became the first ethnically Taiwanese president of the ROC. Lee continued to democratize the government and decrease the concentration of government authority in the hands of mainland Chinese. Under Lee, Taiwan underwent a process of localization in which Taiwanese culture and history were promoted over a pan-China viewpoint in contrast to earlier KMT policies which had promoted a Chinese identity. Lee's reforms included printing banknotes from the Central Bank rather than the Provincial Bank of Taiwan, and streamlining the Taiwan Provincial Government with most of its functions transferred to the Executive Yuan. Under Lee, the original members of the Legislative Yuan and National Assembly, elected in 1947 to represent mainland Chinese constituencies and having held the seats without re-election for more than four decades, were forced to resign in 1991. The previously nominal representation in the Legislative Yuan was brought to an end, reflecting the reality that the ROC had no jurisdiction over mainland China, and vice versa. Restrictions on the use of Taiwanese Hokkien in the broadcast media and in schools were also lifted.

Democratic reforms continued in the 1990s, with Lee Teng-hui re-elected in 1996, in the first direct presidential election in the history of the ROC.^[76] During the later years of Lee's administration, he was involved in corruption controversies relating to government release of land and weapons purchase, although no legal proceedings commenced. In 2000, Chen Shui-bian of the DPP was elected as the first non-KMT President and was re-elected to serve his second and last term since 2004. Polarized politics has emerged in Taiwan with the formation of the Pan-Blue Coalition of parties led by the KMT, favoring eventual Chinese reunification, and the Pan-Green Coalition of parties led by the DPP, favoring an eventual and official declaration of Taiwan independence.

On 30 September 2007, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party approved a resolution asserting a separate identity from China and called for the enactment of a new constitution for a "normal country". It also called for general use of "Taiwan" as the country's name, without abolishing its formal name, the Republic of China.^[77] The Chen administration also pushed for referendums on national defense and UN entry in the 2004 and 2008 elections, which failed due to voter turnout below the required legal threshold of 50% of all registered voters.^[78] The Chen administration was dogged by public concerns over reduced economic growth, legislative gridlock due to a pan-blue, opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan and corruption involving the First Family as well as government officials.^[79]^[80]

The KMT increased its majority in the Legislative Yuan in the January 2008 legislative elections, while its nominee Ma Ying-jeou went on to win the presidency in March of the same year, campaigning on a platform of increased economic growth, and better ties with the PRC under a policy of "mutual nondenial".^[78] Ma took office on 20 May 2008. Part of the rationale for campaigning for closer economic ties with the PRC stem from the strong economic growth China attained since joining the World Trade Organization. However, some analysts say that despite the election of Ma Ying-jeou, the diplomatic and military tensions with the PRC have not been reduced.^[81]

Geography [link]

Main article: Geography of Taiwan

Taiwan is mostly mountainous in the east, with gently sloping plains in the west. The Penghu Islands are west of the main island.

The island of Taiwan lies some 180 kilometers off the southeastern coast of China, across the Taiwan Strait, and has an area of 35,883 km² (13,855 sq mi).^[16] The East China Sea lies to the north, the Philippine Sea to the east, the Luzon Strait directly to the south and the South China Sea to the southwest.^[82] The shape of the main island of Taiwan is similar to a sweet potato seen in a south-to-north direction, and therefore, Taiwanese, especially the Min-nan division, often call themselves "children of the Sweet Potato."^[83]

The island is characterized by the contrast between the eastern two-thirds, consisting mostly of rugged mountains running in five ranges from the northern to the southern tip of the island, and the flat to gently rolling Chianan Plains in the west that are also home to most of Taiwan's population. Taiwan's highest point is Yu Shan (Jade Mountain) at 3,952 meters, and there are five other peaks over 3,500 meters.^[82] This makes it the world's fourth-highest island.^[84]

Taiwan lies on the Tropic of Cancer, and its climate is marine tropical.^[85] The northern part of the island has a rainy season that lasts from January through late March during the northeast monsoon, and experiences meiyu in May.^[86] The entire island experiences hot, humid weather from June through September. The middle and southern parts of the island do not have an extended monsoon season during the winter months. Typhoons are common between July and October.^[82]^[87]

The Penghu Islands, 50 km west of the main island, have an area of 126.9 km² (49.0 sq mi). More distant islands controlled by the Republic of China are the Kinmen, Wuchiu and Matsu Islands off the coast of Fujian, with a total area of 180.5 km² (69.7 sq mi), and the Pratas Islands and Taiping Island in the South China Sea, with a total area of 2.9 km² (1.1 sq mi) and no permanent inhabitants.^[16]

Geology [link]

Main article: Geology of Taiwan

Dabajian Mountain

The island of Taiwan lies in a complex tectonic area between the Yangtze Plate to the west and north, the Okinawa Plate on the north-east, and the Philippine Mobile Belt on the east and south. The upper part of the crust on the island is primarily made up of a series of terranes, mostly old island arcs which have been forced together by the collision of the forerunners of the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate. These have been further uplifted as a result of the detachment of a portion of the Eurasian Plate as it was subducted beneath remnants of the Philippine Sea Plate, a process which left the crust under Taiwan more buoyant.^[88]

The east and south of Taiwan are a complex system of belts formed by, and part of the zone of, active collision between the North Luzon Trough portion of the Luzon Volcanic Arc and South China, where accreted portions of the Luzon Arc and Luzon forearc form the eastern Coastal Range and parallel inland Longitudinal Valley of Taiwan respectively.^[89]

The major seismic faults in Taiwan correspond to the various suture zones between the various terranes. These have produced major quakes throughout the history of the island. On 21 September 1999, a 7.3 quake known as the "921 earthquake" killed more than 2,400 people. The seismic hazard map for Taiwan by the USGS shows 9/10 of the island as the highest rating (most hazardous).^[90]

Political and legal status [link]

Main articles: Political status of Taiwan and Legal status of Taiwan

The political and legal status of Taiwan is a contentious issue. The People's Republic of China (PRC) claims that the Republic of China government is illegitimate, referring to it as the "Taiwan Authority". The ROC, however, with its own constitution, independently elected president and a large army, continues to view itself as an independent sovereign state. The territory of Taiwan has never been controlled by the PRC.^[91]^[92] Internationally, there is controversy on whether the ROC still exists as a state or a defunct state per international law due to the loss of membership / recognition in the United Nations and lack of wide diplomatic recognition. According to a poll taken by the TVBS in 2010, the majority of Taiwanese residents—64%—opt for the status quo (i.e. no independence, no unification with mainland China), while 19% favor independence and 5% unification.^[93]

Relations with the PRC [link]

Foreign relations [link]

Main article: Foreign relations of the Republic of China

A map of the world showing 23 highlighted countries. Only a few small countries recognize the ROC, mainly in Central, South America and Africa.

Countries maintaining diplomatic relations with the ROC

diplomatic relations and embassy in Taipei

unofficial relations (see text)

Before 1928, the foreign policy of Republican China was complicated by a lack of internal unity—competing centers of power all claimed legitimacy. This situation changed after the defeat of the Peiyang Government by the Kuomintang, which led to widespread diplomatic recognition of the Republic of China.^[97]

After the KMT's retreat to Taiwan, most countries, notably the countries in the Western Bloc, continued to maintain relations with the ROC. Due to diplomatic pressure, recognition gradually eroded and many countries switched recognition to the PRC in the 1970s.

The PRC refuses to have diplomatic relations with any nation that recognizes the ROC, and requires all nations with which it has diplomatic relations to make a statement recognizing its claims to Taiwan.^[98] As a result, there are only 23 states that have official diplomatic relations with the Republic of China. In practice, most countries view the ROC as an independent state and as such maintain unofficial relations with it.^[99]

The ROC maintains unofficial relations with most countries via de facto embassies and consulates called Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Offices (TECRO), with branch offices called "Taipei Economic and Cultural Offices" (TECO). Both TECRO and TECO are "unofficial commercial entities" of the ROC in charge of maintaining diplomatic relations, providing consular services (i.e. visa applications), and serving the national interests of the ROC in other countries.^[100]

File:Taiwanarmspic1.jpg

F-16 fighters sold to the ROC by the United States

The United States is one of the main allies of the ROC and, since the Taiwan Relations Act passed in 1979, the United States has sold arms and provided military training to the Republic of China Armed Forces.^[101] This situation continues to be an issue for the People's Republic of China which considers US involvement disruptive to the stability of the region. In January 2010, the Obama administration announced its intention to sell $6.4 billion worth of military hardware to Taiwan. As a consequence, the PRC threatened the US with economic sanctions and warned that their cooperation on international and regional issues could suffer.^[102]

The official position of the United States is that the PRC is expected to "use no force or threat[en] to use force against Taiwan" and the ROC is to "exercise prudence in managing all aspects of Cross-Strait relations." Both are to refrain from performing actions or espousing statements "that would unilaterally alter Taiwan's status."^[103]

Participation in international events and organizations [link]

The flag of the ROC, under the name "Chinese Taipei" (中華台北), during the Olympic Games

The ROC was a founding member of the United Nations and held the seat of China on the Security Council and other UN bodies until 1971, when it was expelled by General Assembly Resolution 2758 and replaced in all UN organs with the PRC. Each year since 1992, the ROC has petitioned the UN for entry but its applications have not made it past committee.^[104]

Due to its limited international recognition, the Republic of China is a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, represented by a government-funded organization, the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD) under the name "Taiwan".^[105]^[106]

Also due to its One China policy, the PRC only participates in international organizations where the ROC is not recognized as a sovereign country. Most member states, including the United States, do not wish to discuss the issue of the ROC's political status for fear of souring diplomatic ties with the PRC.^[107] However, both the US and Japan publicly support the ROC's bid for membership in the World Health Organization as an observer.^[108] However, though the ROC has applied for WHO membership every year since 1997 under various denominations, their efforts have consistently been blocked by PRC.

Due to PRC pressure, the ROC is forced to use the name "Chinese Taipei" in international events such as the Olympic Games where the PRC is also a party.^[109] The ROC is typically barred from using its national anthem and national flag in international events due to PRC pressure; ROC spectators attending events such as the Olympics are often barred from bringing ROC flags into venues.^[110] The ROC is able to participate as "China" in organizations that the PRC does not participate in, such as the World Organization of the Scout Movement.

Opinions within Taiwan [link]

Within Taiwan, opinions are polarized between those supporting unification, represented by the Pan-Blue Coalition of parties, and those supporting independence, represented by the Pan-Green Coalition.

The KMT, the largest Pan-Blue party, supports the status quo for the indefinite future with a stated ultimate goal of unification. However, it does not support unification in the short term with the PRC as such a prospect would be unacceptable to most of its members and the public.^[111] Ma Ying-jeou, chairman of the KMT and the incumbent president of the ROC, has set out democracy, economic development to a level near that of Taiwan, and equitable wealth distribution as the conditions that the PRC must fulfill for reunification to occur.^[112]

The DPP, the largest Pan-Green party, officially seeks independence, but in practice also supports the status quo because its members and the public would not accept the risk of provoking the PRC.^[113]^[114]

Former President Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party stated during his years of administration that any decision should be decided through a public referendum of the people of the ROC. Both parties' current foreign policy positions support actively advocating ROC participation in international organizations, but while the KMT accepts the One-China principle, the DPP encourages the participation of Taiwan as a sovereign state.

On 2 September 2008, El Sol de México asked President Ma about his views on the subject of "two Chinas" and if there was a solution for the sovereignty issues between the two. The president replied that the relations are neither between two Chinas nor two states. It is a special relationship. Further, he stated that the sovereignty issues between the two cannot be resolved at present, but he quoted the "1992 Consensus", currently accepted by both the Kuomingtang and the Communist Party of China, as a temporary measure until a solution becomes available.^[115]

The relationship with the PRC and the related issues of Taiwanese independence and Chinese reunification continue to dominate politics.^[116] For any particular resolution, public favor shifts greatly with small changes in wording, illustrating the complexity of public opinion on the topic.^{[citation needed]}

Government [link]

Main article: Government of the Republic of China

A tall and large building with a tower in its center. A large road surrounded by trees leads to it.

The Presidential Building in Taipei has housed the Office of the President of the Republic of China since 1950

The government of the Republic of China was founded on the Constitution of the ROC and its Three Principles of the People, which states that the ROC "shall be a democratic republic of the people, to be governed by the people and for the people."^[117] The government is divided into five administrative branches (Yuan): the Executive Yuan (cabinet), the Legislative Yuan, the Judicial Yuan, the Control Yuan (audit agency), and the Examination Yuan (civil service examination agency). The Pan-Blue Coalition and Pan-Green Coalition are presently the dominant political blocs in the Republic of China.

An East Asian man in suit smiling to the crowd

Ma Ying-jeou, President of the Republic of China

The head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces is the president, who is elected by popular vote for a maximum of 2 four-year terms on the same ticket as the vice-president. The president has authority over the Yuan. The president appoints the members of the Executive Yuan as his cabinet, including a premier, who is officially the President of the Executive Yuan; members are responsible for policy and administration.^[117]

The main legislative body is the unicameral Legislative Yuan with 113 seats. Seventy-three are elected by popular vote from single-member constituencies; thirty-four are elected based on the proportion of nationwide votes received by participating political parties in a separate party list ballot; and six are elected from two three-member aboriginal constituencies. Members serve four-year terms. Originally the unicameral National Assembly, as a standing constitutional convention and electoral college, held some parliamentary functions, but the National Assembly was abolished in 2005 with the power of constitutional amendments handed over to the Legislative Yuan and all eligible voters of the Republic via referendums.^[117]

The premier is selected by the president without the need for approval from the legislature, but the legislature can pass laws without regard for the president, as neither he nor the Premier wields veto power.^[117] Thus, there is little incentive for the president and the legislature to negotiate on legislation if they are of opposing parties. After the election of the pan-Green's Chen Shui-bian as President in 2000, legislation repeatedly stalled because of deadlock with the Legislative Yuan, which was controlled by a pan-Blue majority.^[118] Historically, the ROC has been dominated by strongman single party politics. This legacy has resulted in executive powers currently being concentrated in the office of the president rather than the premier, even though the constitution does not explicitly state the extent of the president's executive power.^[119]

The Judicial Yuan is the highest judicial organ. It interprets the constitution and other laws and decrees, judges administrative suits, and disciplines public functionaries. The president and vice-president of the Judicial Yuan and additional thirteen justices form the Council of Grand Justices.^[120] They are nominated and appointed by the president, with the consent of the Legislative Yuan. The highest court, the Supreme Court, consists of a number of civil and criminal divisions, each of which is formed by a presiding judge and four associate judges, all appointed for life. In 1993, a separate constitutional court was established to resolve constitutional disputes, regulate the activities of political parties and accelerate the democratization process. There is no trial by jury but the right to a fair public trial is protected by law and respected in practice; many cases are presided over by multiple judges.^[117]

Like most Asian democracies, Taiwan still allows for capital punishment. Efforts have been made by the government to reduce the number of executions, although they have not been able to completely abolish the punishment. As of 2006, about 80% of Taiwanese want to keep the death penalty.^[121]

The Control Yuan is a watchdog agency that monitors (controls) the actions of the executive. It can be considered a standing commission for administrative inquiry and can be compared to the Court of Auditors of the European Union or the Government Accountability Office of the United States.^[117] The Control Yuan is sometimes also compared to an ombudsman or national human rights institution.^{[citation needed]} The Examination Yuan is in charge of validating the qualification of civil servants. It is based on the old imperial examination system used in pre-modern China. It can be compared to the European Personnel Selection Office of the European Union or the Office of Personnel Management of the United States.^[117]

Politics [link]

Main article: Politics of the Republic of China

Tangwai (Independent) Taiwanese politician Wu San-lian (2L) celebrated his landslide victory (65.5%) in the first-time Taipei mayoral election in January 1951 with his supporters.

The constitution of the Republic of China was drafted before the fall of mainland China to the Communists. It was created by the KMT for the purpose of all of its claimed territory, including Taiwan, even though the Chinese Communist party boycotted the drafting of the constitution. The constitution went into effect on 25 December 1947.^[122]

The ROC remained under martial law from 1948 until 1987 and much of the constitution was not in effect. Political reforms beginning in the late 1970s and continuing through the early 1990s liberalized the country and transformed into a multiparty democracy. Since the lifting of martial law, the Republic of China has democratized and reformed, suspending constitutional components that were originally meant for the whole of China. This process of amendment continues. In 2000, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the presidency, ending KMT's continuous control of the government. In May 2005, a new National Assembly was elected to reduce the number of parliamentary seats and implement several constitutional reforms. These reforms have been passed; the National Assembly has essentially voted to abolish itself and transfer the power of constitutional reform to the popular ballot.^[123]

Major camps [link]

Emblem of the Democratic Progressive Party, the main Pan-Green Coalition party.

Emblem of the Kuomintang, the main Pan-Blue Coalition party.

The tension between the PRC and Taiwan colors most of the political life, and any government move towards "Taiwan independence" is met by threat of military attack from the PRC.^[124] The PRC's official policy is to reunify Taiwan and mainland China under the formula of "one country, two systems" and refuses to renounce the use of military force, especially should Taiwan seek a declaration of independence.^[125]

The political scene is generally divided into two major camps in terms of views on how Taiwan should relate to China or the PRC, referred to as Cross-Strait relations. It is the main political difference between two camps: the Pan-Blue Coalition, composed of the pro-unification Kuomintang, People First Party (PFP), and New Party, who believe that the ROC is the sole legitimate government of "China" (including Taiwan) and supports eventual Chinese reunification. The opposition Pan-Green Coalition is composed of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU). It regards Taiwan as an independent, sovereign state synonymous with the ROC, opposes the definition that Taiwan is part of "China", and seeks wide diplomatic recognition and an eventual declaration of formal Taiwan independence.^[126] The Pan-Green camp tends to favor emphasizing the Republic of China as being a distinct country from the People's Republic of China. Thus, in September 2007, the then ruling Democratic Progressive Party approved a resolution asserting separate identity from China and called for the enactment of a new constitution for a "normal country". It called also for general use of "Taiwan" as the country's name, without abolishing its formal name, the "Republic of China".^[127] Some members of the coalition, such as former President Chen Shui-bian, argue that it is unnecessary to proclaim independence because "Taiwan is already an independent, sovereign country" and the Republic of China is the same as Taiwan.^[128] Despite being a member of KMT prior to and during his presidency, Lee Teng-hui also held a similar view and was a supporter of the Taiwanization movement.^[129]

Pan-Blue members generally support the concept of the One-China policy, which states that there is only one China and that its only government is the ROC. They favor eventual re-unification of China.^[130] The more mainstream Pan-Blue position is to lift investment restrictions and pursue negotiations with the PRC to immediately open direct transportation links. Regarding independence, the mainstream Pan-Blue position is to maintain the status quo, while refusing immediate reunification.^[111] President Ma Ying-jeou stated that there will be no unification nor declaration of independence during his presidency.^[131]^[132] As of 2009, Pan-Blue members usually seek to improve relationships with mainland China, with a current focus on improving economic ties.^[133]

Current political issues [link]

The dominant political issue in Taiwan is its relationship with the PRC. For almost 60 years, there were no direct transportation links, including direct flights, between Taiwan and mainland China. This was a problem for many Taiwanese businesses that had opened factories or branches in mainland China. The former DPP administration feared that such links would lead to tighter economic and political integration with mainland China, and in the 2006 Lunar New Year Speech, President Chen Shui-bian called for managed opening of links. Direct weekend charter flights between Taiwan and mainland China began in July 2008 under the current KMT government, and the first direct daily charter flights took off in December 2008.^[134]

Other major political issues include the passage of an arms procurement bill that the United States authorized in 2001.^[135] In 2008, however, the United States were reluctant to send over more arms to Taiwan out of fear that it would hinder the recent improvement of ties between the PRC and the ROC.^[136] Another major political issue is the establishment of a National Communications Commission to take over from the Government Information Office, whose advertising budget exercised great control over the media.^[137]

The politicians and their parties have themselves become major political issues. Corruption among some DPP administration officials has been exposed. In early 2006, President Chen Shui-bian was linked to possible corruption. The political effect on President Chen Shui-bian was great, causing a divide in the DPP leadership and supporters alike. It eventually led to the creation of a political camp led by ex-DPP leader Shih Ming-teh which believes the president should resign. The KMT assets continue to be another major issue, as it was once the richest political party in the world.^[138] Nearing the end of 2006, KMT's chairman Ma Ying-jeou was also hit by corruption controversies, although he has since then been cleared of any wrong-doings by the courts.^[139] Since completing his second term as President, Chen Shui-bian has been charged with corruption and money laundering.^[140]

The merger of the KMT and People First Party (PFP) was thought to be certain, but a string of defections from the PFP to the KMT have increased tensions within the Pan-Blue camp.^[141]^[142]

National identity [link]

Main articles: Taiwanese identity and Chinese nationalism

Roughly 84% of Taiwan's population descends from Han Chinese who migrated from mainland China between 1661 and 1895. Another significant fraction descends from Han Chinese who immigrated from mainland China in the 1940s and 1950s. But between 1895 and the present, Taiwan and mainland China have shared a common government for only 4 years. The shared cultural origin combined with several hundred years of geographical separation, some hundred years of political separation and foreign influences, as well as hostility between the rival ROC and PRC have resulted in national identity being a contentious issue with political overtones. Since democratization and the lifting of martial law, a distinct Taiwanese identity (as opposed to Taiwanese identity as a subset of a Chinese identity) is often at the heart of political debates. Its acceptance makes the island distinct from mainland China, and therefore may be seen as a step towards forming a consensus for de jure Taiwan independence.^[143] The pan-green camp supports a distinct Taiwanese identity, while the pan-blue camp supports a Chinese identity only.^[130] The KMT has downplayed this stance in the recent years and now supports a Taiwanese identity as part of a Chinese identity.^[144]^[145]

According to a survey conducted in March 2009, 49% of the respondents consider themselves as Taiwanese only, and 44% of the respondents consider themselves as Taiwanese and Chinese. 3% consider themselves as only Chinese.^[93] Another survey, conducted in Taiwan in July 2009, showed that 82.8% of respondents consider that the ROC and the PRC are two separate countries developing each on its own.^[146] A recent survey conducted in December 2009 showed that 62% of the respondents consider themselves as Taiwanese only, and 22% of the respondents consider themselves as both Taiwanese and Chinese. 8% consider themselves as only Chinese. The survey also shows that among 18–29 year old respondents, 75% consider themselves as Taiwanese only.^[147]

Percentage of Taiwanese residents who consider themselves Taiwanese, Chinese or Taiwanese and Chinese according to various surveys.
Survey	Taiwanese	Chinese	Taiwanese and Chinese
Research, Development, and Evaluation Commission, Executive Yuan (April 2008)^[148]	67.1%	13.6%	15.2%
TVBS Poll Center (June 2008)^[148]	45%	4%	45%
Common Wealth Magazine (December 2009)^[147]	62%	8%	22%
National Chengchi University (June 2010)^[149]	51.6%	3.8%	40.4%
TVBS Poll Center (March 2009)^[93]^[150]	72%	16%	(not an option for this question)
TVBS Poll Center (March 2009)^[93]^[151]	49%	3%	44%

Military [link]

Main article: Republic of China Armed Forces

A light fighter aircraft on the ground surrounded by two men who are maintaining it.

Republic of China Air Force Indigenous Defense Fighter

The Republic of China Army takes its roots in the National Revolutionary Army, which was established by Sun Yat-sen in 1925 in Guangdong with a goal of reunifying China under the Kuomintang. When the People's Liberation Army won the Chinese Civil War, much of the National Revolutionary Army retreated to Taiwan along with the government. It was later reformed into the Republic of China Army. Units which surrendered and remained in mainland China were either disbanded or incorporated into the People's Liberation Army.

Today, the Republic of China maintains a large and technologically advanced military, mainly as defense against the constant threat of invasion by the PRC under the Anti-Secession Law of the People's Republic of China.^[95] From 1949 to the 1970s, the primary mission of the military was to "retake the mainland" through the Project National Glory. As this mission has shifted to defense, the ROC military has begun to shift emphasis from the traditionally dominant Army to the air force and navy. Control of the armed forces has also passed into the hands of the civilian government.^[152] As the ROC military shares historical roots with the KMT, the older generation of high ranking officers tends to have Pan-Blue sympathies. However, many have retired and there are many more non-mainlanders enlisting in the armed forces in the younger generations, so the political leanings of the military have moved closer to the public norm in Taiwan.^[153]

The ROC began a force reduction program to scale down its military from a level of 450,000 in 1997 to 380,000 in 2001.^[154] As of 2009, the armed forces of the ROC number approximately 300,000,^[155] with nominal reserves totaling 3.6 million as of 2005.^[156] Conscription remains universal for qualified males reaching age eighteen, but as a part of the reduction effort many are given the opportunity to fulfill their draft requirement through alternative service and are redirected to government agencies or defense related industries.^[157] Current plans call for a transition to a predominantly professional army over the next decade.^[158]^[159] Conscription periods are planned to decrease from 14 months to 12.^[160] In the last months of the Bush administration, Taipei took the decision to reverse the secular trend of declining defense spending, at a time when most Asian countries kept on reducing their military expenditures. It also decided to modernize both defensive and offensive capabilities. Taipei still keeps a large military apparatus relative to the island’s population: defense expenditures for 2008 were NTD 334 billion (approximately U.S. $10.5 billion), which accounted for 2.94% of GDP.

Two men in military uniform getting off an helicopter. They are both running and carrying a weapon.

ROC Military Police special forces disembarking from a UH-1H helicopter from the ROC Army 602nd Air Cavalry Brigade during a counter-terrorism exercise (ROC Ministry of National Defense)

The armed forces' primary concern at this time is the possibility of an attack by the PRC, consisting of a naval blockade, airborne assault and/or missile bombardment. Four upgraded Kidd class destroyers were recently purchased from the United States, significantly upgrading Taiwan's air defense and submarine hunting abilities.^[161] The Ministry of National Defense planned to purchase diesel-powered submarines and Patriot anti-missile batteries from the United States, but its budget has been stalled repeatedly by the opposition-Pan-Blue Coalition controlled legislature. The defense package was stalled from 2001–2007 where it was finally passed through the legislature and the US responded on 3 October 2008, with a $6.5 billion arms package including PAC III Anti-Air defense systems, AH-64D Apache Attack helicopters and other arms and parts.^[162] A significant amount of military hardware has been bought from the United States, and, as of 2009, continues to be legally guaranteed by the Taiwan Relations Act.^[101] In the past, France and the Netherlands have also sold military weapons and hardware to the ROC, but they almost entirely stopped in the 1990s under pressure of the PRC.^[163]^[164]

The first line of defense against invasion by the PRC is the ROC's own armed forces. Current ROC military doctrine is to hold out against an invasion or blockade until the US military responds.^[165] There is, however, no guarantee in the Taiwan Relations Act or any other treaty that the United States will defend Taiwan, even in the event of invasion.^[166] The joint declaration on security between the US and Japan signed in 1996 may imply that Japan would be involved in any response. However, Japan has refused to stipulate whether the "area surrounding Japan" mentioned in the pact includes Taiwan, and the precise purpose of the pact is unclear.^[167] The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS Treaty) may mean that other US allies, such as Australia, could theoretically be involved.^[168] In practice, the risk of losing economic ties with China may prevent Australia from taking action.^[169] The United States, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada, Chile, and Peru conduct maritime exercises in the Pacific Ocean every 2 years called RIMPAC. They are conducted to promote stability and to be able to respond in case of an armed conflict in the region – that includes an invasion of Taiwan by China.^[170]

Administrative divisions [link]

Main article: Administrative divisions of the Republic of China

Administrative divisions since 2010

Lienchiang County
(Matsu)

Fujian Province

According to the 1947 constitution, written and promulgated whilst the ROC government still controlled mainland China, the territory of the ROC consisted of provinces, special municipalities, as well as Mongolia^[171] and Tibet. Accordingly, when the ROC retreated to Taiwan in 1949, its claimed territory consisted of 35 provinces, 12 special municipalities, 1 special administrative region, as well as Mongolia^[171] and Tibet. However, since its retreat, the ROC has controlled only Taiwan Province and some islands of Fujian Province. The ROC also controls the Pratas Islands (Dong-Sha) and Taiping Island in the Spratly Islands, which are part of the disputed South China Sea Islands. They were placed under Kaohsiung administration after the retreat to Taiwan.^[172]

Since 1949, the government has made some changes in the area under its control. Taipei became a special municipality in 1967 and Kaohsiung in 1979. The two provincial governments were "streamlined", with their functions transferred to the central government (Fujian in 1956 and Taiwan in 1998).^[173] In 2010, New Taipei, Taichung and Tainan were upgraded to special municipalities. This brought the top-level divisions of the ROC to their current state:^[174]

Level	Division type					Total
1st	Special municipality (直轄市 zhíxiáshì) (5)	Province (省 shěng) (2) (Streamlined)				22
2nd	Special municipality (直轄市 zhíxiáshì) (5)	Provincial city (市 shì) (3)	County (縣 xiàn) (14)			22
3rd	District (區 qū) (157)		County-controlled city (縣轄市 xiànxiáshì) (17)	Urban Township (鎮 zhèn) (41)	Rural Township (鄉 xiāng) (153)	368
4th	Village (里 lǐ)				Village (村 cūn)	7,835
5th	Neighborhood (鄰 lín)					147,877

According to Article 4 of the Local Government Act, laws pertaining to special municipalities also apply to counties with a population exceeding 2 million. This provision is currently applied only to Taoyuan County.^[175]

Economy [link]

Main articles: Economy of Taiwan and Economic history of Taiwan

Photo of a high tower against a blue sky.

Taipei 101 was the world's tallest building from its opening in 2004 until 2010.

The quick industrialization and rapid growth of Taiwan during the latter half of the 20th century has been called the "Taiwan Miracle". Taiwan is one of the "Four Asian Tigers" alongside Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore.

Japanese rule prior to and during World War II brought changes in the public and private sectors, most notably in the area of public works, which enabled rapid communications and facilitated transport throughout much of the island. The Japanese also improved public education and made it compulsory for all Taiwanese citizens.

By 1945, hyperinflation was in progress in mainland China and Taiwan as a result of the war with Japan. To isolate Taiwan from it, the Nationalist government created a new currency area for the island, and started a price stabilization program. These efforts helped significantly slow the inflation.

When the KMT government fled to Taiwan it brought millions of taels of gold and the foreign currency reserve of mainland China to the island, which, according to the KMT stabilized prices and reduced hyperinflation.^[176] Perhaps more importantly, as part of its retreat to Taiwan, the KMT brought the intellectual and business elites from Mainland China.^[177] The KMT government instituted many laws and land reforms that it had never effectively enacted on mainland China. The government also implemented a policy of import-substitution, attempting to produce imported goods domestically. Much of this was made possible through US economic aid, subsidizing the higher cost of domestic production.

In 1950, with the outbreak of the Korean War, the US began an aid program which resulted in fully stabilized prices by 1952.^[178] The KMT government instituted many laws and land reforms that it had never effectively enacted on mainland China; it implemented a policy of import-substitution, and it attempted to produce imported goods domestically. Much of this was made possible through US economic aid, subsidizing the higher cost of domestic production.

In 1962, Taiwan had a per-capita gross national product (GNP) of $170, placing its economy on a par with those of Zaire and Congo. By 2011 per-capita GNP, adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP), had risen to $37,000, contributing to a Human Development Index equivalent to that of other developed countries. Taiwan's HDI in 2007 is 0.943 (25th, very high),^[179] and stands at 0.868 in 2010 (18th, very high), according to the UN's new calculating method ("Inequality-adjusted HDI").

Taiwan High Speed Rail, with trains running at above 300 km/h, links Taipei and the southern port city of Kaohsiung in just 90 minutes.

Today Taiwan has a dynamic, capitalist, export-driven economy with gradually decreasing state involvement in investment and foreign trade. In keeping with this trend, some large government-owned banks and industrial firms are being privatized.^[180] Real growth in GDP has averaged about 8% during the past three decades. Exports have provided the primary impetus for industrialization. The trade surplus is substantial, and foreign reserves are the world's fifth largest.^[181] The Republic of China has its own currency, the New Taiwan dollar.

Since the beginning of the 1990s, the economic ties between Taiwan and Mainland China have been very prolific. As of 2008, more than US$150 billion^[182] have been invested in the PRC by Taiwanese companies, and about 10% of the Taiwanese labour force works in the PRC, often to run their own businesses.^[183] Although the economy of Taiwan benefits from this situation, some have expressed the view that the island has become increasingly dependent on the Mainland Chinese economy. A 2008 white paper by the Department of Industrial Technology states that "Taiwan should seek to maintain stable relation with China while continuing to protect national security, and avoiding excessive 'Sinicization' of Taiwanese economy."^[184] Others argue that close economic ties between Taiwan and Mainland China would make any military intervention by the PLA against Taiwan very costly, and therefore less probable.^[185]

Taiwan’s total trade in 2010 reached an all-time high of US$526.04 billion, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Finance. Both exports and imports for the year reached record levels, totaling US$274.64 billion and US$251.4 billion, respectively.^[186]

Paddy field in Yilan County

In 2001, agriculture constituted only 2% of GDP, down from 35% in 1952.^[187] Traditional labor-intensive industries are steadily being moved offshore and with more capital and technology-intensive industries replacing them. High-technology industrial parks have sprung up in every region in Taiwan. The ROC has become a major foreign investor in the PRC, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam. It is estimated that some 50,000 Taiwanese businesses and 1,000,000 businesspeople and their dependents are established in the PRC.^[188]

Because of its conservative financial approach and its entrepreneurial strengths, Taiwan suffered little compared with many of its neighbors from the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. Unlike its neighbors, South Korea and Japan, the Taiwanese economy is dominated by small and medium sized businesses, rather than the large business groups. The global economic downturn, however, combined with poor policy coordination by the new administration and increasing bad debts in the banking system, pushed Taiwan into recession in 2001, the first whole year of negative growth since 1947. Due to the relocation of many manufacturing and labor intensive industries to the PRC, unemployment also reached a level not seen since the 1970s oil crisis. This became a major issue in the 2004 presidential election. Growth averaged more than 4% in the 2002–2006 period and the unemployment rate fell below 4%.^[189]

Since the global financial crisis starting with United States in 2007, the unemployment rate has risen to over 5.9% and Economic Growth fallen to –2.9%.^{[citation needed]} However, Taiwan managed to emerge from the crisis in very good shape. In 2010, economic growth reached 10%, the highest rate in almost 30 years, international trade jumped more than 39% to US$526.04 billion, and the job market rose with most businesses set to recruit. As a result, the IMF estimated Taiwan's 2010 GDP-PPP per capita at over US$34,700, surpassing those of Finland, France and Japan.

The ROC often joins international organizations under a politically neutral name. The ROC is a member of governmental trade organizations such as the World Trade Organization under the name Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu (Chinese Taipei) since 2002.^[190]

Education [link]

Main article: Education in Taiwan

The higher education system was established in Taiwan by Japan during the colonial period. However, after the Republic of China took over Taiwan from Japan in 1945, the system was promptly replaced by the same system as in mainland China which mixed with features of the Chinese and American educational systems.^[191]

The educational system includes six years of elementary school, three years of middle school, three years of high school, and four years of university.^[192] The system has been successful in that pupils in Taiwan boast some of the highest test scores in the world, especially in mathematics and science;^[193] However, it has also been criticized for placing excessive pressure on students and eschewing creativity in favor of rote memorization.^[194]^[195]

Many Taiwanese students attend cram schools, or bushiban, to improve skills and knowledge on problem solving against exams of subjects like mathematics, nature science, history and many others. Courses are available for most popular subjects. Lessons are organized in lectures, reviews, private tutorial sessions, and recitations.^[196]^[197]

As of 2003, the literacy rate in Taiwan is 96.1%.^[5]

Demographics [link]

Main article: Demographics of Taiwan

Taiwan's population was estimated in 2012 at 23,239,268, most of whom are on the island of Taiwan. The remainder live on Penghu (97,268), Kinmen (105,434) and the Matsu Islands (10,135).^[16]

Ethnic groups [link]

Main articles: Taiwanese aborigines and Taiwanese people

Bunun dancer in traditional aboriginal dress

About 98% of Taiwan's population is of Han Chinese ethnicity.^[5] Of these, 86% are descendants of early Han Chinese immigrants known as the "benshengren" (Chinese: 本省人; pinyin: Běnshěng rén; literally "home-province person") in Chinese.^[5] This group is often referred to "native Taiwanese" in English, but the term is also frequently used for the Taiwanese aborigines. The benshengren group contains two subgroups: the Hoklo people (70% of the total population), whose ancestors migrated from the coastal southern Fujian (Min-nan) region in the southeast of mainland China starting in the 17th century, and the Hakka (15% of the total population), whose ancestors originally migrated south to Guangdong, its surrounding areas and Taiwan.^[5]

About 12% of the population are known as waishengren (Chinese: 外省人; pinyin: Wàishěng rén; literally "out-of-province person"), composed of people who (or whose ancestors) emigrated from mainland China after the Chinese Civil War with the KMT government.^[5]

The other 2% of the population are about 521,000 Taiwanese aborigines, divided into 14 major groups. The Ami, Atayal, Bunun, Kavalan, Paiwan, Puyuma, Rukai, Saisiyat, Sakizaya, Sediq, Thao, Truku and Tsou live mostly in the eastern half of the island, while the Yami inhabit Orchid Island.^[5]^[198]^[199]

Languages [link]

Main article: Languages of Taiwan

Mandarin is the official national language and is spoken by the vast majority of the population of Taiwan. It has been the primary language of instruction in schools since the Japanese were forced out in the 1940s. Like Hong Kong and Macau, the ROC uses Traditional Chinese characters.^[200] However, a small number of characters differ from those used in Hong Kong and Macau.

Most Waishengren speak primarily Mandarin. The 70% of the population belonging to the Hoklo ethnic group speak Taiwanese (a variant of the Min Nan speech of Fujian province) as their mother tongue, in addition to Mandarin, and many others have some degree of understanding. The Hakka ethnic group (15% of the population) use the Hakka language.^[201] Although Mandarin is the language of instruction in schools and dominates television and radio, non-Mandarin languages or dialects have undergone a revival in public life in Taiwan, particularly since restrictions on their use were lifted in the 1990s.^[200]

People educated during the period of Japanese rule (1895–1945) were taught using Japanese as the medium of instruction. A declining number of people in the older generations understand little or no Mandarin, speaking only the Japanese they learned in school and the Taiwanese or Hakka they spoke at home.

Taiwan's indigenous languages, the Formosan languages, do not belong to the Chinese or Sino-Tibetan language family, but rather to the Austronesian language family. Their use among Taiwan's aboriginal minority groups has been in decline as usage of Mandarin has risen.^[200]

Religion [link]

Main article: Religion in Taiwan

Main sanctuary of Fo Guang Shan Monastery near Kaohsiung

The Constitution of the Republic of China protects people's freedom of religion and the practices of belief.^[202] There are approximately 18,718,600 religious followers in Taiwan as of 2005 (81.3% of total population) and 14–18% are non-religious. According to the 2005 census, of the 26 religions recognized by the ROC government, the five largest are: Buddhism (8,086,000 or 35.1%), Taoism (7,600,000 or 33%), I-Kuan Tao (810,000 or 3.5%), Protestantism (605,000 or 2.6%), and Roman Catholicism (298,000 or 1.3%).^[203] But according to the CIA World Factbook and other latest sources from US State Department or the Religious Affairs Section of the MOI, over 93% of Taiwanese are adherents of a combination of the polytheistic ancient Chinese religion, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism; 4.5% are adherents of Christianity, which includes Protestants, Catholics, and other, non-denominational, Christian groups; and less than 2.5% are adherents of other religions, such as Islam.^[5]^[204] Taiwanese aborigines comprise a notable subgroup among professing Christians: "...over 64 percent identify as Christian... Church buildings are the most obvious markers of Aboriginal villages, distinguishing them from Taiwanese or Hakka villages."^[205]

Confucian temple at Lotus Lake in Kaohsiung

Confucianism is a philosophy that deals with secular moral ethics, and serves as the foundation of both Chinese and Taiwanese culture. The majority of Taiwanese people usually combine the secular moral teachings of Confucianism with whatever religions they are affiliated with.

As of 2009, there are 14,993 temples in Taiwan, approximately one place of worship per 1,500 residents. 9,202 of those temples were dedicated to Taoism. In 2008, Taiwan had 3,262 Churches, an increase of 145.^[206]

Largest cities [link]

Main article: List of cities in Taiwan

The figures below are the 2011 estimates for the twenty largest urban populations within administrative city limits; a different ranking exists when considering the total metropolitan area populations (in such rankings the Taipei-Keelung metro area is by far the largest agglomeration).

v t e Largest cities or towns of Taiwan http://www.geonames.org/TW/largest-cities-in-taiwan.html
	Rank	City name	Division	Pop.
New Taipei Kaohsiung	1	New Taipei	New Taipei City	3,913,595	Taichung Taipei
	2	Kaohsiung	Kaohsiung City	2,773,855
	3	Taichung	Taichung City	2,662,770
	4	Taipei	Taipei City	2,647,122
	5	Tainan	Tainan City	1,876,706
	6	Hsinchu	Hsinchu City	419,384
	7	Taoyuan	Taoyuan County	409,796
	8	Keelung	Keelung City	380,281
	9	Zhongli	Taoyuan County	372,117
	10	Chiayi	Chiayi City	271,594

Public health [link]

Main article: Healthcare in Taiwan

Health care in Taiwan is managed by the Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI).^[207]

The current program was implemented in 1995, and is considered social insurance. The government health insurance program maintains compulsory insurance for citizens who are employed, impoverished, unemployed, or victims of natural disasters with fees that correlate to the individual and/or family income; it also maintains protection for non-citizens working in Taiwan. A standardized method of calculation applies to all persons and can optionally be paid by an employer or by individual contributions.^[208]

BNHI insurance coverage requires co-payment at the time of service for most services unless it is a preventative health service, for low-income families, veterans, children under three years old, or in the case of catastrophic diseases. Low income households maintain 100% premium coverage by the BNHI and co-pays are reduced for disabled or certain elderly peoples.

According to a recently published survey, out of 3,360 patients surveyed at a randomly chosen hospital, 75.1% of the patients said they are "very satisfied" with the hospital service; 20.5% said they are "okay" with the service. Only 4.4% of the patients said they are either "not satisfied" or "very not satisfied" with the service or care provided.^[209]

Taiwan has its own Center for Disease Control, and during the SARS outbreak in March of 2003 there were 347 confirmed cases. During the outbreak the CDC and local governments set up monitored stations throughout public transportation, recreational sites and other public areas. With full containment in July 2003, there has not been a case of SARS since.^[210]

As of 2006, the BNHI Facility Contract Distribution facilities total 17,259, including:^[211]

Number	Subject
16,174	outpatient-only facilities
5,701	dental clinics
2,422	Chinese medicine clinics
1,085	inpatient/outpatient facilities
437	local community hospitals
35	Chinese medicine hospitals
123	academic medical centers

Basic coverage areas of the insurance include:

In-patient care
Ambulatory care
Laboratory tests
Prescription and over-the-counter drugs
Dental services

Mental Illness
Traditional Chinese medicine
Home care
Preventative services (check-ups, prenatal care, pap smears)

In 2004, the infant mortality rate was 5.3 with 15 physicians and 63 hospital beds per 10,000 people. The life expectancy for males was 73.5 years and 79.7 years for females according to the World Health Report.

Other health related programs in Taiwan are the Centers for Disease Control^[212] and the Department of Health.^[213]

Culture [link]

Main article: Culture of Taiwan

Apo Hsu and the NTNU Symphony Orchestra on stage in the National Concert Hall

The cultures of Taiwan are a hybrid blend of various sources, incorporating elements of traditional Chinese culture, attributable to the historical and ancestry origin of the majority of its current residents, Japanese culture, traditional Confucianist beliefs, and increasingly Western values.

After their move to Taiwan, the Kuomintang imposed an official interpretation of traditional Chinese culture over Taiwan. The government launched a program promoting Chinese calligraphy, traditional Chinese painting, folk art, and Chinese opera.

The status of Taiwanese culture is debated.^[214] It is disputed whether Taiwanese culture is a regional form of Chinese culture or a distinct culture. Reflecting the continuing controversy surrounding the political status of Taiwan, politics continues to play a role in the conception and development of a Taiwanese cultural identity, especially in the prior dominant frame of a Taiwanese and Chinese dualism. In recent years, the concept of Taiwanese multiculturalism has been proposed as a relatively apolitical alternative view, which has allowed for the inclusion of mainlanders and other minority groups into the continuing re-definition of Taiwanese culture as collectively held systems of meaning and customary patterns of thought and behavior shared by the people of Taiwan.^[215] Identity politics, along with the over one hundred years of political separation from mainland China, has led to distinct traditions in many areas, including cuisine and music.

Wang Tuoh, a Taiwanese writer, literary critic and politician

One of Taiwan's greatest attractions is the National Palace Museum, which houses more than 650,000 pieces of Chinese bronze, jade, calligraphy, painting and porcelain, and is considered one of the greatest collections of Chinese art and objects in the world.^[216] The KMT moved this collection from the Forbidden City in Beijing in 1949 when it fled to Taiwan. The collection, estimated to be one-tenth of China's cultural treasures, is so extensive that only 1% is on display at any time. The PRC had said that the collection was stolen and that it legitimately belongs in China, but Taiwan has long defended its collection as a necessary act to protect the pieces from destruction, especially during the Cultural Revolution. Relations regarding this treasure have warmed recently as each side has agreed to lend relics to the other; Beijing Palace Museum Curator Zheng Xinmiao said that artifacts in both Chinese and Taiwanese museums are "China's cultural heritage jointly owned by people across the Taiwan Strait."^[217]

Karaoke, drawn from contemporary Japanese culture, is extremely popular in Taiwan, where it is known as KTV. KTV businesses operate in a hotel-like style, renting out small rooms and ballrooms varying on the number of guests in a group. Many KTV establishments partner with restaurants and buffets to form all-encompassing elaborate evening affairs for families, friends, or businessmen. Tour buses that travel around Taiwan have several TV's, equipped not for watching movies, but primarily for singing Karaoke. The entertainment counterpart of a KTV is an MTV, being found much less frequently out of the city. There, movies out on DVD can be selected and played in a private theater room. However MTV, more so than KTV, has a growing reputation for being a place that young couples will go to be alone and intimate.

Taiwan has a high density of 24-hour convenience stores, which, in addition to the usual services, provide services on behalf of financial institutions or government agencies such as collection of parking fees, utility bills, traffic violation fines, and credit card payments.^[218] They also provide a service for mailing packages.

Taiwanese culture has also influenced other cultures. Bubble tea and milk tea are available in Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Europe and North America. Taiwan television shows are popular in Singapore, Malaysia and other Asian countries. Taiwanese films have won various international awards at film festivals around the world. Ang Lee, a Taiwanese director, has directed critically acclaimed films such as: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Eat Drink Man Woman; Sense and Sensibility; Brokeback Mountain; and Lust, Caution. Other famous Taiwanese directors include Tsai Ming-Liang, Edward Yang and Hou Hsiao-hsien.

Sports [link]

Main article: Sport in Taiwan

Baseball is Taiwan's national sport and it is a popular spectator sport. One of the most famous Taiwanese baseball pitchers is Chien-Ming Wang, who is a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. Other notable players playing in the United States include Chin-hui Tsao who played for the Colorado Rockies (2003–2005) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (2007), Hong-Chih Kuo, Fu-Te Ni, and Chin-lung Hu. The Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan was established in 1989,^[219] and eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 2003. As of 2008^[update], the CPBL has four teams with average attendance of approximately 3,000 per game.

Yani Tseng with the 2011 Women's British Open trophy

Besides baseball, basketball is Taiwan's major sport.^[220] The national team's forth place at the 1959 FIBA World Championship remains the second best finish ever of an Asian nation to this date.

Taekwondo has also become a rather mature and successful sport in recent years. In the 2004 Olympics, Mu Yen Chu and Shih Hsin Chen proudly won the first two gold medals in men's flyweight event and women's flyweight event, respectively. Ever since the 2004 Olympics, Taiwan's taekwondo potential has become extremely prominent. Subsequent taekwondo competitors such as Shu Chun Yang successfully consolidated Taiwan's taekwondo culture.

The ROC participates in international sporting organizations and events under the name of "Chinese Taipei" due to the ambiguity of the political status of Taiwan. In 2009, Taiwan hosted two international sporting events on the island. The World Games 2009 were held in Kaohsiung between 16 and 26 July 2009. Taipei hosted the 21st Summer Deaflympics in September of the same year. Furthermore, Taipei will host the Summer Universiade in 2017.^[221]

Taiwan is also a major Asian country for Korfball. In 2008, Taiwan hosted the World Youth Korfball Championship and took the silver medal.^[222] In 2009, Taiwan's korfball team won a bronze medal at the World Game.^[223]

Yani Tseng is the most famous Taiwanese professional golfer currently playing on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She is the youngest player ever, male or female, to win five major championships and has been ranked number 1 in the Women's World Golf Rankings since February 2011.

Calendar [link]

Main article: Minguo calendar

A calendar with a picture of a Chinese man in the center. On top of it stands a flag with five horizontal stripes (red, yellow, blue, white and black).

A calendar that commemorates the first year of the Republic as well as the election of Sun Yat-sen as the provisional President

Taiwan uses two official calendars: the Gregorian calendar, and the Minguo calendar. The latter numbers years starting from 1911, the year of the founding of the Republic of China. For example, 2007 is the "96th year of the Republic",^[224] while its months and days are numbered according to the Gregorian calendar.

Usually, year numbering may use the Gregorian system as well as the ROC era system. For example, 3 May 2004, may be written 2004-05-03 or 93–05–03. The use of two different calendar systems in Taiwan may be confusing, in particular for foreigners. For instance, products for export marked using the Minguo calendar can be misunderstood as having an expiration date 11 years earlier than intended.^[225]

Taiwan also uses the lunar calendar for traditional festivals such as the Chinese New Year, the Lantern Festival, and the Dragon Boat Festival.^[226]

Notes [link]

^ See Names of the Republic of China.
^ Waishengren usually refers to people who moved from mainland China to Taiwan after 1949 when the KMT retreated to Taiwan due to the Chinese Civil War, and to their descendants born in Taiwan. It usually does not include citizens of the People's Republic of China who more recently moved to Taiwan.
^ Taiwanese aborigines are officially categorised into 14 separate ethnic groups by the Republic of China.
^ Although the territories controlled by the ROC imply that the demonym is "Taiwanese", some consider that it is "Chinese" due to the claims of the ROC over all of China. Taiwanese people have various opinions regarding their own national identity.
^ ^a ^b The UN has not calculated an HDI for the ROC, which is not a member nation. The ROC government calculated its HDI for 2010 to be 0.868, which would rank it 18th among countries.
^ The island of Taiwan covers an area of 36,008 km² (13,902.8 sq mi), while the total area under the jurisdiction of the ROC (Free Area) covers around 36,191 km² (13,973.4 sq mi).^[16]

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^ Enav, Peter (2008-05-16). "Unification with China unlikely ‘in our lifetimes’: president-elect". The China Post. http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national%20news/2008/05/16/156644/Unification-with.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-13. "'It is very difficult for us to see any unification talks even in our lifetimes,' Ma said. 'Taiwanese people would like to have economic interactions with the mainland, but obviously they don’t believe their political system is suitable for Taiwan.'"
^ Eckholm, Erik (2000-03-22). "Why a Victory in Taiwan Wasn't Enough for Some – The New York Times". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/22/world/why-a-victory-in-taiwan-wasn-t-enough-for-some.html. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
^ "Taiwan Flashpoint: Independence debate". BBC News. 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/asia_pac/04/taiwan_flashpoint/html/independence_debate.stm. "Since neither outcome looks likely in the short or even medium term, it is perhaps not surprising that opinion polls suggest most Taiwanese people want things to stay as they are, with the island's ambiguous status unresolved."
^ "Impulsa Taiwan la reconciliación" (in Spanish). El Sol de México. 2008-09-02. http://www.oem.com.mx/oem/notas/n836891.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-09. "Esencialmente, no definiríamos la relación a través del estrecho de Taiwan como una relación de dos países o dos Chinas, porque nuestra Constitución no lo permite. Nosotros definiríamos está relación como una relación muy especial, ya que la Constitución nuestra, igual que la Constitución de China continental, no permite la existencia de otro país dentro del territorio."
^ "The Official Position of the Republic of China on China's Passing of the Anti-secession (Anti-Separation) Law" (Press release). Mainland Affairs Council, ROC Executive Yuan. 2005-03-29. http://www.mac.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=68048&ctNode=5910&mp=3. "Section II-2: "'The Republic of China is an independent and sovereign state. Taiwan's sovereignty belongs to the 23 million people of Taiwan. Only the 23 million citizens of Taiwan may decide on the future of Taiwan.' This statement represents the greatest consensus within Taiwan's society today concerning the issues of national sovereignty and the future of Taiwan. It is also a common position shared by both the ruling and opposition parties in Taiwan. A recent opinion poll shows that more than 90% of the people of Taiwan agree with this position."
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Chapter 4: Government". The Republic of China Yearbook. Government Information Office, Republic of China (Taiwan). 2011. pp. 55–65. http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/yearbook/docs/ch04.pdf.
^ "Letter: KMT holds the key". Taipei Times. 2006-09-14. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2006/09/14/2003327608. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
^ Jayasuriya, Kanishka (1999). Law, capitalism and power in Asia. Routledge. p. 217. ISBN 978-0-415-19743-4. http://books.google.com/?id=OqGSrD9QhXcC&pg=PA217.
^ "Article 5 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan)". Office of the President. http://english.president.gov.tw/Default.aspx?tabid=435. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
^ Chang, Rich (2006-01-02). "Nation keeps death penalty, but reduces executions". Taipei Times. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2006/01/02/2003287050. Retrieved 2009-11-02.
^ Ginsburg, Tom (2003). Judicial review in new democracies. Cambridge University Press. p. 111. ISBN 0-521-52039-8. http://books.google.com/?id=qJrsouEjOZEC&pg=PA111.
^ "Taiwan assembly passes changes". BBC News. 2005-06-07. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4616043.stm.
^ "Country profile: Taiwan". BBC News. 2009-09-11. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/country_profiles/1285915.stm. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
^ "China's Threats, Editorial". Washington Post. 2000-02-23. http://www.fapa.org/chinawp/chinathreatwp223.html. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
^ BBC News, "Taiwan Flashpoint", "Officially, the DPP still favours eventual independence for Taiwan, while the KMT favours eventual re-unification."
^ "Taiwan party asserts separate identity from China". USATODAY.Com. 2007-09-30. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-09-30-taiwan_N.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
^ Crisis Group (6 June 2003). "Taiwan Strait I: What's Left of 'One China'?". International Crisis Group. Archived from the original on 9 July 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080709035143/http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1653&l=1. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
^ Shirk, Susan L. (2007). China: Fragile Superpower. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-530609-5.
^ ^a ^b Pares, Susan (2005-02-24). A political and economic dictionary of East Asia. Routledge. p. 267. ISBN 978-1-85743-258-9. http://books.google.com/?id=xJKePP5ATKUC. "The Pan-Blue coalition on the whole favours a Chinese nationalist identity and policies supporting reunification and increased economic links with the People's Republic of China."
^ "Ma refers to China as ROC territory in magazine interview". Taipei Times. 2008-10-08. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/10/08/2003425320.
^ "Taiwan and China in 'special relations': Ma". China Post. 2008-09-04. http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/china-taiwan%20relations/2008/09/04/173082/Taiwan-and.htm.
^ "World | Asia-Pacific | Taiwan opposition leader in China". BBC News. 2005-04-26. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4482617.stm. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
^ Yu, Sophie; Jane Macartney (16 December 2008). "Direct flights between China and Taiwan mark new era of improved relations". Times Online (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5346905.ece. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
^ Michael S. Chase (2008-09-04). "Caliber – Asian Survey – 48(4):703 – Abstract". Caliber.ucpress.net. DOI:10.1525/as.2008.48.4.703. http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1525/as.2008.48.4.703?journalCode=as. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
^ "US Keeps Taiwan at Arm's Length | David Isenberg | Cato Institute: Commentary". Cato.org. http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9556. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
^ "NCC relinquishes power over China-related media". 2007-08-09. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2007/08/09/2003373313. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
^ Bristow, Michael (2001-10-26). Wealth probe for 'world's richest' party. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1621048.stm. Retrieved 2007-11-12
^ "Court clears Ma of graft charges". 2008-04-25. http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/2008/04/25/153499/Court-clears.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
^ "Chen Shui-bian lied about Lien Chan-endorsed check". 2008-10-03. http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national%20news/2008/10/03/177135/Chen-Shui-bian.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
^ "No headway in KMT, PFP merger talks". http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-12/13/content_502869.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
^ "PFP rejects merger with KMT". 2002-05-01. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/archives/2002/05/01/0000134077. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
^ Shambaugh, David L. (2006). Power shift. University of California Press. pp. 179–183. ISBN 0-520-24570-9. http://books.google.com/?id=rMicZHVR_y4C&pg=PA179.
^ Okazaki, Hisahiko (30 December 2008). "No sign of a 'peace agreement'". The Japan Times Online. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20081230ho.html. Retrieved 2009-07-15. "For one thing, I believe there is recognition that the awareness of Taiwanese identity is now irreversible. The KMT government did things like rename the "Taiwan Post" to "Chunghwa Post" as soon as it came in. But it did not take much time to perceive that it would cause a backlash among the Taiwan populace. The cross-strait exchanges have also brought about opposition demonstrations from time to time. This appears to be one of the reasons for the abrupt decline in the approval rating of the Ma administration."
^ "10 Questions: Ma Ying-jeou". TIME. 10 July 2006. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1211639,00.html. Retrieved 2009-07-15. "I am Taiwanese as well as Chinese."
^ "Survey on President Ma’s Approval Rating and Cross-Strait Relations After First Year of Direct Flights". Global Views Survey Research Center. 24 July 2009. http://www.gvm.com.tw/gvsrc/200907_GVSRC_others_E.pdf. Retrieved 23 December 2009. ^{[dead link]}
^ ^a ^b "天下雜誌民調顯示：6成1民眾擔心經濟傾中 7成5年輕人自認台灣人" (in Traditional Chinese). http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/dec/16/today-t1.htm.
^ ^a ^b "附表十二:民眾對自我認同的看法" (in Traditional Chinese). http://www.mac.gov.tw/public/Attachment/973944270.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
^ "資料庫─台灣民眾台灣人/中國人認同趨勢分布" (in Traditional Chinese). National Chengchi University. http://esc.nccu.edu.tw/modules/tinyd2/content/TaiwanChineseID.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
^ Quote: "Table 12: In Taiwan, some people identify themselves as Chinese, some identify themselves as Taiwan (sic). Do you identify yourself as Taiwanese or Chinese? (Do not prompt both Taiwanese and Chinese)"
^ Quote: "Table 13: In Taiwan, some people identify themselves as Chinese, some identify themselves as Taiwan (sic). Do you identify yourself as Taiwanese, Chinese or both Taiwanese and Chinese?"
^ "Committed to Taiwan". The Wall Street Journal. 2001-04-26. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB988242686540854310.html?mod=googlewsj. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
^ Swaine 2001, p. 65, "The ROC military functioned until very recently as an instrument of KMT rule [and] the bulk of the officer corps is still composed of Mainlanders, many of whom allegedly continue to support the values and outlook of more conservative KMT and New Party members. This is viewed as especially the case among the senior officers of the ROC Army. Hence, many DPP leaders insist that the first step to building a more secure Taiwan is to bring the military more fully under civilian control, to remove the dominant influence of conservative KMT elements, and to reduce what is regarded as an excessive emphasis on the maintenance of inappropriate ground force capabilities, as opposed to more appropriate air and naval capabilities."
^ "Taiwan Yearbook 2004". Government Information Office, Republic of China. http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/yearbook/2004/P101.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
^ Bishop, Mac William (2004-01-01). "Women Take Command". Government Information Office, Republic of China. http://www.gio.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=28601&ctNode=3389. Retrieved 2009-06-05.
^ "Taiwan Yearbook 2005". Government Information Office, Republic of China. http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/yearbook/2005/p104.html. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
^ "ASIA-PACIFIC | Military alternative in Taiwan". BBC News. 2000-05-01. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/729500.stm. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
^ "The myth: a professional military in five years". 2009-03-21. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/03/21/2003439010/wiki. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
^ "Taiwan to end conscription". The Straits Times. 2009-03-09. http://www.straitstimes.com/print/Breaking%2BNews/Asia/Story/STIStory_347888.html. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
^ "Taiwan to shorten conscription term to one year". Central News Agency website, Taipei. 2008-12-03. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=BBAB&d_place=BBAB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=124D9E23B9033ED0&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
^ "Kidd-class warships set sail for Taiwan". Taipei Times. 2005-10-31. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2005/10/31/2003278135.
^ Rickards, Jane (2008-10-05). "Taiwanese leader hails weapons deal with US". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/04/AR2008100400477.html.
^ Cabestan, Jean-Pierre (2001). "France's Taiwan Policy: A Case of Shopkeeper Diplomacy". CERI. http://www.ceri-sciencespo.com/archive/july01/jpcabest.pdf. Retrieved 2009-06-05. "By excluding the French companies from the bidding lists of many contract, Peking wanted above all to stop a growing trend (...) to disregard its objections and interests in the Taiwan issue. (...) In spite of the ban of arms sales to Taiwan approved by the French government in January 1994, discreet and small-sized deals have continued to be concluded since then."
^ "Taiwan trying to shore up weapons support". USATODAY.com. 2004-09-24. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-09-24-taiwan_x.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
^ Swaine, Michael; James C. Mulvenon (2001) [2001] (PDF). Taiwan's Foreign and Defense Policies: Features and Determinants. RAND Corporation. ISBN 0-8330-3094-9. http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1383/MR1383.ch3.pdf. Retrieved 2006-03-05.
^ "China Threat to Attack Taiwan Alarms Asia". Associated Press. 2005-03-14. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/03/14/international/i003051S91.DTL. ^{[dead link]}
^ Kapstein, Ethan B.; Michael Mastanduno (1999). Unipolar politics. Columbia University Press. p. 194. ISBN 0-231-11309-9. http://books.google.com/?id=68s2k0ztkCMC&pg=PA194. "The Japanese leadership openly split on whether a crisis in Taiwan was included in the geographic expression "area surrounding Japan." In the event, Japan refused to stipulate the contingencies under which it would provide rear area support for U.S. forces or even the geographic scope of the "area surrounding Japan". (...) The two sides have not articulated clearly what the alliance stands for, nor who it is defined to protect against."
^ Tow, William (2005). "ANZUS: Regional versus Global Security in Asia?". International Relations in the Asia-Pacific 5 (2): 197. DOI:10.1093/irap/lci113.
^ "China and Taiwan: flashpoint for a war". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2004-07-14. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/13/1089694360063.html. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
^ Lotta Danielsson-Murphy. "ECFA poses new risks for Taiwan-Japan ties". http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1305355&lang=eng_news&cate_img=46.jpg&cate_rss=news_Editorial. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
^ ^a ^b Article 119 of the Constitution of the Republic of China regards Mongolia as a self-governing provincial-level locality
^ "World: Asia-Pacific Analysis: Flashpoint Spratly". BBC. 1999-02-14. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/279170.stm.
^ Hwang, Jim (1 October 1999). "Gone with the Times". Taiwan Review. http://taiwanreview.nat.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=1465&CtNode=1347. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
^ "中華民國國情簡介政府組織". Taipei: Government Information Office. http://info.gio.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=19878&ctNode=2840&mp=21. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
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^ "Gold Shipped to Taiwan in 1949 Helped Stabilize ROC on Taiwan". http://www.kmt.org.tw/english/page.aspx?type=article&mnum=112&anum=9442. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
^ Roy, Denny (2003). Taiwan: A Political History. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. pp. 76, 77. ISBN 0-8014-8805-2.
^ Makinen & Woodward 1989: "It was the fiscal regime change on Taiwan, as in the European episodes, that finally brought price stability. It was the aid program that brought the budget to near balance, and when the aid program reached its full proportions in 1952, prices stabilized."
^ As calculated by Taiwan's Ministry of Budget, National Accountancy and Statistics, based on the following figures (2007): life expectancy / 78.4 years ; literacy rate / 97.6% ; gross combined schooling rate / 101.9% ; per capita GDP-PPP / US$30,352
^ Her, Kelly (2005-01-12). "Privatization Set in Motion". http://taiwanreview.nat.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=1153&CtNode=128. Retrieved 2009-06-05.
^ "Reserves of foreign exchange and gold". World Fact Book. CIA. 4 September 2008. Archived from the original on 26 September 2008. http://www.webcitation.org/5b7FcMQjc. Retrieved 3 January 2011. "Rank 5 Taiwan $ 274,700,000,000 31 December 2007"
^ Harding, Phil (2010-01-23). "Taiwan's Grand Hotel welcome for Chinese visitors". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/8475215.stm.
^ DoIT 2008, p. 5 "Notably, cross-strait political tensions have not prevented Taiwanese firms from investing heavily in China. The cross-strait investments now exceed US$ 100 billions. Four Taiwanese-owned firms rank among China's top 10 biggest exporters. 10% of the Taiwanese labor force now works in China."
^ DoIT 2008, p. 5 "Although used-to-be-hostile tension between Taiwan and China has been eased to a certain degree, Taiwan should seek to maintain stable relation with China while continuing to protect national security, and avoiding excessive "Sinicization" of Taiwanese economy. Strategies to avoid excessive "Sinicization" of the Taiwanese economy could include efforts to increase geographic diversity of overseas Taiwanese employment, diversifying Taiwan's export markets and investment. "
^ BBC News, "Taiwan Flashpoint", "Some Taiwanese worry their economy is now dependent on China. Others point out that closer business ties makes Chinese military action less likely, because of the cost to China's own economy."
^ "Taiwan’s 2010 trade hits record high". 2010-01-10. http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=142731&ctNode=453&mp=9.
^ "US-Taiwan FTA would have limited impact". bilaterals.org. http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=242. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
^ Morris, Peter (4 February 2004). "Taiwan business in China supports opposition". Asia Times Online. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/FB04Ad04.html.
^ "Coping with Asian financial crisis: The Taiwan experience | Seoul Journal of Economics". Find Articles at BNET. 2009-04-28. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5411/is_199801/ai_n21432097/. Retrieved 2009-05-28. ^{[dead link]}
^ "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu (Chinese Taipei) and the WTO". World Trade Organization. http://www.wto.org/english/theWTO_e/countries_e/chinese_taipei_e.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
^ Postiglione, Gerard A.; Grace C. L. Mak (1997). Asian higher education. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 346–348. ISBN 0-313-28901-8. http://books.google.com/?id=RTE8KCespeEC&pg=PA347.
^ "The Story of Taiwan-Education Taiwan's Educational Development and Present Situation". Government Information Office, Republic of China. http://www.gio.gov.tw/info/taiwan-story/education/edown/3-1.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
^ Gary Phillips (17 November 2007) (PDF). Chance Favors the Prepared Mind: Mathematics and Science Indicators for Comparing States and Nations. American Institutes for Research. Archived from the original on 26 November 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071126225257/http://www.air.org/publications/documents/phillips.chance.favors.the.prepared.mind.pdf. Retrieved 2007-11-21.
^ Bucknall, Keven (2002). Chinese Business Etiquette and Culture. C&M Online Media, Inc.. p. 15. ISBN 0-917990-44-7. http://books.google.com/?id=npxUXbUg6uUC&pg=PA15.
^ "Betting on Taiwan's future with the Nankang software park". Taipei Times. 1999-11-01. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/archives/1999/11/01/0000009019. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
^ "Over 70% of Taiwanese parents send kids to English bushibans". Invest in Taiwan, Department of Investment Services. 2005-09-02. Archived from the original on 8 June 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080608050510/http://investintaiwan.nat.gov.tw/en/news/200509/2005090201.html. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
^ C. Smith, Douglas (1997). Middle education in the Middle Kingdom. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 119. ISBN 0-275-95641-5. http://books.google.com/?id=NqJP5uE9LewC&pg=PA119.
^ "Indigenous People". MOI Statistical Information Service. Feb 2012. http://sowf.moi.gov.tw/stat/month/m1-04.xls. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
^ "An Overview of Taiwan's Indigenous Groups". Taipei: Government Information Office. 2006. http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/culture/indigenous/. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c Languages, The Republic of China Yearbook 2011, Government Information Office, Republic of China (Taiwan).
^ Lynn F. Lee. "Languages in Taiwan Today". Government Information Office, Republic of China. http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/yearbook/2002/chpt03-2.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
^ Constitution of the Republic of China - Chapter II, Article 13: "The people shall have freedom of religious belief."
^ "Taiwan Yearbook 2006". Government of Information Office. 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-07-08. http://web.archive.org/web/20070708213510/http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/yearbook/22Religion.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-01.
^ "Taiwan: International Religious Freedom Report 2010". US Department of State: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. 17 November 2010. http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2010/148895.htm. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
^ Stainton, Michael (2002). "Presbyterians and the Aboriginal Revitalization Movement in Taiwan". Cultural Survival Quarterly 26.2, 5 May 2010 . Retrieved 21 March 2012.
^ "15,000 temples", Taiwan News, 28 July 2009. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
^ "Bureau of National Health Insurance". Taiwan BNHI. 2006-07-18. http://www.nhi.gov.tw.
^ "Bureau of National Health Insurance-National Health Insurance Act". Bureau of National Health Insurance, ROC. http://www.nhi.gov.tw/english/webdata.asp?menu=11&menu_id=295&webdata_id=1865. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
^ "Taiwanese Hospital Public Satisfaction Poll". Taiwan Department of Health. October 2004. http://www.hcquality.helthe.net/reports/showreports.php?id=2_1. ^{[dead link]}
^ "Center for Disease Control". Taiwan CDC. 2006-07-18. http://www.cdc.gov.tw.
^ "Bureau of National Health Insurance Full Summary" (PDF). Taiwan BNHI. 18 July 2006. http://www.nhi.gov.tw/english/file/s92.pdf.
^ "Centers for Disease Control, ROC (Taiwan)" (in Traditional Chinese). http://www.cdc.gov.tw. Retrieved 2009-06-05.
^ "Department of Health, Executive Yuan, ROC (Taiwan)" (in Traditional Chinese). http://www.doh.gov.tw. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
^ (Yip 2004:230-248; Makeham 2005:2-8; Chang 2005:224)
^ (Makeham & Hsiau 2005:125–129); (Winckler 1994:23–41)
^ [1]^{[dead link]}
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^ American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei. "Convenience Stores Aim at Differentiation" ( – ^{Scholar search}). Taiwan Business Topics 34 (11). http://www.amcham.com.tw/publication_topics_view.php?volume=34&vol_num=11&topics_id=558. ^{[dead link]}
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^ "Netherlands Retains World Youth Korfball Champion; Taiwan is On the Way to the World...". Reuters Newswire. Sat 8 November 2008. http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/11/08/idUS82890+08-Nov-2008+BW20081108. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
^ Hazeldine, Richard (22 July 2009). "Jujitsu, korfball put Taiwan back on winning track". Taipei Times. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/07/22/2003449286. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
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Works cited [link]

Fenby, Jonathan (2009). The Penguin History of Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850–2009. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-7139-9832-6.
"2008 White Paper On Taiwan Industrial Technology". Department of Industrial Technology. 2008. http://doit.moea.gov.tw/itech/data/2008_1_1_EN.pdf. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
Fung, Edmund S. K. (2000). In search of Chinese democracy: civil opposition in Nationalist China, 1929–1949. Cambridge modern China series. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-77124-5.
Makinen, Gail E.; Woodward, G. Thomas (1989). "The Taiwanese hyperinflation and stabilization of 1945–1952". Journal of Money, Credit and Banking 21 (1): 90–105. JSTOR 1992580.
Makeham, John; Hsiau, A-chin, eds. (2005). Cultural, Ethnic, and Political Nationalism in Contemporary Taiwan: Bentuhua. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-7020-6.

External links [link]

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Coordinates: 22°57′N 120°12′E / 22.95°N 120.2°E / 22.95; 120.2

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Coordinates: 37°42′N 112°24′E / 37.7°N 112.4°E / 37.7; 112.4

Not to be confused with the neighbouring province of Shaanxi.

Shanxi Province

Chinese :	山西省
	Shānxī Shěng

Abbreviations: simplified Chinese: 晋; traditional Chinese: 晉 (pinyin: Jìn)

Origin of name

山 shān - mountain
西 xī - west
"west of the Taihang Mountains"

Administration type

Province

Capital
(and largest city)

Taiyuan

CPC Ctte Secretary

Yuan Chunqing

Governor

Wang Jun

Area

156,800 km² (60,500 sq mi) (19th)

- Latitude

34° 35' to 40° 44' N

- Longitude

110° 13' to 114° 33' E

Population (2010)
- Density

35,712,111 (18th)
213 /km² (550 /sq mi) (19th)

GDP (2011)

- per capita

CNY 1110.0 billion
US$ 176.2 billion (21st)
CNY 26,283
US$ 3,883 (17th)

HDI (2008)

0.800 (high) (14th)

Ethnic composition

Han - 99.7%
Hui - 0.2%

Languages and dialects

{{{Dialects}}}

Prefectural level

11 divisions

County level

119 divisions

Township level*

1388 divisions

ISO 3166-2

CN-14

Official website
www.shanxigov.cn (Chinese)

Source for population and GDP data:

《中国统计年鉴—2005》 China Statistical Yearbook 2005
ISBN 7503747382

Source for nationalities data:

《2000年人口普查中国民族人口资料》 Tabulation on nationalities of 2000 population census of China
ISBN 7105054255

*As at December 31, 2004

Template ■ Discussion ■ WikiProject China

Shanxi (help·info) (Chinese: 山西; pinyin: Shānxī; Wade–Giles: Shan-hsi; Postal map spelling: Shansi) is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" (pinyin: Jìn), after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period.

The name Shanxi literally means "mountain's west", which refers to the province's location west of the Taihang Mountains.^[1] Shanxi borders Hebei to the east, Henan to the south, Shaanxi to the west, and Inner Mongolia to the north and is made up mainly of a plateau bounded partly by mountain ranges. The capital of the province is Taiyuan.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Administrative divisions
4 Politics
5 Economy
- 5.1 Industrial zones
6 Transportation
7 Demographics
8 Health
9 Culture
10 Tourism
11 Education
12 References
13 External links

History [link]

Shanxi, the territory of state of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period (722 BC - 403 BC), underwent a three-way split into the states of Han, Zhao and Wei in 403 BC, the traditional date taken as the start of the Warring States Period (403 BC - 221 BC). By 221 BC all of these states had fallen to the state of Qin, which established the Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC).

The Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 220) ruled Shanxi as the province (zhou) of Bingzhou (幷州 Bīng Zhōu). During the invasion of northern nomads during the Sixteen Kingdoms period (304 - 439), several regimes including Later Zhao, Former Yan, Former Qin, and Later Yan continuously controlled what is now Shanxi. They were followed by Northern Wei (386 - 534), a Xianbei kingdom, which had one of its earlier capitals at present-day Datong in northern Shanxi, and which went on to rule nearly all of northern China.

The Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) originated in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. Modern Chinese people are called Tang Ren globally due to the power and impact of the Tang Dynasty in history. During the Tang Dynasty and after, the area was called Hédōng (河東), or "east of the (Yellow) river". Empress Wu Zetian, China's only female ruler, was born in Shanxi Province.

During the first part of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (907 - 960), Shanxi supplied rule for three of the Five Dynasties, as well as being the only one of the Ten Kingdoms located in northern China. Shanxi was initially home to the jiedushi (commander) of Hedong, Li Cunxu, who overthrew the first of the Five Dynasties, Later Liang Dynasty (907 - 923) to establish the second, Later Tang Dynasty (923 - 936). Another jiedushi of Hedong, Shi Jingtang, overthrew Later Tang to establish the third of the Five Dynasties, Later Jin Dynasty, and yet another jiedushi of Hedong, Liu Zhiyuan, established the fourth of the Five Dynasties (Later Han Dynasty) after the Khitans destroyed Later Jin, the third. Finally, when the fifth of the Five Dynasties (Later Zhou Dynasty) emerged, the jiedushi of Hedong at the time, Liu Chong, rebelled and established an independent state called Northern Han, one of the Ten Kingdoms, in what is now northern and central Shanxi.

Shi Jingtang, founder of the Later Jin Dynasty, the third of the Five Dynasties, ceded a large slice of northern China to the Khitans in return for military assistance. This territory, called The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, included a part of northern Shanxi. The ceded territory became a major problem for China's defense against the Khitans for the next 100 years, because it lies to the south of the Great Wall.

During the Northern Song Dynasty (960 - 1127), the sixteen ceded prefectures continued to be an area of contention between Song China and the Liao Dynasty. Later the Southern Song Dynasty abandoned all of North China to the Jurchen Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) in 1127, including Shanxi.

The Mongol Yuan Dynasty divided China into provinces but did not establish Shanxi as a province. Shanxi only gained its present name and approximate borders in the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). During the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), Shanxi extended northwards beyond the Great Wall to include parts of Inner Mongolia, including what is now the city of Hohhot, and overlapped with the jurisdiction of the Eight Banners and the Guihua Tümed banner in that area.

During most of the Republic of China's period of rule over mainland China (1912–1949), the warlord Yen Hsi-shan held Shanxi, regardless of the frequent political upheavals shaking the rest of China. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japan occupied much of the province after defeating China in the Battle of Taiyuan. Shanxi was also a major battlefield between the Japanese and the Chinese communist guerrillas of the Eighth Route Army during the war.

After the defeat of Japan, much of the Shanxi countryside became important bases for the communist People's Liberation Army in the ensuing Chinese Civil War. Yen had incorporated thousands of former Japanese soldiers among his own forces, and these soldiers became part of his failed defense of Taiyuan against the People's Liberation Army in early 1949.

For centuries Shanxi served as the center of trade and banking, with the term "Shanxi Merchant" (晋商 jìnshāng) once synonymous with wealth. The well-preserved city of Pingyao in Shanxi also shows many signs of its former dominance as a center of trade and banking. Due to Shanxi's geographic location in the Great China and its natural environment, Shanxi was the richest province in Zhongyuan or Center China. In the Qing Dynasty, Pingyao served as the centre of Chinese banking industry. This county, in contemporary time, is famous for its UNESCO ancient city walls and ancient China's equivalent of modern day Wall Street for its financial importance in history. In modern times, coal mining is important in Shanxi's economy, but severe critics have complained of deplorable mine conditions. Since 2004 the province has been plagued with labour safety issues, including a slave labour scandal involving children, causing significant civil unrest and national embarrassment.

Geography [link]

Shanxi is located on a plateau made up of higher ground to the east (Taihang Mountains) and the west (Lüliang Mountains) and a series of valleys in the center through which the Fen River runs. The highest peak is Mount Wutai (Wutai Shan) in northeastern Shanxi with an altitude of 3058 m. The Great Wall of China forms most of the northern border with Inner Mongolia. The Zhongtiao Mountains run along part of the southern border and separate Shanxi from the east-west part of the Yellow River. Mount Hua is to the southwest.

The Huang He (Yellow River) forms the western border of Shanxi with Shaanxi. The Fen and Qin rivers, tributaries of the Huang He, run north-to-south through the province, and drain much of its area. The north of the province is drained by tributaries of the Hai River, such as Sanggan and Hutuo rivers. The largest natural lake in Shanxi is Xiechi Lake, a salt lake near Yuncheng in southwestern Shanxi.

Shanxi has a continental monsoon climate, and is rather arid. Average January temperatures are below 0 °C, while average July temperatures are around 21 - 26 °C. Winters are long, dry, and cold, while summer is warm and humid. Spring is extremely dry and prone to dust storms. Shanxi is one of the sunniest parts of China; early summer heat waves are common. Annual precipitation averages around 350–700 mm, with 60% of it concentrated between June and August. [2]

Major cities:

Administrative divisions [link]

Main articles: List of administrative divisions of Shanxi and List of township-level divisions of Shanxi

Shanxi is divided into eleven prefecture-level divisions, all of them prefecture-level cities:

#	Name	Administrative Seat	Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin	Population (2010)

— Prefecture-level city —
1	Taiyuan	Xinghualing District	太原市 Tàiyuán Shì	4,201,591
2	Changzhi	Chengqu District	长治市 Chángzhì Shì	3,334,564
3	Datong	Chengqu District	大同市 Dàtóng Shì	3,318,057
4	Jincheng	Chengqu District	晋城市 Jìnchéng Shì	2,279,151
5	Jinzhong	Yuci District	晋中市 Jìnzhōng Shì	3,249,425
6	Linfen	Yaodu District	临汾市 Línfén Shì	4,316,612
7	Lüliang	Lishi District	吕梁市 Lǚliáng Shì	3,727,057
8	Shuozhou	Shuocheng District	朔州市 Shuòzhōu Shì	1,714,857
9	Xinzhou	Xinfu District	忻州市 Xīnzhōu Shì	3,067,501
10	Yangquan	Chengqu District	阳泉市 Yángquán Shì	1,368,502
11	Yuncheng	Yanhu District	运城市 Yùnchéng Shì	5,134,794

The 11 prefecture-level divisions of Shanxi are subdivided into 119 county-level divisions (23 districts, 11 county-level cities, and 85 counties). Those are in turn divided into 1388 township-level divisions (561 towns, 634 townships, and 193 subdistricts).

Politics [link]

Main articles: Politics of Shanxi and List of provincial leaders of the People's Republic of China

The Politics of Shanxi Province is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China.^{[citation needed]}

The Governor of Shanxi (山西省省长) is the highest ranking official in the People's Government of Shanxi. However, in the province's dual party-government governing system, the Governor has less power than the Shanxi Communist Party of China Provincial Committee Secretary (山西省委书记), colloquially termed the "Shanxi CPC Party Chief".

The province went through significant political instability since 2004, due largely to the number of scandals that have hit the province, mostly on labour safety. Yu Youjun and Meng Xuenong were top officials appointed by the central government to resolve sensitive issues as the province's party boss. However, the situation has, by and large, deteriorated during their tenures in office. As a result both Yu and Meng were forced to relocate themselves to relatively insignificant positions elsewhere in the country. In 2008 Shanxi's regional political problems were complicated by the death of Political Consultative Conference Chair Jin Yinhuan due to a car accident.

Economy [link]

The GDP per capita of Shanxi is below national average. Compared to the provinces in East China, Shanxi is less developed for many reasons. Its geographic location limits it participation in international trade, which involves mostly eastern coastal provinces. Important crops in Shanxi include wheat, maize, millet, legumes, and potatoes. The local climate and dwindling water resources limits agriculture in Shanxi.^[2]

Shanxi possesses 260 billion metric tons of known coal deposits, about one third of China's total. As a result, Shanxi is a leading producer of coal in China and has more coal companies than any other province,^[3], with an annual production exceeding 300 million metric tonnes. The Datong (大同), Ningwu (宁武), Xishan (西山), Hedong (河东), Qinshui (沁水), and Huoxi (霍西) coalfields are some of the most important in Shanxi. Shanxi also contains about 500 million tonnes of bauxite deposits, about one third of total Chinese bauxite reserves.^[4]^[5]

Industry in Shanxi is centered around heavy industries such as coal and chemical production, power generation, and metal refining.^{[citation needed]} There are countless military-related industries in Shanxi Province due to its geographic location and history when it is used to be the base of the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army. Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, one of China's three satellite launch centers, is located in the middle of Shanxi Province with China's largest stockpile of nuclear missiles.

Many private corporations joint with the state-owned mining corporations have invested billions of dollars in the Mining Industry of Shanxi Province. Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing has made one of his largest investment ever in China on exploiting coal gas in Shanxi. Foreign investors include mining companies from Canada, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy.^{[citation needed]}

The mining related companies include Daqin Railway Co. Ltd., which runs one of the busiest and most technologically advanced railway in China connecting Datong and Qinhuangdao and exclusively for coal shipping.^{[citation needed]} The revenue of Daqin Railway Co. Ltd. is among the highest in Shanxi Province's companies due to its exporting of coal to Japan, Korea, and South-East Asia.

Shanxi's nominal GDP in 2011 was 1110.0 billion yuan (US$176.2 billion), ranked 21st in China. Its per-capita GDP was 21,544 yuan (US$3,154).^[6]

Shanxi is infamous for bad working conditions in coal mining and other heavy industries. Thousands of workers have died every year in those industries. Cases of child labour abuse were discovered recently.^[7]^[8]

In contrast with the poverty, Shanxi is known for its wealthy mine owners in China.^{[citation needed]} Consortiums of mine owners from Shanxi have influences in Beijing's real estate market because of their speculation. The only other wealth group in China having the same influence is the entrepreneurs from Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province which is the centre of light industry of China and the world.^{[citation needed]}

Industrial zones [link]

Taiyuan Economic & Technology Development Zone

Taiyuan Economic & Technology Development Zone is a state-level development zone approved by State Council in 2001, with a planned area of 9.6 km². It is only 2 km away from Taiyuan Airport and 3 km away from railway station. The National Highway 208 and 307 passes through the zone. So far, it has formed a "four industrial base, a professional industry park" development pattern.^[9]

Taiyuan Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone

Established in 1991, Taiyuan Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone is the only state-level Hi-tech Development Zone in Shanxi Province, with total area of 24 km². It is situated close to Taiyuan Wusu Airport and Highway G208. The nearest port to the zone is Tianjin Port.^[10]

Transportation [link]

The transport infrastructure in Shanxi is very developed. There are many important national highways and railways that connect the province with neighboring provinces.^[11]

Road [link]

Shanxi's road hub is in the capital, Taiyuan. The major highways in province form a road network connecting all the counties. Examples of major highways are:

Dayun Highway(大運公路)
Datong-Yuncheng Highway (大同－運城）)
Taiyuan-Jiuguan Expressway (太原－舊關高速公路)
Beijing-Shijiazhuang expressway (北京－石家庄高速公路)
Beijing-Tianjin-Tanggu expressway (京津唐高速公路)
Beijing-Shenzhen expressway

Rail [link]

Shanxi has extensive rail infrastructure to neighboring provinces. The rail network connects to major cities Taiyuan, Shijiazhuang, Beijing, Yuanping, Baotou, Datong, Menyuan and Jiaozuo. The province also have extensive rail network to coastal cities such as Qinhuangdao, Qingdao, Yantai and Lianyungang.^[11]

The province has a rail network called the Shuozhou-Huanghua Railway. It will service Shenchi county in Shanxi with Huanghua port in Hebei. It will become the second largest railway for coal transport from west to east in China.^[12]

Aviation [link]

Shanxi's main aviation transport hub is Taiyuan Wusu Airport (IATA: TYN). The airport has routes connecting Shanxi to 28 domestic cities including Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu and Chongqing. There are international routes to Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Russia. There is also another airport in Datong, which has domestic routes to other mainland cities.^[11]^[13]

Demographics [link]

The population is mostly Han Chinese with minorities of Mongol, Manchu, and the Hui.

Ethnic groups in Shanxi, 2000 census
Nationality	Population	Percentage
Han Chinese	32,368,083	99.68%
Hui	61,690	0.19%
Manchu	13,665	0.042%
Mongol	9,446	0.029%

Source: Department of Population, Social, Science and Technology Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics of China (国家统计局人口和社会科技统计司) and Department of Economic Development of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission of China (国家民族事务委员会经济发展司), eds. Tabulation on Nationalities of 2000 Population Census of China (《2000年人口普查中国民族人口资料》). 2 vols. Beijing: Nationalities Publishing House (民族出版社), 2003. (ISBN 7-105-05425-5)

In 2004, the birth rate was 12.36 births/1000 population, while the death rate was 6.11 deaths/1000 population. The sex ratio was 105.5 males/100 females. [3]

Health [link]

In the 2000s, the province was considered to be one of the most polluted areas in China.^[3] The pollution, caused in part by heavy coal mining, has enhanced health problems in the province.^[14]

Culture [link]

The Pagoda of Fogong Temple, Ying County, built in the year 1056.

People in most regions of Shanxi speak dialects of Jin, a subdivision of spoken Chinese. However, dialects in the southwest, near the border with Henan and Shaanxi, are classified as part of the Zhongyuan Mandarin subdivision of the Mandarin group rather than Jin. In terms of characteristics, Jin dialects are generally distinguished by their retention of the entering tone from Middle Chinese. In this respect they are unique in all of northern China, as most of the surrounding Mandarin dialects (spoken over the remainder of northern China) have lost it. (In central and southern China, it is much more common for the entering tone to be kept.) Jin is also noted for extremely complex tone sandhi systems.

Shanxi cuisine is most well known for its extensive use of vinegar as a condiment and for its noodles. A dish originating from Taiyuan, the provincial capital, is the Taiyuan Tounao (太原头脑, literally "Taiyuan Head"). It is a soup brewed using mutton, shanyao (山药, Chinese wild yam), lotus roots, astragalus membranaceus (黄芪, membranous milk vetch), tuber onions, as well as cooking liquor for additional aroma. It can be enjoyed by dipping pieces of unleavened cake into the soup, and is reputed to have medicinal properties.

Shanxi Opera (晋剧 Jinju) is a popular form of Chinese opera in Shanxi. It was popularized during the late Qing Dynasty, with the help of the then-ubiquitous Shanxi merchants who were active across parts of China. Also called Zhonglu Bangzi (中路梆子), it is a type of bangzi opera (梆子), a group of operas generally distinguished by their use of wooden clappers for rhythm and by a more energetic singing style; Shanxi opera is also complemented by quzi (曲子), a blanket term for more melodic styles from further south. Puzhou Opera (蒲剧 Puju), from southern Shanxi, is a more ancient type of bangzi that makes use of very wide linear intervals.

Shanxi merchants (晋商 Jinshang) constituted a historical phenomenon that lasted for centuries from the Song to the Qing Dynasty. Shanxi merchants ranged far and wide from Central Asia to the coast of eastern China; by the Qing Dynasty they were conducting trade across both sides of the Great Wall. During the late Qing Dynasty, a new development occurred: the creation of piaohao (票号), which were essentially banks that provided services like money transfers and transactions, deposits, and loans. After the establishment of the first piaohao in Pingyao, the bankers in Shanxi dominated China's financial market for centuries until the collapse of Qing Dynasty and the coming of British banks.

Tourism [link]

A Pingyao street.

Jinci in Taiyuan, famous for its temples and Song Dynasty paintings and architectures.

Zuoquan County, famous for its China Communist Party battlefield sites.

The Ancient City of Pingyao is a World Heritage Site near Taiyuan. Once a great financial center of China, it is noted for its preservation of many features of northern Han Chinese culture, architecture, and way of life during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

The Yungang Grottoes, its literal translation being The Cloud Ridge Caves, are shallow caves near Datong. There are over 50,000 carved images and statues of Buddhas and Boddhisatvas within these grottoes, ranging from 4 centimeters to 7 meters tall.a World Heritage Site in Datong, consist of 252 caves noted for their collection of 5th and 6th century Buddhist grotto sculptures and reliefs.

Mount Wutai (Wutai Shan) is the highest point in the province. It is known as the residence of the bodhisattva Manjusri, and as a result is also a major Buddhist pilgrimage destination, with many temples and natural sights. Points of interest include Tang Dynasty (618–907) era timber halls located at Nanchan Temple and Foguang Temple, as well as a giant white stupa at Tayuan Temple built during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644).

Mount Hengshan (Heng Shan), in Hunyuan County, is one of the "Five Great Peaks" of China, and is also a major Taoist site. Not far from Heng Shan, the Hanging Temple is located on the side of a cliff and has survived for 1400 years despite earthquakes in the area.

Pagoda of Fogong Temple, in Ying County, is a pagoda built in 1056 during the Liao Dynasty. It is octagonal with nine levels (five are visible from outside), and at 67 m (220 ft) in height, it is currently the tallest wooden pagoda in the world. It is also the oldest fully wooden pagoda in China, although many no-longer-existing wooden pagodas have preceded it, and many existing stone and brick pagodas predate it by centuries.

Hukou Waterfall is located in the Yellow River on the Shanxi-Shaanxi border. At 50 meters high it is the second highest waterfall in China.

Dazhai is a village in Xiyang County. Situated in hilly, difficult terrain, it was a holy site during the Cultural Revolution, when it was set out to the entire nation as exemplary of the hardiness of the proletariat, especially peasants.
Niangziguan Township is located in north-east of Pingding County which is in the junction of Shanxi and Heibei Province. It is an old village famous for Niangziguan.

Education [link]

Major Post-Secondary institutes in Shanxi include:

Changzhi College (长治学院)
Changzhi Medical College (长治医学院)
Datong University (山西大同大学)
Jinzhong College (晋中学院)
Lvliang Higher College
North China University of Science and Technology (华北工学院)
Shanxi Agricultural University (山西农业大学)
Shanxi College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (山西中医学院)
Shanxi Medical University (山西医科大学)
Shanxi Teachers University also called Shanxi Normal University (山西师范大学)
Shanxi University (山西大学)
Shanxi University of Finance and Economics (山西财经大学)
North China University (中北大学)
Taiyuan Normal University (太原师范学院)
Taiyuan University of Science and Technology (太原科技大学)
Taiyuan University of Technology (太原理工大学)
Xinzhou Teachers University (忻州师范学院)
Yuncheng University (运城学院)

Major Secondary Schools in Shanxi include:

Taiyuan No.5 High school
Taiyuan No.10 High school
Shanxi Experimental Secondary School(山西省实验中学)
Yuci No.1 High School
Kangjie High School (康杰中学)

References [link]

Economic profile for Shanxi at HKTDC

External links [link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Shanxi

	Inner Mongolia
Shaanxi		Hebei
	Shanxi East

	Henan

v t e Shanxi topics

Taiyuan (capital)

General	History Politics Economy

Geography	Cities Taihang Mountains Lüliang Mountains Yellow River Fen River Mount Wutai Great Wall of China Xiechi Lake

Education	Shanxi University Shanxi Medical University Taiyuan Normal University

Culture	Zhongyuan Mandarin Jin Chinese Puzhou Opera Shanxi merchants Cuisine

Visitor attractions	Dazhai Hukou Waterfall Pagoda of Fogong Temple Mount Heng Yungang Grottoes

County-level divisions of Shanxi Province

Taiyuan (capital)

Prefecture-level cities

Taiyuan	Xinghualing District Xiaodian District Yingze District Jiancaoping District Wanbailin District Jinyuan District Gujiao City Qingxu County Yangqu County Loufan County

Datong	Chengqu District Kuangqu District Nanjiao District Xinrong District Yanggao County Tianzhen County Guangling County Lingqiu County Hunyuan County Zuoyun County Datong County

Yangquan	Chengqu District Kuangqu District Jiaoqu District Pingding County Yu County

Changzhi	Chengqu District Jiaoqu District Lucheng City Changzhi County Xiangyuan County Tunliu County Pingshun County Licheng County Huguan County Zhangzi County Wuxiang County Qin County Qinyuan County

Jincheng	Chengqu District Gaoping City Zezhou County Qinshui County Yangcheng County Lingchuan County

Shuozhou	Shuocheng District Pinglu District Shanyin County Ying County Youyu County Huairen County

Jinzhong	Yuci District Jiexiu City Yushe County Zuoquan County Heshun County Xiyang County Shouyang County Taigu County Qi County Pingyao County Lingshi County

Yuncheng	Yanhu District Yongji City Hejin City Ruicheng County Linyi County Wanrong County Xinjiang County Jishan County Wenxi County Xia County Jiang County Pinglu County Yuanqu County

Xinzhou	Xinfu District Yuanping City Dingxiang County Wutai County Dai County Fanshi County Ningwu County Jingle County Shenchi County Wuzhai County Kelan County Hequ County Baode County Pianguan County

Linfen	Yaodu District Houma City Huozhou City Quwo County Yicheng County Xiangfen County Hongdong County Gu County Anze County Fushan County Ji County Xiangning County Pu County Daning County Yonghe County Xi County Fenxi County

Lüliang	Lishi District Xiaoyi City Fenyang City Wenshui County Zhongyang County Xing County Lin County Fangshan County Liulin County Lan County Jiaokou County Jiaocheng County Shilou County

v t e Provincial level divisions of the People's Republic of China

Provinces	Anhui Fujian Gansu Guangdong Guizhou Hainan Hebei Heilongjiang Henan Hubei Hunan Jiangsu Jiangxi Jilin Liaoning Qinghai Shaanxi Shandong Shanxi Sichuan Yunnan Zhejiang

Autonomous regions	Guangxi Inner Mongolia (Nei Mongol) Ningxia Tibet (Xizang) Xinjiang

Municipalities	Beijing Chongqing Shanghai Tianjin

Special administrative regions	Hong Kong Macau

Territorial disputes	Paracel, Spratly, Zhongsha Islands (see Paracels, Spratlys, & Zhongsha Iss. Authority) Pratas Islands Diaoyu Islands (Senkaku Islands) South Tibet Taiwan, Quemoy & Matsu (see Legal status of Taiwan)

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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanxi

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

Not to be confused with the unrelated province of Hubei or the city of Hebi.

For other uses, see Hebei (disambiguation).

Coordinates: 39°18′N 116°42′E / 39.3°N 116.7°E / 39.3; 116.7

Hebei Province

Chinese :	河北省
	Héběi Shěng

Abbreviations: 冀 (pinyin: Jì)

Origin of name

河 hé—"(Yellow) River"
北 běi—"north"
"north of the Yellow River"

Administration type

Province

Capital
(and largest city)

Shijiazhuang

CPC Ctte Secretary

Zhang Yunchuan (张云川)

Governor

Zhang Qingwei (张庆伟)

Area

187,700 km² (72,500 sq mi) (12th)

- Latitude

36° 01' to 42° 37' N

- Longitude

113° 31' to 119° 53' E

Population (2010)
- Density

71,854,202 (6th)
372 /km² (960 /sq mi) (11th)

GDP (2011)

- per capita

CNY 2.40 trillion
US$ 379 billion^[1] (6th)
CNY 28,668
US$ 4,235 (12th)

HDI (2008)

0.810 (high) (10th)

Ethnic composition

Han: 96%
Manchu: 3%
Hui: 0.8%
Mongol: 0.3%

Languages and dialects

{{{Dialects}}}

Prefectural level

11 divisions

County level

172 divisions

Township level*

2207 divisions

ISO 3166-2

CN-13

Official website
www.hebei.gov.cn
(Simplified Chinese)
english.hebei.gov.cn (English)

Source for population and GDP data:

《中国统计年鉴—2005》 China Statistical Yearbook 2005
ISBN 7503747382

Source for nationalities data:

《2000年人口普查中国民族人口资料》 Tabulation on nationalities of 2000 population census of China
ISBN 7105054255

*As at December 31, 2004

Template ■ Discussion ■ WikiProject China

Hebei

Chinese

河北

Hanyu Pinyin

Héběi

Transcriptions
Hakka
- Romanization	Hò-pet
Mandarin
- Hanyu Pinyin	Héběi
- Wade–Giles	Ho-pei
- Postal Map	Hopeh
Min
- Hokkien POJ	Hô-pak
Wu
- Romanization	Ghu^平poh^入
Cantonese (Yue)
- Jyutping	Ho⁴bak¹

alternative Chinese names

Traditional Chinese

1. 直隸

2. 燕趙

Simplified Chinese

1. 直隶

2. 燕赵

Transcriptions
Mandarin
- Hanyu Pinyin	1. Zhílì 2. Yānzhào
- Wade–Giles	1. Chih-li

Hebei (help·info) (Chinese: 河北; pinyin: Héběi; Postal map spelling: Hopeh) is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "冀" (jì), named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province (zhou) that included what is now southern Hebei. The name Hebei means "north of the river", referring to its location completely above the Yellow River.^[2]

In 1928, Hebei was formed after the central government dissolved the province of Chih-li (直隸), which means "Directly Ruled (by the Imperial Court)".

Beijing and Tianjin Municipalities, which border each other, were carved out of Hebei. The province borders Liaoning to the northeast, Inner Mongolia to the north, Shanxi to the west, Henan to the south, and Shandong to the southeast. Bohai Bay of the Yellow Sea is to the east. A small part of Hebei, an exclave disjointed from the rest of the province, is wedged between the municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin.

A common alternate name for Hebei is Yānzhào (燕趙), after the state of Yan and state of Zhao that existed here during the Warring States Period of early Chinese history.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Administrative divisions
- 3.1 New cities
4 Politics
5 Economy
- 5.1 Economic and technological development zones
6 Demographics
7 Culture
8 Media
9 Transportation
10 Tourism
11 Sports
12 Education
13 See also
14 Notes
15 External links

History [link]

Plains in Hebei were the home of Peking man, a group of Homo erectus that lived in the area around 200,000 to 700,000 years ago. Neolithic findings at the prehistoric Beifudi site date back to 7000 and 8000 BC.^[3]

During the Spring and Autumn Period (722 BC – 476 BC), Hebei was under the rule of the states of Yan (燕) in the north and Jin (晉) in the south. Also during this period, a nomadic people known as Dí (狄) invaded the plains of northern China and established Zhongshan (中山) in central Hebei. During the Warring States Period (403 BC–221 BC), Jin was partitioned, and much of its territory within Hebei went to Zhao (趙).

The Qin Dynasty unified China in 221 BC. The Han Dynasty (206 BC – AD 220) ruled the area under two provinces (zhou), Youzhou Province (幽州) in the north and Jizhou Province (冀州 Jì Zhōu) in the south. At the end of the Han Dynasty, most of Hebei came under the control of warlords Gongsun Zan in the north and Yuan Shao further south; Yuan Shao emerged victorious of the two, but he was soon defeated by rival Cao Cao (based further south, in modern-day Henan) in the Battle of Guandu in 200. Hebei then came under the rule of the Kingdom of Wei (one of the Three Kingdoms), established by the descendants of Cao Cao.

1500-year-old iron lion in Cangzhou

After the invasions of northern nomadic peoples at the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, the chaos of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Northern and Southern Dynasties ensued. Hebei, firmly in North China and right at the northern frontier, changed hands many times, being controlled at various points in history by the Later Zhao, Former Yan, Former Qin, and Later Yan. The Northern Wei reunified northern China in 440, but split in half in 534, with Hebei coming under the eastern half (first the Eastern Wei; then the Northern Qi), which had its capital at Ye (鄴), near modern Linzhang, Hebei. The Sui Dynasty again unified China in 589.

During the Tang Dynasty (618–907) the area was formally designated "Hebei" (north of the Yellow River) for the first time. During the earlier part of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, Hebei was fragmented among several regimes, though it was eventually unified by Li Cunxu, who established the Later Tang Dynasty (923–936). The next dynasty, the Later Jin Dynasty under Shi Jingtang, posthumously known as Emperor Gaozu of Later Jin, ceded much of modern-day northern Hebei to the Khitan Liao Dynasty in the north; this territory, called The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, became a major weakness in China's defense against the Khitans for the next century, since it lay within the Great Wall.

During the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127), the sixteen ceded prefectures continued to be an area of hot contention between Song China and the Liao Dynasty. The Southern Song Dynasty that came after abandoned all of North China, including Hebei, to the Jurchen Jin Dynasty in 1127.

The Putuo Zongcheng Temple of Chengde, Hebei, built in 1771 during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor.

Saihanba National Park in Inner Mongolian plateau grassland border, north Chengde, Hebei Province

The Mongol Yuan Dynasty divided China into provinces but did not establish Hebei as a province. Rather, the area was directly administrated by the Secretariat (中書省) at capital Dadu. The Ming Dynasty ruled Hebei as "Beizhili" (北直隸, pinyin: Běizhílì), meaning "Northern Directly Ruled", because the area contained and was directly ruled by the imperial capital, Beijing; the "Northern" designation was used because there was a southern counterpart covering present-day Jiangsu and Anhui. When the Manchu Qing Dynasty came to power in 1644, they abolished the southern counterpart, and Hebei became known as "Zhili", or simply "Directly Ruled". During the Qing Dynasty, the northern borders of Zhili extended deep into what is now Inner Mongolia, and overlapped in jurisdiction with the leagues of Inner Mongolia.

The Qing Dynasty collapsed in 1912 and was replaced by the Republic of China. Within a few years, China descended into civil war, with regional warlords vying for power. Since Zhili was so close to Peking (Beijing), the capital, it was the site of frequent wars, including the Zhiwan War, the First Zhifeng War and the Second Zhifeng War. With the success of the Northern Expedition, a successful campaign by the Kuomintang to end the rule of the warlords, the capital was moved from Peking (Beijing) to Nanking (Nanjing). As a result, the name of Zhili was changed to Hebei to reflect that fact that it had a standard provincial administration, and that the capital had been relocated elsewhere.

The founding of the People's Republic of China saw several changes: the region around Chengde, previously part of Rehe Province (historically part of Manchuria), and the region around Zhangjiakou, previously part of Chahar Province (historically part of Inner Mongolia), were merged into Hebei, extending its borders northwards beyond the Great Wall. The capital was also moved from Baoding to the upstart city of Shijiazhuang, and, for a short period, to Tianjin.

On July 28, 1976, Tangshan was struck by a powerful earthquake, the Tangshan earthquake, the deadliest of the 20th century with over 240,000 killed. A series of smaller earthquakes struck the city in the following decade.

In 2005, Chinese archaeologists unearthed what is being called the Chinese equivalent of Italy's Pompeii. The find in question, located near Liumengchun Village (柳孟春村) in Cang County in east-central Hebei, is a buried settlement destroyed nearly 700 years ago by a major earthquake. Another possible explanation may be the four successive floods which hit the area around the time when the settlement met its sudden end. The settlement appears to have been a booming commercial center during the Song Dynasty.^{[citation needed]}

Geography [link]

Langyashan (Wolf Tooth Mountain), in Yi County, Hebei.

Most of central and southern Hebei lies within the North China Plain. The western part of Hebei rises into the Taihang Mountains (Taihang Shan), while the Yan Mountains (Yan Shan) run through northern Hebei, beyond which lie the grasslands of Inner Mongolia. The Great Wall of China cuts through northern Hebei from east to west as well, briefly entering the border of Beijing Municipality, and terminates at the seacoast of Shanhaiguan in northeastern Hebei. The highest peak is Mount Xiaowutai in northwestern Hebei, with an altitude of 2882 m.

Hebei borders Bohai Sea on the east. The Hai He watershed covers most of the province's central and southern parts, and the Luan He watershed covers the northeast. Not counting the numerous reservoirs to be found in Hebei's hills and mountains, the largest lake in Hebei is Baiyangdian, located mostly in Anxin County.

Hebei has a continental monsoon climate, with cold, dry winters, and hot, humid summers. Temperatures average −16 to −3 °C (3 to 27 °F) in January and 20 to 27 °C (68 to 81 °F) in July; the annual precipitation ranges from 400 to 800 millimetres (16 to 31 in), concentrated heavily in summer.

Major cities:

Administrative divisions [link]

Main articles: List of administrative divisions of Hebei and List of township-level divisions of Hebei

Hebei is made up of 11 prefecture-level divisions, which are all prefecture-level cities:

#	Name	Administrative Seat	Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin	Population (2010)

— Prefecture-level city —
1	Shijiazhuang	Chang'an District	石家庄市 Shíjiāzhuāng Shì	10,163,788
2	Baoding	Xinshi District	保定市 Bǎodìng Shì	11,194,379
3	Cangzhou	Yunhe District	沧州市 Cāngzhōu Shì	7,134,053
4	Chengde	Shuangqiao District	承德市 Chéngdé Shì	3,473,197
5	Handan	Congtai District	邯鄲市 Hándān Shì	9,174,679
6	Hengshui	Taocheng District	衡水市 Héngshǔi Shì	4,340,773
7	Langfang	Anci District	廊坊市 Lángfāng Shì	4,358,839
8	Qinhuangdao	Haigang District	秦皇島市 Qínhuángdǎo Shì	2,987,605
9	Tangshan	Lunan District	唐山市 Tángshān Shì	7,577,284
10	Xingtai	Qiaodong District	邢台市 Xíngtái Shì	7,104,114
11	Zhangjiakou	Qiaoxi District	张家口市 Zhāngjiākǒu Shì	4,345,491

These are subdivided into 172 county-level divisions (22 county-level cities, 108 counties, 6 autonomous counties and 36 districts). Those are, in turn, divided into 2207 township-level divisions (1 district public office, 937 towns, 979 townships, 55 ethnic townships, and 235 subdistricts).

New cities [link]

Hebei is planning to re-organise the administrative divisions with an addition of three new prefecture-level cities, all to be located adjacent to Beijing and named in regard to their position with respect to the national capital:

Jingbei (京北市, meaning "North of Beijing") will be carved from two counties in Zhangjiakou: Huailai and Zhuolu
Jingnan (京南市, meaning "South of Beijing") will compose of a county-level city in Baoding: Zhuozhou
Jingdong (京东市 meaning "East of Beijing") will consist of three county-level administrative divisions in today's Langfang: Sanhe, Xianghe, and Dachang (Hui). They currently comprise the exclave situated between Beijing and Tianjin.^[4]

Politics [link]

Main articles: Politics of Hebei and List of provincial leaders of the People's Republic of China

The politics of Hebei is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China.

The Governor of Hebei is the highest ranking official in the People's Government of Hebei. However, in the province's dual party-government governing system, the Governor has less power than the Hebei Communist Party of China Provincial Committee Secretary (CPC Party Chief).

Economy [link]

Downtown Shijiazhuang.

In 2011, Hebei's GDP was 2.40 trillion yuan (US$379 billion),^[5] an increase of 11% over the previous year and ranked 6th in the PRC. GDP per capita reached 24,428 Renminbi. Disposable income per capita in urban areas was 13,441 RMB, while rural pure income per capita was 4,795 RMB. The primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors of industry contributed 203.46 billion, 877.74 billion, and 537.66 billion RMB respectively. The registered urban unemployment rate was 3.96%.^{[citation needed]}

A corner in downtown Zhangjiakou.

40% of Hebei's labor force works in the agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry sectors, with the majority of production from these industries going to Beijing and Tianjin^[6] Hebei's main agricultural products are cereal crops including wheat, maize, millet, and sorghum. Cash crops like cotton, peanut, soya bean and sesame are also produced.

Kailuan, with a history of over 100 years, is one of China's first modern coal mines, and remains a major mine with an annual production of over 20 million metric tonnes. Much of the North China Oilfield is found in Hebei, and there are also major iron mines at Handan and Qian'an. Iron, as well as steel, manufacturing are the largest industries in Hebei, and are likely to remain so as these industries consolidate and Hebei continues to grow as a manufacturing and transportation center for the region.^[7]

Hebei's industries include textiles, coal, steel, iron, engineering, chemical production, petroleum, power, ceramics and food.

Economic and technological development zones [link]

Baoding Hi-Tech Industry Development Zone
Langfang Export Processing Zone
Qinhuangdao Economic & Technological Development Zone
Qinhuangdao Export Processing Zone
Shijiazhuang Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone

Demographics [link]

The Lingxiao Pagoda of Zhengding, Hebei Province, built in AD 1045 during the Song Dynasty.

The population is mostly Han Chinese with minorities of Mongol, Manchu, and Hui Chinese. Hebei Province has the largest Catholic Christian population in China, nearly 1 million.

Ethnic groups in Hebei, 2000 census
Nationality	Population	Percentage
Han Chinese	63,781,603	95.65%
Manchu	2,118,711	3.18%
Hui	542,639	0.78%
Mongol	169,887	0.26%
Zhuang	20,832	0.031%

Excludes members of the People's Liberation Army in active service.
Source: Department of Population, Social, Science and Technology Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics of China and Department of Economic Development of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission of China, eds. Tabulation on Nationalities of 2000 Population Census of China. 2 vols. Beijing: Nationalities Publishing House (民族出版社), 2003. (ISBN 7-105-05425-5)

In 2004, the birth rate was 11.98 births per 1,000 people, while the death rate was 6.19 deaths per 1,000 people. The sex ratio was 104.52 males to 100 females.^{[citation needed]}

Culture [link]

The giant Bodhisattva statue of Puning Temple, Chengde, Hebei province, built in 1755 under the Qianlong Emperor.

Dialects of Mandarin are spoken over most of the province, and most Mandarin dialects in Hebei are in turn classified as part of the Ji Lu Mandarin subdivision. Regions along the western border with Shanxi, however, have dialects that are distinct enough for linguists to consider them as part of Jin, another subdivision of Chinese, rather than Mandarin. In general, the dialects of Hebei are quite similar to and readily intelligible with the Beijing dialect, which forms the basis for Standard Chinese, the official language of the nation. However, there are also some distinct differences, such as differences in the pronunciation of certain words that derive from entering tone syllables (syllables ending on a plosive) in Middle Chinese.

Traditional forms of Chinese opera in Hebei include Pingju, Hebei Bangzi (also known as Hebei Clapper Opera), and Cangzhou Kuaiban Dagu. Pingju is especially popular: it tends to be colloquial in language and hence easy to understand for audiences. Originating from northeastern Hebei, Pingju has been influenced by other forms of Chinese opera like Beijing opera. Traditionally Pingju makes use of just a xiaosheng (young male lead), a xiaodan (young female lead), and a xiaohualian (young comic character), though it has since diversified with the use of other roles as well.

The Liaodi Pagoda, built in 1055 during the Song Dynasty

Quyang County, in central Hebei, is famous for its Dingzhou porcelain, which includes various vessels such as bowls, plates, vases, and cups, as well as figurines. Dingzhou porcelain is usually creamy white, though it is also made in other colours.

Hebei cuisine is typically based on wheat, mutton and beans.

Famous people born in Hebei Province include:

Feng Dao (881-954), Confucian minister
Yan Yuan (1635–1704), Confucian philosopher
Chi Jushan (1876–1962), playwright and scholar

Media [link]

Hebei is served by Hebei Television.

Transportation [link]

Hebei surrounds Beijing, so many important railway lines radiating out of Beijing pass through Hebei. The Jingguang Railway (Beijing-Guangzhou) is one of the most important: it passes through many major cities like Baoding, Shijiazhuang, Xingtai and Handan on its way through Hebei from north to south. Other important railways include the Jingjiu Railway (Beijing-Kowloon), the Jinghu Railway (Beijing-Shanghai), the Jingha Railway (Beijing-Harbin), and the Jingbao Railway (Beijing-Baotou). During the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, Beijing and Hebei were collaborating on a new passenger railway. The RMB 82.6 billion network will add 844 kilometers to the system. Current railway systems for Hebei trains are also being upgraded and will soon be able to travel at speeds of between 160 and 200 kilometers per hour.

The recent expressway boom in China has not left Hebei behind. There are expressways to every prefecture-level city of Hebei except Chengde, totalling to approximately 2,000 kilometers. The total length of highways within Hebei is around 40,000 kilometers.

There are a number of ports along the Bohai Sea, including Qinhuangdao (the second busiest in China with a capacity of over 100 million tons), Huanghua, and Jingtang. Shijiazhuang's Zhengding Airport is the province's center of air transportation, with domestic and international flights. Parts of Hebei will also be served by the new Beijing Daxing International Airport in Beijing, which is currently under construction and expected to be completed by 2017.^[8]

Tourism [link]

The Xumi Pagoda of Zhengding, Hebei province, built in 636 AD during the Tang Dynasty.

The east end of the Ming Great Wall is located on the coast at Shanhaiguan (Shanhai Pass), near Qinhuangdao. Informally known as the "First Pass of The World" (天下第一關), Shanhaiguan was the place where Ming general Wu Sangui opened the gates to Manchu forces in 1644, beginning nearly 300 years of Manchu rule; Shanhai Pass also marks the psychological entrance / exit of Manchuria, so that for centuries Manchuria was known as "outside the Pass" or "east of the Pass". Beidaihe, located near Shanhaiguan, is a popular beach resort well known as a former meeting place for top governmental officials.

The Ming Great Wall crosses the northern part of Hebei.

The Chengde Mountain Resort and its outlying temples are a World Heritage Site. Also known as the Rehe Palace, this was the summer resort of the Manchu Qing Dynasty emperors. The Chengde Resort was built between 1703 and 1792, and consists of a palace complex, a large park area consisting of lakes, pavilions, causeways, bridges, etc., and a number of Tibetan Buddhist and Han Chinese temples in the surrounding area.

There are Qing Dynasty imperial tombs at Zunhua (Eastern Qing Tombs) and Yixian (West Qing Tombs). The Eastern Qing Tombs are the resting place of 161 Qing emperors, empresses, and other members of the Qing imperial family, while the West Qing Tombs have 76. These are also part of a World Heritage Site.

The Zhaozhou, or Anji Bridge, built by Li Chun during the Sui Dynasty, is the oldest stone arch bridge in China, and one of the most significant examples of pre-modern Chinese civil engineering.

Baoding, the old provincial capital, contains the historical Zhili Governor's Residence.

Xibaipo, a village about 90 km from Shijiazhuang, in Pingshan County was the location of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the headquarters of the People's Liberation Army during the decisive stages of the Chinese Civil War between May 26, 1948 and March 23, 1949, at which point they were moved to Beijing. Today, the area houses a memorial site.^[9]

Sports [link]

Sports teams based in Hebei include:

Chinese Basketball Association
There are no teams based in Hebei.

Chinese Football Association
There are no teams based in Hebei.

Education [link]

Under the national Ministry of Education:

North China Electric Power University (華北電力大學)

Under other national agencies:

Central Institute for Correctional Police (中央司法警官學院)
Chinese People's Armed Police Force Academy (中國人民武裝警察部隊學院)
North China Institute of Science and Technology (華北科技學院)

Under the provincial government:

Chengde Medical College (承德醫學院)
Handan College (邯鄲學院)
Hebei Agricultural University (河北農業大學)
Hebei Engineering University (河北工程大學)
Hebei Institute of Architecture and Civil Engineering (河北建築工程學院)
Hebei Medical University (河北醫科大學)
Hebei Normal University (河北師範大學)
Hebei Normal University of Science and Technology (河北科技師範學院)
Hebei North University (河北北方學院)
Hebei Physical Educational Institute (河北體育學院)
Hebei Polytechnic University (河北理工大學)
Hebei University (河北大學)
Hebei University of Economics and Business (河北經貿大學)
Hebei University of Technology (河北工業大學)
Hebei University of Science and Technology (河北科技大學)
Hengshui University (衡水學院)
Langfang Teacher's College (廊坊師範學院)
North China Coal Medical College (華北煤炭醫學院)
Shijiazhuang College (石家莊學院)
Shijiazhuang Railway Institute (石家莊鐵道學院)
Shijiazhuang University of Economics (石家莊經濟學院)
Tangshan College (唐山學院)
Tangshan Teacher's College (唐山師範學院)
Xingtai University (邢台學院)
Yanshan University (燕山大學)

Notes [link]

^ http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/m/hebei/2011-01/28/content_11935618.htm
^ (Chinese) Origin of the Names of China's Provinces, People's Daily Online.
^ "New Archaeological Discoveries and Researches in 2004 -- The Fourth Archaeology Forum of CASS". Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. http://www.kaogu.cn/en/detail.asp?ProductID=982. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
^ "河北将建设京东、京南、京北三座环首都新城" (in Simplified Chinese). Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China. http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2010-10/30/content_1733972.htm. Retrieved 2010-11-04.
^ http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2012/01/27/chinas-provincial-gdp-figures-in-2011.html
^ http://thechinaperspective.com/topics/province/hebei-province/
^ http://thechinaperspective.com/topics/province/hebei-province/
^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8752665/China-to-build-worlds-biggest-airport.html
^ Kenneth Pomeranz (July 22, 2010), Musings on a Museum: A Trip to Xibaipo, http://www.thechinabeat.org/?p=2384

Economic profile for Hebei at HKTDC

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v t e Hebei topics

Shijiazhuang (capital)

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Geography	Cities North China Plain Taihang Mountains Yan Mountains Shanhai Pass Bohai Sea Hai River watershed Luan He watershed Baiyangdian Lake

Education	Hebei University Hebei University of Technology Hebei University of Economics and Business Hebei University of Science and Technology

Culture	Music Pingju opera Er ren tai

Visitor attractions	Beidaihe beach resort Chengde Mountain Resort Eastern Qing Tombs Western Qing Tombs Anji Bridge Jackson Hole

Hebei Province county-level divisions

Shijiazhuang (capital)

Prefecture-level
cities

Shijiazhuang	Chang'an District Qiaodong District Qiaoxi District Xinhua District Yuhua District Jingxing Mining District Luquan City Xinji City Gaocheng City Jinzhou City Xinle City Shenze County Wuji County Zhao County Lingshou County Gaoyi County Yuanshi County Zanhuang County Pingshan County Jingxing County Luancheng County Zhengding County Xingtang County

Tangshan	Lubei District Lunan District Guye District Kaiping District Fengrun District Fengnan District Zunhua City Qian'an City Luan County Luannan County Laoting County Qianxi County Yutian County Tanghai County

Qinhuangdao	Haigang District Shanhaiguan District Beidaihe District Changli County Funing County Lulong County Qinglong Autonomous County

Handan	Congtai District Hanshan District Fuxing District Fengfeng Mining District Wu'an City Handan County Linzhang County Cheng'an County Daming County She County Ci County Feixiang County Yongnian County Qiu County Jize County Guangping County Guantao County Wei County Quzhou County

Xingtai	Qiaodong District Qiaoxi District Nangong City Shahe City Xingtai County Lincheng County Neiqiu County Baixiang County Longyao County Ren County Nanhe County Ningjin County Julu County Xinhe County Guangzong County Pingxiang County Wei County Qinghe County Linxi County

Baoding	Xinshi District Beishi District Nanshi District Dingzhou City Zhuozhou City Anguo City Gaobeidian City Mancheng County Qingyuan County Yi County Xushui County Laiyuan County Dingxing County Shunping County Tang County Wangdu County Laishui County Gaoyang County Anxin County Xiong County Rongcheng County Quyang County Fuping County Boye County Li County

Zhangjiakou	Qiaoxi District Qiaodong District Xuanhua District Xiahuayuan District Zhangbei County Kangbao County Xuanhua County Shangyi County Guyuan County Yu County Yangyuan County Huai'an County Wanquan County Huailai County Zhuolu County Chicheng County Chongli County

Chengde	Shuangqiao District Shuangluan District Yingshouyingzi Mining District Chengde County Xinglong County Pingquan County Luanping County Longhua County Fengning Autonomous County Kuancheng Autonomous County Weichang Autonomous County

Cangzhou	Yunhe District Xinhua District Botou City Renqiu City Huanghua City Hejian City Cang County Qing County Dongguang County Haixing County Yanshan County Suning County Nanpi County Wuqiao County Xian County Mengcun Autonomous County

Langfang	Anci District Guangyang District Bazhou City Sanhe City Gu'an County Yongqing County Xianghe County Dacheng County Wen'an County Dachang Autonomous County

Hengshui	Taocheng District Jizhou City Shenzhou City Zaoqiang County Wuyi County Wuqiang County Raoyang County Anping County Gucheng County Jing County Fucheng County

v t e Provincial level divisions of the People's Republic of China

Provinces	Anhui Fujian Gansu Guangdong Guizhou Hainan Hebei Heilongjiang Henan Hubei Hunan Jiangsu Jiangxi Jilin Liaoning Qinghai Shaanxi Shandong Shanxi Sichuan Yunnan Zhejiang

Autonomous regions	Guangxi Inner Mongolia (Nei Mongol) Ningxia Tibet (Xizang) Xinjiang

Municipalities	Beijing Chongqing Shanghai Tianjin

Special administrative regions	Hong Kong Macau

Territorial disputes	Paracel, Spratly, Zhongsha Islands (see Paracels, Spratlys, & Zhongsha Iss. Authority) Pratas Islands Diaoyu Islands (Senkaku Islands) South Tibet Taiwan, Quemoy & Matsu (see Legal status of Taiwan)

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