Taiwan after World War II

Taiwan after World War II (traditional Chinese: 臺灣戰後時期; simplified Chinese: 台湾战后时期; pinyin: Táiwān Zhànhòu Shíqī) is the history of Taiwan under the rule of the government of the Republic of China (not to be confused with the People's Republic of China) from 25 October 1945 to the present. Since 1949 the ROC government has been based in Taipei and is usually known as Taiwan.

Overview

Early postwar society

The Second World War's hostilities came to a close on 2 September 1945, with the defeat of the Empire of Japan and Nazi Germany. Taiwan, which had been ceded to Japan by the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895, was placed under the control of the Kuomintang-led Republic of China (ROC) with the promulgation of General Order No. 1 and the signing of the Instrument of Surrender on that day.

He Yingqin, the ROC representative at the Japanese surrender ceremonies established an "Office of the Chief Executive of Taiwan Province" (台灣省行政長官公署) separate from the provincial-level executive system on mainland China. After the establishment of the provincial executive office, Chen Yi was appointed Chief Executive. Chen Yi proclaimed 25 October to be Retrocession Day.

World War II

World War II (WWII or WW2), also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. In a state of "total war", the major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust (in which approximately 11 million people were killed) and the strategic bombing of industrial and population centres (in which approximately one million were killed, and which included the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki), it resulted in an estimated 50 million to 85 million fatalities. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history.

Taiwan

Coordinates: 23°30′N 121°00′E / 23.500°N 121.000°E / 23.500; 121.000

Taiwan (ⁱ/ˌtaɪˈwɑːn/; Chinese: 臺灣 or 台灣; see below), officially the Republic of China (ROC; Chinese: 中華民國; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó), is a sovereign state in East Asia. The Republic of China, originally based in mainland China, now governs the island of Taiwan, which constitutes more than 99% of its territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and other minor islands, following its loss of the mainland China territory in 1949 in the Chinese Civil War. This remaining area is also constitutionally called the "Free area of the Republic of China" which is not ruled by the Communist Party of China in Beijing.

Neighboring states include the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the west (mainland China), Japan to the east and northeast, and the Philippines to the south. Taiwan is one of the most densely populated countries in the world with a population density of 649 people per km² in October 2015.Taipei is the seat of the central government, and together with the surrounding cities of New Taipei and Keelung forms the largest metropolitan area on the island.

Taiwan Province

Taiwan Province (Chinese: 臺灣省 or 台灣省; pinyin: Táiwān Shěng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tâi-oân Séng) is one of the two administrative divisions of the Republic of China (ROC) that are officially referred to as "provinces". The province covers approximately 69% of the actual-controlled territory of the ROC, with around 31% 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, Xiaoliuqiu Island and Orchid Island. Taiwan Province does not cover territories of the special municipalities of Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei, and Taoyuan, all of which are located geographically within the 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 (not to be confused with the PRC's Fujian Province).

Geography of Taiwan

Taiwan (historically called Formosa, from Portuguese: Ilha Formosa, "Beautiful Island", Portuguese pronunciation: [ˌiʎɐ fuɾˈmɔzɐ]) is an island in East Asia; it is located some 180 kilometres (112 miles) off the southeastern coast of mainland China across the Taiwan Strait. It has an area of 35,883 km² (13,855 sq mi) and spans the Tropic of Cancer. 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. Taiwan proper makes up 99% of the territory of the Free Area of Republic of China, after the ROC lost its mainland China territory in the Chinese Civil War and fled to the island in 1949, and the country itself is commonly referred to as simply "Taiwan".

Taiwan is a tilted fault block, characterized by the contrast between the eastern two-thirds, consisting mostly of five rugged mountain ranges parallel to the east coast, and the flat to gently rolling plains of the western third, where most of Taiwan's population reside. There are several peaks over 3,500 m, the highest being Yu Shan at 3,952 metres (12,966 ft), making Taiwan the world's fourth-highest island. The tectonic boundary that formed these ranges is still active, and the island experiences many earthquakes, a few of them highly destructive. There are also many active submarine volcanoes in the Taiwan Straits.