Chinese Taipei is the designated name used by the Republic of China (ROC), commonly known as "Taiwan", to participate in some international organizations and almost all sporting events, such as the Olympics, Paralympics, Asian Games, Asian Para Games and FIFA World Cup. The international community commonly employs the term "Chinese Taipei" at the agreement of both the ROC and the People's Republic of China (PRC), commonly known as China, because it affirms ambiguity about the political status of Taiwan, implies that ROC is part of the same "China" under PRC's control, and does not limit the ROC's implied territorial control to the island of Taiwan. The PRC opposes the use of the official name "Republic of China" or the common name "Taiwan" for the ROC because it would imply Taiwan's status as a sovereign state, while the ROC opposes the use of the designation "Taiwan, China" because it would imply that Taiwan's status as subordinate to the PRC.

After the Republic of China (ROC) lost its United Nations seat in 1971, more and more countries terminated their diplomatic relations with Taipei and established new ties with Beijing, the People's Republic of China (PRC). In diplomatic circles, Beijing was on the rise and the ROC found that in order to participate in some international forums it would have to make difficult concessions towards the PRC. One of these concessions was acceptance of the term "Chinese Taipei" as a name. The first instance that this name was used in a major international organisation was in the International Olympic Committee (IOC). By 1979, the IOC had finally decided that the Beijing Olympic Committee would be the "Chinese Olympic Committee" and another name would need to be found for the Olympic Committee on Taiwan.

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.