Taiwan (China, Republic of) - (Asia)
(Print)

Information about Taiwan (China, Republic of)

Most of the people of Taiwan (called by the Portuguese explorers, Formosa) live in the cities and villages of the lowlands and foothills, largely on the west side of the island. The aborigines, the islands’ earliest inhabitants, now a small minority of 340,000, are divided into ten tribes and are culturally and linguistically related to the Malayo-Polynesian people. The largest segment of the population, called Taiwanese, are the descendants of settlers from South East China who began arriving about four centuries ago, escaping hardship in Fujian and Guangzhou. They are either Amoy- or Hakka-speaking. The most recent wave of immigration was the Chinese, who came to Taiwan after World War II.
From 1895 to 1945 Taiwan was occupied by the Japanese. In 1949, after the victory of the revolutionary army under Mao Tse-Tung, the Kuomintang of General Chiang Kai-Shek fled to the island, but still claimed to represent the whole of China. Even after the international recognition of the People’s Republic of China, the Kuomintang maintained this claim. Mainland China, on the other hand, regards Taiwan as an integral part of its own territory. For many years now the Taiwanese people have been striving for the recognition of the island as an independent nation.

Churches

• China Presbyterian Church
  
• China Presbyterian Church
  
• Christian Reformed Church
  
• Christian Reformed Yung - Men Presbyterian Church
  
• Hsin-Yi Friendship Presbyterian Church
  China Presbyterian Church
• Orthodox Presbyterian Church
  
• Presbyterian Church of Korea - Taiwan Mission
  
• Reformed Presbyterian Church in Taiwan
  
• Tai-OtanKi-Tok Tiu-Lo Kau-Hoe
  Presbyterian Church in Taiwan PCT
• Taiwan Toa-Seng Presbyterian Church
  
• The General Assembly Evangelical Presbyterian Church
  

• China Reformed Theological Seminary
  
• Presbyterian Bible College
  
• Tainan Theological College and Seminary
  
• Taiwan Theological College and Seminary
  
• Yu-Shan Theological College
  

Libraries

• College Library of Yu-Shan Theological College
  
• Library of the Tainan Theological College & Seminary
  
• Library of the Taiwan Theological College & Seminary