Taiwan (China, Republic of) - (Asia)

Information about Taiwan (China, Republic of)

Capital
 Taipei
Area
 36006 square kilometres
Population
 21683000
Religions
 mixture of Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist 93%, Christian 4.5%, other 2.5%
Christian (%)
Protestant (%)
 3.00
Reformed (%)

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

Libraries

Copyright © 2002 reformiert online
Stiftung Johannes a Lasco Bibliothek Grosse Kirche Emden
Kirchstrasse 22, 26721 Emden, Deutschland
Telefon: 04921 - 9150 - 0, Telefax: 04921 - 9150 - 50
Internet: http://www.reformiert-online.net
Email: fasse@reformiert-online.de