THE WORLD FACTBOOK — Reference Edition 2026

Background: First inhabited by Austronesian people, Taiwan became home to Han immigrants beginning in the late Ming Dynasty (17th century). In 1895, military defeat forced China's Qing Dynasty to cede Taiwan to Japan, which then governed Taiwan for 50 years. Taiwan came under Chinese Nationalist (Kuomintang, KMT) control after World War II. With the communist victory in the Chinese civil war in 1949, the Nationalist-controlled Republic of China government and 2 million Nationalists fled to Taiwan and continued to claim to be the legitimate government for mainland China and Taiwan, based on a 1947 constitution drawn up for all of China. Until 1987, however, the Nationalist Government ruled Taiwan under a civil war martial law declaration dating to 1948. Beginning in the 1970s, Nationalist authorities gradually began to incorporate the native population into the governing structure beyond the local level. The democratization process expanded rapidly in the 1980s, leading to the then-illegal founding of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwan’s first opposition party, in 1986 and the lifting of martial law the following year. Taiwan held legislative elections in 1992, the first in over 40 years, and its first direct presidential election in 1996. In the 2000 presidential elections, Taiwan underwent its first peaceful transfer of power with the KMT loss to the DPP and afterwards experienced two additional democratic transfers of power in 2008 and 2016. Throughout this period, the island prospered and turned into one of East Asia's economic "Tigers," becoming a major investor in mainland China after 2000 as cross-Strait ties matured. The dominant political issues continue to be economic reform and growth, as well as management of sensitive relations between Taiwan and China.

Location: Eastern Asia, islands bordering the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, South China Sea, and Taiwan Strait, north of the Philippines, off the southeastern coast of China
Geographic coordinates: 23 30 N, 121 00 E
Map references: Southeast Asia
Area: total: 35,980 sq km
land: 32,260 sq km
water: 3,720 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Maryland and Delaware combined
Land boundaries: total: 0 km
Coastline: 1,566.3 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate: tropical; marine; rainy season during southwest monsoon (June to August); persistent and extensive cloudiness all year
Terrain: eastern two-thirds mostly rugged mountains; flat to gently rolling plains in west
Elevation: highest point: Yu Shan 3,952 m
lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
mean elevation: 1,150 m
Natural resources: small deposits of coal, natural gas, limestone, marble, asbestos, arable land
Land use: agricultural land: 22% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: arable land: arable land: 16.6% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: permanent crops: permanent crops: 5.4% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: permanent pasture: permanent pasture: 0% (2022 est.)
forest: 0% (2022 est.)
other: 78% (2022 est.)
Irrigated land: 3,820 sq km (2012)
Population distribution: distribution exhibits a peripheral coastal settlement pattern, with the largest populations on the north and west coasts
Natural hazards: earthquakes; typhoons volcanism: Kueishantao Island (401 m), east of Taiwan, is the only historically active volcano, but it has not erupted in centuries
Geography - note: strategic location adjacent to both the Taiwan Strait and the Luzon Strait

Population: total: 23,600,776 (2025 est.)
male: 11,596,835
female: 12,003,941
Nationality: noun: Taiwan (singular and plural)
adjective: Taiwan (or Taiwanese)
Ethnic groups: Han Chinese (including Holo, who compose approximately 70% of Taiwan's population, Hakka, and other groups originating in mainland China) more than 95%, indigenous Malayo-Polynesian peoples 2.3%
Languages: Languages: Mandarin (official), Min Nan, Hakka dialects, approximately 16 indigenous languages
major-language sample(s): 世界概況 – 不可缺少的基本消息來源 (Mandarin)The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Religions: Buddhist 35.3%, Taoist 33.2%, Christian 3.9%, folk religion (includes Confucian) approximately 10%, none or unspecified 18.2% (2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 12.1% (male 1,472,059/female 1,391,031)
15-64 years: 69% (male 8,132,356/female 8,155,582)
65 years and over: 18.8% (2024 est.) (male 2,002,076/female 2,442,170)
Dependency ratios: total dependency ratio: 46.5 (2025 est.)
youth dependency ratio: 17.7 (2025 est.)
elderly dependency ratio: 28.7 (2025 est.)
potential support ratio: 3.5 (2025 est.)
Median age: total: 45.1 years (2025 est.)
male: 43.6 years
female: 45.5 years
Population growth rate: 0.02% (2025 est.)
Birth rate: 7.22 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Death rate: 8.18 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Net migration rate: 1.17 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Population distribution: distribution exhibits a peripheral coastal settlement pattern, with the largest populations on the north and west coasts
Urbanization: urban population: 80.1% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 0.65% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Major urban areas - population: 4.504 million New Taipei City, 2.754 million TAIPEI (capital), 2.319 million Taoyuan, 1.553 million Kaohsiung, 1.369 million Taichung, 863,000 Tainan (2023)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 3.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)
male: 4.2 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 3.5 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 81.6 years (2024 est.)
male: 78.6 years
female: 84.7 years
Total fertility rate: 1.12 children born/woman (2025 est.)
Gross reproduction rate: 0.54 (2025 est.)

Environmental issues: air pollution; water pollution from industrial emissions, raw sewage; contamination of drinking water supplies; trade in endangered species; low-level radioactive waste disposal
Climate: tropical; marine; rainy season during southwest monsoon (June to August); persistent and extensive cloudiness all year
Land use: agricultural land: 22% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: arable land: arable land: 16.6% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: permanent crops: permanent crops: 5.4% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: permanent pasture: permanent pasture: 0% (2022 est.)
forest: 0% (2022 est.)
other: 78% (2022 est.)
Urbanization: urban population: 80.1% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 0.65% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Carbon dioxide emissions: total emissions: 289.109 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
from coal and metallurgical coke: 140.734 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
from petroleum and other liquids: 92.014 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
from consumed natural gas: 56.361 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
Waste and recycling: municipal solid waste generated annually: 7.336 million tons (2015 est.)
percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 13.8% (2022 est.)
Total renewable water resources: 67 cubic meters (2011)

Country name: conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Taiwan
local long form: none
local short form: Taiwan
former: Formosa
etymology: the name may derive from the Chinese words tai (terrace) and wan (bay), referring to the island's terrain; in 1590, the Portuguese named it Formosa, meaning "beautiful"
Government type: semi-presidential republic
Capital: name: Taipei
geographic coordinates: 25 02 N, 121 31 E
time difference: UTC+8 (13 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
etymology: the name means "Northern Taiwan," from the Chinese words tai (a short form of Taiwan) and bei (north), reflecting the city's position in the far north of the island
Administrative divisions: includes main island of Taiwan, plus smaller islands nearby and off coast of China's Fujian Province; Taiwan is divided into 13 counties (xian, singular and plural), 3 cities (shi, singular and plural), and 6 special municipalities directly under the jurisdiction of the Executive Yuan counties: Changhua, Chiayi, Hsinchu, Hualien, Kinmen, Lienchiang, Miaoli, Nantou, Penghu, Pingtung, Taitung, Yilan, Yunlin cities: Chiayi, Hsinchu, Keelung special municipalities: Kaohsiung (city), New Taipei (city), Taichung (city), Tainan (city), Taipei (city), Taoyuan (city)
Legal system: civil law system
Constitution: history: previous 1912, 1931; latest adopted 25 December 1946, promulgated 1 January 1947, effective 25 December 1947
amendment process: proposed by at least one fourth of the Legislative Yuan membership; passage requires approval by at least three-fourths majority vote of at least three fourths of the Legislative Yuan membership and approval in a referendum by more than half of eligible voters
International law organization participation: has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt
Citizenship: citizenship by birth: no
citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Taiwan
dual citizenship recognized: yes, except that citizens of Taiwan are not recognized as dual citizens of the People's Republic of China
residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years
Suffrage: 20 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President LAI Ching-te (since 20 May 2024)
head of government: Premier CHO Jung-tai (President of the Executive Yuan) (since 20 May 2024)
cabinet: Executive Yuan; ministers appointed by president on recommendation of premier
election/appointment process: president and vice president directly elected on the same ballot by simple-majority popular vote for a 4-year term (eligible for a second term); premier appointed by the president; vice premiers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the premier
most recent election date: 13 January 2024
election results: 2024: LAI Ching-te elected president; percent of vote - LAI Ching-te (DPP) 40.1%, HOU Yu-ih (KMT) 33.5%, KO Wen-je (TPP) 26.5%)2020: TSAI Ing-wen reelected president; percent of vote - TSAI Ing-wen (DPP) 57.1%, HAN Kuo-yu (KMT) 38.6%, James SOONG (PFP) 4.3%
expected date of next election: 2028
Legislative branch: legislature name: Legislative Yuan
legislative structure: unicameral
number of seats: 113 (directly elected)
electoral system: plurality/majority
scope of elections: full renewal
term in office: 4 years
most recent election date: 13 January 2024
parties elected and seats per party: Kuomintang (KMT) 52, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) 51, Taiwan People's Party (TPP) 8, independent 2
percentage of women in chamber: 41.6%
expected date of next election: January 2028
Judicial branch: highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of the court president, vice president, and approximately 100 judges organized into civil and criminal panels, each with a chief justice and 4 associate justices); Constitutional Court (consists of the court president, vice president, and 13 justices)
judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court justices appointed for life by the president; Constitutional Court justices appointed by the president, with approval of the Legislative Yuan, for 8-year terms, with half the membership renewed every 4 years
subordinate courts: high courts; district courts; hierarchy of administrative courts
Political parties: Democratic Progressive Party or DPP Kuomintang or KMT (Nationalist Party) Taiwan People's Party or TPP
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: none
Taipei Economic and Cultural Offices (branch offices): Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver (CO), Hagatna (Guam), Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: the US does not have an embassy in Taiwan; commercial and cultural relations with the people of Taiwan are maintained through an unofficial instrumentality, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), a private nonprofit corporation that performs citizen and consular services similar to those at diplomatic posts; it is managed by Director Raymond F. GREENE (since 8 July 2024)
mailing address: 4170 AIT Taipei Place, Washington DC 20521-4170
telephone: [886] 2-2162-2000
FAX: [886] 2-2162-2251
email address and website: TaipeiACS@state.govhttps://www.ait.org.tw/
branch office(s): American Institute in TaiwanNo. 100, Jinhu Road,Neihu District 11461, Taipei City
other offices: Kaohsiung (Branch Office)
International organization participation: ADB (Chinese Taipei), APEC (Chinese Taipei), BCIE, CABEI, IOC, ITUC (NGOs), SICA (observer), WTO (Chinese Taipei)
National holiday: Republic Day (National Day), 10 October (1911)
Flag: description: red field with a dark blue rectangle in the upper-left corner, bearing a white sun with 12 triangular raysmeaning: blue stands for liberty, justice, and democracy; red for fraternity, sacrifice, and nationalism; white for equality, frankness, and the people's livelihood; the 12 rays represent the months of the year and the traditional Chinese hours (each ray equals two hours)history: the blue-and-white design of the canton (symbolizing the sun of progress) dates to 1895
National symbol(s): white sun with 12 rays on a blue field
National color(s): blue, white, red
National anthem(s): title: "Zhonghua Minguo guoge" (National Anthem of the Republic of China)
lyrics/music: HU Han-min, TAI Chi-t'ao, and LIAO Chung-k'ai/CHENG Mao-yun
history: adopted 1937; also the song of the Kuomintang Party; informally known as "San Min Chu I" or "San Min Zhu Yi" (Three Principles of the People); the anthem is banned from performance in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau

Economic overview: high-income East Asian economy; most technologically advanced computer microchip manufacturing; increasing Chinese interference threatens market capabilities; minimum wages rising; longstanding regional socioeconomic inequality
Real GDP (purchasing power parity): Real GDP (purchasing power parity) 2023: $1.743 trillion (2023 est.)
Real GDP (purchasing power parity) 2022: $1.664 trillion (2022 est.)
Real GDP (purchasing power parity) 2021: $1.512 trillion (2021 est.)
Real GDP growth rate: Real GDP growth rate 2023: 1.28% (2023 est.)
Real GDP growth rate 2022: 2.59% (2022 est.)
Real GDP growth rate 2021: 6.62% (2021 est.)
Real GDP per capita: Real GDP per capita 2023: $32,300 (2023 est.)
Real GDP per capita 2022: $32,600 (2022 est.)
Real GDP per capita 2021: $32,900 (2021 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): $611.391 billion (2023 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2024: 2.2% (2024 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2023: 2.5% (2023 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2022: 2.9% (2022 est.)
GDP - composition, by end use: household consumption: 48.3% (2023 est.)
government consumption: 13.3% (2023 est.)
investment in fixed capital: 23.7% (2023 est.)
investment in inventories: -0.6% (2023 est.)
exports of goods and services: 64% (2023 est.)
imports of goods and services: -49.1% (2023 est.)
Agricultural products: rice, vegetables, pork, chicken, cabbages, milk, sugarcane, tropical fruits, pineapples, eggs (2023)
Industries: electronics, communications and information technology products, petroleum refining, chemicals, textiles, iron and steel, machinery, cement, food processing, vehicles, consumer products, pharmaceuticals
Unemployment rate: Unemployment rate 2024: 3.4% (2024 est.)
Unemployment rate 2023: 3.5% (2023 est.)
Unemployment rate 2022: 3.7% (2022 est.)
Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income: Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income 2023: 33.9 (2023 est.)
Average household expenditures: on food: 13.8% of household expenditures (2023 est.)
on alcohol and tobacco: 2.5% of household expenditures (2023 est.)
Budget: revenues: $94.943 billion (2019 est.)
expenditures: $105.833 billion (2019 est.)
Public debt: Public debt 2017: 35.7% of GDP (2017 est.)
Current account balance: Current account balance 2023: $105.076 billion (2023 est.)
Current account balance 2022: $101.032 billion (2022 est.)
Current account balance 2021: $118.298 billion (2021 est.)
Exports: Exports 2023: $432.432 billion (2023 est.)
Exports 2022: $479.415 billion (2022 est.)
Exports 2021: $446.371 billion (2021 est.)
Exports - partners: China 20%, USA 17%, Hong Kong 13%, Singapore 9%, Japan 7% (2023)
Exports - commodities: integrated circuits, machine parts, broadcasting equipment, computers, plastics (2023)
Imports: Imports 2023: $351.441 billion (2023 est.)
Imports 2022: $428.083 billion (2022 est.)
Imports 2021: $381.958 billion (2021 est.)
Imports - partners: China 21%, Japan 13%, USA 11%, S. Korea 9%, Australia 5% (2023)
Imports - commodities: integrated circuits, crude petroleum, machinery, natural gas, coal (2023)
Exchange rates: Currency: New Taiwan dollars (TWD) per US dollar -
Exchange rates 2024: 32.108 (2024 est.)
Exchange rates 2023: 31.15 (2023 est.)
Exchange rates 2022: 29.777 (2022 est.)
Exchange rates 2021: 28.022 (2021 est.)
Exchange rates 2020: 28.211 (2020 est.)

Electricity: installed generating capacity: 64.535 million kW (2023 est.)
consumption: 270.648 billion kWh (2023 est.)
transmission/distribution losses: 7.907 billion kWh (2023 est.)
Electricity generation sources: fossil fuels: 84.2% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)
nuclear: 6.4% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)
solar: 4.6% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)
wind: 2.2% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)
hydroelectricity: 1.2% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)
biomass and waste: 1.3% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)
Nuclear energy: Number of operational nuclear reactors: 1 (2025)
Net capacity of operational nuclear reactors: 0.94GW (2025 est.)
Percent of total electricity production: 6.9% (2023 est.)
Number of nuclear reactors permanently shut down: 5 (2025)
Coal: production: 5.212 million metric tons (2023 est.)
consumption: 64.609 million metric tons (2023 est.)
exports: 47,000 metric tons (2023 est.)
imports: 58.15 million metric tons (2023 est.)
proven reserves: 1 million metric tons (2023 est.)
Petroleum: total petroleum production: 800 bbl/day (2023 est.)
refined petroleum consumption: 954,000 bbl/day (2023 est.)
crude oil estimated reserves: 2.38 million barrels (2021 est.)
Natural gas: production: 60.761 million cubic meters (2023 est.)
consumption: 27.222 billion cubic meters (2023 est.)
imports: 26.997 billion cubic meters (2023 est.)
proven reserves: 6.23 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)
Energy consumption per capita: Total energy consumption per capita 2023: 206.102 million Btu/person (2023 est.)

Telephones - fixed lines: total subscriptions: 10 million (2023 est.)
subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 43 (2023 est.)
Telephones - mobile cellular: total subscriptions: 29.8 million (2024 est.)
subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 128 (2024 est.)
Broadcast media: 5 national TV networks with about 22 stations; over 300 satellite TV channels available; about half of households use multi-channel cable TV; almost all subscribe to digital cable TV; national and regional radio networks with about 171 radio stations (2023)
Internet country code: .tw
Internet users: percent of population: 90% (2021 est.)
Broadband - fixed subscriptions: total: 5,831,470 (2019 est.)
subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 25 (2019 est.)

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix: B
Airports: 57 (2025)
Heliports: 56 (2025)
Railways: total: 1,613.1 km (2018)
standard gauge: 345 km (2018) 1.435-m gauge (345 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 1,118.1 km (2018) 1.067-m gauge (793.9 km electrified)
Merchant marine: total: 465 (2023)
by type: bulk carrier 29, container ship 53, general cargo 58, oil tanker 35, other 290
Ports: total ports: 8 (2024)
large: 1
medium: 3
small: 2
very small: 2
ports with oil terminals: 8
key ports: Chi-Lung, Hua-Lien Kang, Kao-Hsiung, Su-Ao

Military and security forces: Taiwan Armed Forces: Army, Navy (includes Marine Corps), Air Force, Information Communication and Electronic Force (ICEF)Ocean Affairs Council: Coast Guard Administration (CGA)Ministry of Interior: National Police (2025)
Military expenditures: Military Expenditures 2024: 2.4% of GDP (2024 est.)
Military Expenditures 2023: 2.5% of GDP (2023 est.)
Military Expenditures 2022: 2.1% of GDP (2022 est.)
Military Expenditures 2021: 2.1% of GDP (2021 est.)
Military Expenditures 2020: 2.1% of GDP (2020 est.)
Military and security service personnel strengths: approximately 170,000 active duty Armed Forces (2025)
Military equipment inventories and acquisitions: the military's inventory is a mix of domestically produced and foreign-supplied armaments, mostly from the US either as secondhand or direct acquisitions; Taiwan's domestic defense industry produces weapons systems such as aircraft, armored vehicles, missiles, and naval platforms (2025)
Military service age and obligation: men 18-36 years of age may volunteer or must complete 12 months of compulsory military service; civil service can be substituted for military service in some cases; women can volunteer (2025)
Military - note: the military’s primary responsibility is external security, including the defense and protection of the country’s air space, maritime claims, sea lines of communications, sovereignty, and territory; its main focus is the challenge posed by the People’s Republic of China (2025)

Space agency/agencies: Taiwan Space Agency (TASA; renamed and reorganized in 2023 from the former National Space Program Organization or NSPO, which was established in 1991) (2025)
Space launch site(s): sounding rockets launched from Jui Peng Air Base (Pingtung); has announced intentions to build a future national space port on the southeast coast (Pingtung) (2025)
Space program overview: has had a national space program since the early 1990s, with a focus on acquiring satellites and developing independent space capabilities, such as rocket manufacturing and satellite launch services; manufactures and operates satellites and sounding rockets; researching and developing other space technologies, including remote sensing, telecommunications, small satellites, satellite payloads and ground station components, spacecraft components, navigational control, and rocket propulsion systems; has bilateral relations with the space programs of France, India, Japan, Paraguay, Poland, the UK, and the US; has a commercial space industry that provides components and expertise for the Taiwan Space Agency and is independently developing satellites and a small satellite launch vehicle; the government passed a space promotion act in 2021 to encourage private investment in the space industry (2025)
Key space-program milestones: 1997 - launched first sounding rocket1999 - first scientific satellite (FORMOSAT-1) built and launched by the US2004 - first remote sensing (RS) satellite (FORMOSAT-2) built by France and launched by US2017 - first domestically built RS satellite (FORMOSAT-5) launched by US 2021 - initiated development of a commercial 3-stage, hybrid-engine rocket (Hapith-5)2023 - first domestically made RS/meteorological satellite (FormoSat-7R/Triton) launched on European rocket

Refugees and internally displaced persons: IDPs: 380 (2024 est.)
Illicit drugs: USG identification: major precursor-chemical producer (2025)

Taiwan