Taiwan - Country information


		Taiwan	Population Government Economy Geography Communication Transportation

Population		Top of page

Inhabitants		Life expectancy
22,858,872 (July 2007 est.)		total population: 77.56 years male: 74.65 years female: 80.74 years (2007 est.)

Ethnic groups		Religions
Taiwanese (including Hakka) 84%, mainland Chinese 14%, indigenous 2%		mixture of Buddhist and Taoist 93%, Christian 4.5%, other 2.5%

Languages		Literacy
Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects		definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 96.1% male: NA% female: NA% (2003)

Government		Top of page

Government type		Capital
multiparty democracy		Taipei

Independance		National day
		Republic Day (Anniversary of the Chinese Revolution), 10 October (1911)

Constitution		Legal system
25 December 1947; amended in 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2005		based on civil law system

Economy		Top of page

GDP (purchasing power parity)		Growth rate
$353.9 billion (2006 est.)		4.4% (2006 est.)

GDP per inhabitant		Unemployment rate
$29,000 (2006 est.)		3.9% (2006 est.)

Population below poverty line		Inflation rate
0.9% (2006 est.)		1% (2006 est.)

Exports		Imports
$215 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)		$205.3 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold		Currency
$280.6 billion (2006 est.)		new Taiwan dollar (TWD)

Military expenditures
2.2% (2006)

Geography		Top of page

Location		Area
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		35,980 sq km

Climate		Natural resources
tropical; marine; rainy season during southwest monsoon (June to August); cloudiness is persistent and extensive all year		small deposits of coal, natural gas, limestone, marble, and asbestos

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