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{{this article is about|the people, history, culture, and geography of the island of Taiwan. For the state commonly known as "Taiwan," see ]. For the province of Taiwan, see ]. For other uses, see ].}} |
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'''Taiwan''' ({{zh-tspw|t=臺灣 or 台灣|s=台湾|p=Táiwān|w=T'ai-wan}}; ]: Tâi-oân) is an ] in ] located off the coast of ], south of ] and north of the ]. "Taiwan" is commonly used to refer to the territories currently governed by the ''']''' (ROC), which include the Taiwan island group (including ] (Orchid Island) and ]), the ] in the ], ] and ] off the coast of mainland ], and ] and the ] in the ]. The current political status of Taiwan in contested by the People's Republic of China, which claims it as one of its provinces. |
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The main island of Taiwan, also known as '''Formosa''' (] sailors called it ''Ilha Formosa'', which means "beautiful island"), is bounded to the east by the ], to the south by the South China Sea and the Luzon Strait, to the west by the Taiwan Strait and to the north by the East China Sea. The island is 394 kilometers (245 miles) long and 144 kilometers (89 miles) wide and consists of steep mountains covered by tropical and subtropical vegetation. |
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{{Authority control}} |
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==Political status== |
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''Main article: ]'' |
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In 1895, Taiwan, including the Pescadores, became a Japanese colony, a concession by the ] after it lost the ]. After Japan's defeat at the end of ] in 1945, Allied Command ordered Japanese troops in Taiwan to surrender to the ] (ROC) and ROC became the de facto ruler of Taiwan ever since. In 1949, upon losing the ] to the ], the ruling ] (KMT) of the ] retreated from ] and moved the ROC government to ], Taiwan's largest city, while continuing to claim sovereignty over all of ] and ]. On the mainland, the Communists established the ] (PRC), claiming to be the sole representative of China including Taiwan and portraying the ROC government on Taiwan as an illegitimate entity. |
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Taiwan has been transformed into a major industrialized economy and is touted as one of the ]. Meanwhile, political reforms beginning in the late 1970s and continuing through the early 1990s liberalized the Republic of China from an authoritarian one-party state into a multiparty democracy. In 2000, the KMT's monopoly on power ended after the ] (DPP) won the ]. Besides groups seeking the ], there is a ] movement that seeks to establish a ]. The competing claims over the future of Taiwan have made and continue to make Taiwan's ] a contentious issue. The numbers who answer favorably toward any particular resolution often changes depending on the particular wording of the question, illustrating the complexity of public opinion on the topic. |
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The political environment is complicated by the potential for military conflict to result should overt actions toward independence be taken. It is the policy of the PRC to reserve the right to "use force to ensure reunification" if peaceful reunification fails, and there are substantial military installations on the Fujian coast. In return, the US has provided military training and arms sales to the ROC. However, the United States has repeatedly stated that it does not condone the Taiwan independence movement, and furthermore that it does not support unilateral changes in the current status quo by either the ROC or PRC leadership. |
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The KMT supports the status quo for the indefinite future with the ultimate goal of reunificaiton because unification under the current political climate in PRC is unacceptable to its members and the public. The DPP, which supports an independent Taiwan, supports the status quo because the risk of declaring independence and provoking mainland China is unacceptable to its members. However, both parties support taking active steps to advocate ROC's participation in international organizations. |
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Currently there are 25 states -- mostly small, developing nations in Africa and Central America -- that have diplomatic relations with the Republic of China, although many countries such as the ] and ] have de-facto embassies in the ROC. The United States, for example, maintains unofficial diplomatic relations through the ]. ROC's de facto embassies are referred to as "]" (TECRO), with branch offices, the equivalent of consulates, called "]" (TECO). Each year since 1992, the government of the Republic of China petitions the UN for entry but has so far been unsuccessful because most countries, including the United States, do not wish to engage in the issue of ROC's political status for fears of souring diplomatic ties with PRC, although both the US and Japan publicly support ROC's bid into the World Health Organization as an observer. Without official support from the international community, it is unclear how the pro-independence contingent's vision of Taiwanese independence can be achieved. |
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Facing tremendous pressure from PRC, the ROC uses the name ] in the Olympics and other international events, usually of which PRC is also a party. |
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==History== |
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''Main article: ]'' |
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]'s moon-shaped monolith, ca. 1896]] |
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===Prehistory and early settlement=== |
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Evidence of human settlement in Taiwan dates back 30,000 years, although the first inhabitants of Taiwan may have been genetically distinct from any groups currently on the island. About 4,000 years ago, ancestors of current ] settled Taiwan. These aborigines are genetically related to Malay and Polynesians, and linguists classify their language as ]. Records indicate that Han Chinese settled in ] since the 1100s, but it was not until later that people other than aborigines permanently settled in the main island of Taiwan. |
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Records from ancient China indicate that ] Chinese might have known of the existence of the main island of Taiwan since the ] period (]), having assigned offshore islands in the vicinity names like Greater and Minor Liuqiu (]), though none of these names have been definitively matched to the main island of Taiwan. It has been claimed but not verified that the ] ] ] visited Taiwan between 1403 and 1424. |
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In the 15th century, a ] ship sighted the main island of Taiwan and dubbed it "Ilha Formosa", which means "Beautiful Island." The Portuguese made no attempt to colonize Taiwan. In 1624, the ] established a commercial base on Taiwan and began to import workers from ] and ] as laborers, many of whom settled. The Dutch made Taiwan a colony with its colonial capital at ]. |
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===Koxinga and imperial Chinese rule=== |
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] naval and troop forces defeated the ] from the island in ], subsequently expelling the Dutch government and military. They were led by Lord Cheng Cheng-Kung (also known as Lord ]), a pirate turned ] navy commander. Following the fall of the ], Cheng retreated to Taiwan as a self-styled Ming loyalist, and established the ] (1662–1683). Cheng establishing his capital at Tainan and he and his heirs continued to launch raids on the east coast of mainland China well into the Qing dynasty, in an attempt to recover the mainland. |
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In 1683, the ] defeated the Cheng holdout, and formally annexed Taiwan, placing it under the jurisdiction of ] province. Following the defeat of Cheng's grandson to an armada led by Admiral Shi Lang, Cheng's followers were expatriated to the farthest reaches of the Qing empire, leaving approximately 7,000 ] on Taiwan. The ] government wrestled with its Taiwan policy to reduce piracy and vagrancy in the area, which led to a series of edicts to manage immigration and respect aboriginal land rights. Illegal immigrants from ] continued to enter Taiwan as renters of the large plots of aboriginal lands under contracts that usually involved marriage, while the border between taxpaying lands and "savage" lands migrated east, with some aborigines 'Sinicizing' while others retreated into the mountains. During this time, there were a number of conflicts involving Han Chinese from different regions of China, and between Han Chinese and aborigines. The bulk of Taiwan's population today, the "native" ], claim descent from these migrants. |
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In 1887, the Qing government of China made Taiwan a province by itself, the 20th in the country, with capital at Taipei. The move was accompanied by a modernization drive that included the building of the first railroad and the beginning of a postal service in Taiwan. |
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===Japanese colonial rule=== |
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] |
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Following its defeat in the ] (1894-1895), ] China ceded Taiwan and ] (the Pescadores) to ] in perpetuity, on terms dictated by the latter. Inhabitants wishing to remain Qing subjects were given a 2-year grace period to sell their property and move to the mainland. |
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On ], ], the ] was formed with a dynastic name of "Forever Qing" and with capital at ], to resist impending Japanese rule. Japanese forces entered the capital and quelled this resistance on ], ]. As opposed to elsewhere in Asia, Japan attempted to use Taiwan as a model colony and was instrumental in the industrialization of the island; they extended the railroads that had just sprung up in late Qing rule, built a sanitation system and a public school system, among other things. Still, the Chinese-speaking residents and aborigines were classified as second and third class citizens. Large scale violence continued in the first decade of rule. Around 1935, the Japanese began an island-wide assimilation project to bind the island more firmly to the ]. By 1945, just before Japan lost ], desperate plans were in place to incorporate popular representation of Taiwan into the Japanese Diet to make Taiwan an integral part of Japan proper. |
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Japan's rule of Taiwan came to an end with its defeat in ]. Its signing of the ] on ], ], signaled that Taiwan was to be returned to China, one of the ] objectives from the wartime declarations. On ], ], ROC troops, representing the Allied Command, accepted the formal surrender of Japanese military forces in ] (today: ]). However, due to the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communists, the 1951 ] between Japan and the Allies failed to name the recipient of Taiwan's sovereignty. |
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===Republic of China era=== |
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] delegates with ] in 1946. There is little evidence that the people of Taiwan actually elected these delegates.]] |
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] |
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The ROC administration announced October 25, 1945, as "Taiwan Retrocession Day." Reportedly, they were greeted as liberators by the island residents. However, the ROC military administration on Taiwan under ], was extremely corrupt. This corruption, compounded with a period of hyperinflation, unrest due to the Chinese Civil War, and distrust due to political, cultural and lingual differences that had developed between the Taiwanese and the newcomers, quickly led to the loss of popular support for the new administration. This culminated in a series of severe clashes between the ROC administration and "native" ], in turn leading to the bloody ] and the reign of ]. |
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At the same time, the ] was in progress. In 1949, the ] (Nationalist Party or KMT), which at the time controlled the government of the ROC, retreated to Taiwan after continued military defeats at the hands of the ] drove it from most parts of the mainland. Some 1.3 million refugees from ] arrived in Taiwan around that time. Initially, the United States abandoned the KMT and expected that Taiwan would fall to the Communists. However, in 1950, ] invaded ], and in the context of the ], US President ] intervened again and dispatched the 7th Fleet into the ]s to "neutralize" the Straits. |
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In the ], which came into force on ], ], and the ], concluded hours before that date, Japan formally renounced all right, claim and title to Formosa (Taiwan) and the Pescadores (Peng-hu), and renounced all treaties signed with China before 1942. Both treaties remained silent about who would take control of the island, in part to avoid taking sides in the ongoing ]. Advocates of Taiwan independence have used this omission to justify ]. |
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During the 1960s and 1970s, Taiwan began to develop into a prosperous and dynamic economy, becoming one of the ] while maintaining an authoritarian, one-party government. Because of the ], most Western nations and the ] regarded the ] government on Taiwan as the sole legitimate government of China until the 1970s, when most nations began switching recognition to the ]. |
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After Chiang Kai-Shek died in 1975 his Vice-President, Yen Chia-kan, briefly took over from 1975 to 1978. During the presidency of ], from 1978 to 1987, Taiwan's political system began a gradual liberalization. ], which had been in effect since 1948, was lifted in 1987. Upon Chiang's death, Vice President ] succeeded him as president of the ROC and chairman of the KMT, and effective one-party rule was ended in ]. Lee became the first Taiwanese to become the president during KMT rule. In 2000, President ] of the opposition ] was elected, creating the first peaceful democratic transition in power. After surviving a politically controversial assassination attempt which the opposition claimed as staged to win sympathy votes the night before the 2004 election, Chen was re-elected by a slim margin. Medical and police investigation have verified that the wounds sustained by President Chen and Vice President Annette Lu are real, and no evidence has been found suggesting that the assassination was staged. |
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See also |
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* ] |
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* ] |
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* ] |
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== Political divisions == |
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''Main article: ]'' |
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Taiwan Island contains all but one county of ]: 15 counties and all five province-administered cities. ] (the Pescadores) is the only county in ] which is not on Taiwan. Taiwan's two largest cities, ] and ], although on the island of Taiwan, are not part of ] but are ], with the same level as provinces. |
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Since 1998, the provincial tier of government has been largely eliminated, leaving the county the main division under the central government. Currently, in addition to the main island of Taiwan, the ] also controls the ], ] (Quemoy), and ] islands situated in the ] off the coast of mainland Fujian (Fuchien), plus some Pacific Coast islands (notably the Green and Orchid islands). Furthermore, the ] also claims some islands in the ]. Some of these outer islands, notably the ] (Nansha) islands -- claimed by PRC, ROC and some southeastern Asian countries simultaneously --in the ] and the ] (Diaoyutai) islands -- occupied by Japan now but disputed by both PRC and ROC --in the Pacific Coast. |
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== Geography == |
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] National Park]] |
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''Main article: ]'' |
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The island of Taiwan lies some 200 kilometers off the southeastern coast of ], across the ], and has an area of 35,801 square kilometers (13,823 square miles), with the ] to the north, the ] to the east, the ] directly to the south and the ] to the southwest. The island is characterised by the contrast between the eastern two-thirds, consisting mostly of rugged mountains running in five ranges from the northern to the southern tip of the island, and the flat to gently rolling plains in the west that are also home to most of Taiwan's population. Taiwan's highest point is the ] at 3,952 meters. |
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Taiwan's ] is marine ]. The rainy season lasts from June to August during the southwest ], though cloudiness is persistent and extensive all year. Natural hazards include ]s and ]s. |
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Taiwan is a center of bird ]. See ] for further information. |
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With its high population density and many factories, Taiwan suffers from heavy pollution. According to one report, Taiwan ranks 119 out of 143 countries examined by . Taipei City suffers from heavy air pollution as a result of the ring of mountains that surrounds it, effectively trapping soot and smog in the city. |
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==Demographics== |
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''Main article: ]'' |
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ROC's population was estimated in 2005 as being 22.9 million, most of which are on Taiwan. About 98 percent of the population is of ] ethnicity. Of these people, 84 percent are descendants of early Han immigrants known as ''native Taiwanese'' (c: 本省人; p: Bensheng ren; lit. "home-province person"). This group contains two subgroups. The first subgroup is the Southern Fujianese (70 percent of the total population), who migrated from the coastal ] region in the southeast of mainland China. The second subgroup is the ] (15 percent of the total population), who originally migrated south to ], its surrounding areas and Taiwan, intermarrying extensively with ]s. The remaining 14 percent of Han Chinese are known as ]s (外省人; Waisheng ren; lit. "external-province person") and are composed of and descend from immigrants who arrived after the Second World War. This group fled mainland China in ] following the ] defeat in the ]. |
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''Dalu ren'' (大陸人) refers to residents of ]. |
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This group excludes almost all ], including the Mainlanders, except recent ] from mainland China, such as those made Republic of China citizens through marriage. |
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The other 2 percent of Taiwan's population, numbering about 440,000, are the ] (原住民; yuánzhùmín; lit. "original inhabitants"), divided into 12 major groups: ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] and ]. |
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===Languages=== |
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Almost everyone on Taiwan born after the early ] can speak ], which was forced on the mainly Taiwanese/Japanese speaking population in a heavy-handed way, when the KMT came to Taiwan. It became the official language of Taiwan, via the Republic of China, and has been the medium of instruction in the ]s for more than four decades. Under KMT rule, Taiwanese was forbidden from the airwaves and in official situations, and students received corporal punishment, as they did for many other infractions, for speaking Taiwanese, Hakka, or Aboriginal languages in school. |
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Today, non-Mandarin native languages have undergone a revival in Taiwan. A large fraction of people speak ], a variant of ], and a majority understand it. A large proportion speak Hakka, which has a distinct ]. Between ] and ], ] was the medium of instruction, and many Taiwanese educated during that period can speak fluent Japanese. All Taiwanese schools today teach ], resulting in a trilingual population, many of whom speak even more languages, though the average student rarely reaches fluency. Chinese ] on Taiwan uses both ], which the national government officially has adopted, and ], which some localities use. ], used traditionally, also is found. Mayor ] recently changed all Taipei ]s to the Hanyu form, although most romanizations in other cities still are in Tongyong and addresses are generally written in Tongyong. Most aboriginal groups in Taiwan have their own languages, and unlike Taiwanese or Hakka, do not belong to the Chinese language family, but rather belong to the ]. |
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Mandarin is still the languge of instruction in schools and predominate television and airwaves. |
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===Religion=== |
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About half of the ROC population is religious, and most of these people identify themselves as ]s or ]s. Belief in ] also is prevalent, and many people practice some combination of these three faiths. ] is also an honored school of thought and ethical code. ] churches have been active on Taiwan for many years; a majority of these churches are ], with ]s playing a particularly significant role. |
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==Economy== |
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] |
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''Main article: ]'' |
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Taiwan has a dynamic ] economy with gradually decreasing state involvement in investment and foreign trade. In keeping with this trend, the government is ] some large banks and industrial firms. Real growth in ] has averaged about 8 percent during the past three decades. Exports have provided the primary impetus for industrialization. The ] is substantial, and foreign reserves are the world's third largest. |
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The ] has its own currency: the ]. |
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] constitutes only 2 percent of ], down from 35 percent in ]. Traditional labor-intensive industries are moving steadily offshore, with more capital- and technology-intensive industries replacing them. Taiwan has become a major investor in ], ], ], the ], ] and ]; around 50,000 Taiwanese businesses are established in mainland China. Taiwan is one of the largest foreign investors in mainland China. |
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Because of its conservative financial approach and its entrepreneurial strengths, Taiwan suffered little compared with many of its neighbors from the Asian financial crisis in ]–]. The global economic downturn, however, combined with poor policy coordination by the new administration and increasing bad debts in the banking system, pushed Taiwan into ] in ], the first whole year of negative growth since ]. Due to the relocation of many manufacturing and labor-intensive industries to mainland China, ] also peaked at a level last seen during the ] ]. This problem became one of the major issues in the ] of ]. The unemployment rate eventually declined after the government adopted a few economy-stimulating measures. |
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The ROC has entered international governmental trade organizations such as the ] and ] under the name ] (台灣、澎湖、金門及馬祖個別關稅領域) in WTO and under the name ] in APEC. Although the ] objects to having other countries maintain diplomatic or official relations with the ROC, it made no objection to having the ROC maintain economic relations. However, under PRC pressure, the ROC joined governmental organizations under different names. |
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The opening of the Taipei Financial Center, also know as ] due to its number of floors, on ], ], brought more world recognition to Taiwan and ]. Taipei 101, equipped with the world's fastest elevators, is the world's tallest building. The surrounding financial district is steadily becoming more recognized in the world market, and a trendy shopping district is rapidly growing around it as well. |
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Along with ], ] and ], Taiwan is known as one of the ]. |
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{{Template:Culture of Taiwan}} |
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== References == |
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{{unreferenced}} |
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== See also == |
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== External links == |
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===Government=== |
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* - government information portal |
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* - local weather and earthquake reports |
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* - e-government, entry point of Taiwan |
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===Tourism=== |
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* - travel guide |
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* - local travel news |
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* - Pictures of the daily life in Taiwan |
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===Taiwan news in English=== |
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taiwan has the highest building in the world. in the captial of taiwan. the name call taipei101, it is really amazing. |
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