Taiwan
Taiwan (officially Republic of China (Taiwan)) is a country in Eastern Asia, with its capital at Taipei, and is home to roughly 23.4M people.
Chinese is the official language; the currency in circulation is New Taiwan dollar ($); people from here are called Taiwanese.
- »Taiwan produces the large majority of the world's most advanced semiconductors.
- »Nearly two-thirds of the island is mountainous, with peaks approaching 4,000 m.
Taiwan straddles the Tropic of Cancer.
Taiwan shares no land border with anything, so every approach is by sea or air. The closest other territories on file are Philippines (867 km), South Korea (1,560 km) and Vietnam (1,720 km), measured centre to centre.
Taipei sits in a basin ringed by mountains. Taipei 101 was the tallest building in the world from 2004 to 2010 and holds a huge damper ball to steady it against typhoons and earthquakes.
35,922 km² (13,870 sq mi), 135th largest of 198 countries and territories on file, almost exactly the size of the Netherlands.
Population 23,400,000, 60th of 198 on file. That averages 651 per km² (1,687 per sq mi).
The white sun with twelve rays stands for the twelve two-hour periods of the day and the spirit of progress; the design predates the republic and was carried by the revolutionary movement.