the information about TaiWan

Geography

The island of Taiwan lies some 120 kilometers off the southeastern coast of mainland China, across the Taiwan Strait, and has an area of 35,801 square kilometers (13,823 square miles). The East China Sea lies to the north, the Philippine Sea to the east, the Luzon Strait directly to the south and the South China Sea to the southwest. The island is characterized 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 Yu Shan at 3,952 meters, and there are five other peaks over 3,500 meters. This makes it the world's seventh-highest island.

The shape of the main island of Taiwan is similar to a sweet potato seen in a south-to-north direction, and therefore, Taiwanese people, especially the Min-nan division, often call themselves "children of the Sweet Potato." There are also other interpretations of the island shape, one of which is a whale in the ocean (the Pacific Ocean) if viewed in a west-to-east direction, which is a common orientation in ancient maps, plotted either by Western explorers or the Ching Dynasty.

Taiwan's climate is marine tropical. The Northern part of the island has a rainy season that lasts from January to late March during the southwest monsoon, and also experiences meiyu in May. The entire island succumbs to hot humid weather from June until September, while October to December are arguably the most pleasant times of year. The middle and southern parts of the island do not have an extended monsoon season during the winter months, but can experience several weeks of rain, especially during and after Lunar New Year. Natural hazards such as typhoons and earthquakes are common in the region.


Society

Bunun dancer in traditional aboriginal dress.Main articles: Demographics of Taiwan, Taiwanese aborigines, and Taiwanese people
The ROC's population was estimated in 2005 at 22.9 million, most of whom are on Taiwan. About 98% of the population is of Han Chinese ethnicity. Of these, 86% are descendants of early Han immigrants known as "native Taiwanese" (Chinese: 本省人; pinyin: Běnshěng rén; literally "home-province person"). This group contains two subgroups: the Southern Fujianese or "Hokkien" or "Min-nan" (70% of the total population), who migrated from the coastal Southern Fujian (Min-nan) region in the southeast of Mainland China; and the Hakka (15% of the total population), who originally migrated south to Guangdong, its surrounding areas and Taiwan, intermarrying extensively with Taiwanese aborigines. The remaining 12% of Han Chinese are known as Mainlanders (Chinese: 外省人; pinyin: Wàishěng rén; literally "external-province person") and are composed of and descend from immigrants who arrived after the Second World War. This group also includes those who fled mainland China in 1949 following the Nationalist defeat in the Chinese Civil War. Due to political reasons, more and more young people started to call the mainlanders hsin chu min (新住民), or "new resident." A survey in November 2006 conducted by the Taiwanese National Chengchi University, the Japanese University of the Ryukyus and the Chinese University of Hong Kong showed that more than 60% of Taiwan's population consider themselves Taiwanese, compared to only 18% in 1992.


The other 2% of Taiwan's population, numbering about 458,000, are listed as the Taiwanese aborigines (Chinese: 原住民; pinyin: yuánzhùmín; literally "original inhabitants"), divided into 12 major groups: Ami, Atayal, Paiwan, Bunun, Puyuma, Rukai, Tsou, Saisiyat, Tao (Yami), Thao, Kavalan and Taroko

台灣（原寫作臺灣，「臺」為正體字，因書寫方便，此字後來與異體字「台」通用，現今多用「台」字）位於亞洲東部地區，西太平洋上。名稱由來很多，其中有兩種較多人採信的說法，一種是從原本的名稱「台員」轉變過來的；另一種是來自今台灣島南部平地原住民─平埔族對居住地的稱呼。

1949年後，也被中華人民共和國用於指稱撤退至台灣的中華民國政府，1990年代後在非官方場合被普遍用於指稱現由中華民國政府行使主權的區域，包括台灣本島和附屬小島，以及台灣海峽中的澎湖群島、台灣海峽西側緊鄰中國大陸的馬祖、金門（其中包括烏坵）、台灣海峽西南側在南海上的東沙群島、以及南沙群島中的最大島嶼太平島和中洲島。

目前中華民國統治區域的面積約99%為台灣本島，其約位於東經120度至122度、北緯22度至25度之間，並有北回歸線橫貫中南部。台灣的附屬島嶼，有位於東側外海的龜山島、綠島、蘭嶼，北部外海的彭佳嶼、基隆嶼，西南沿海的小琉球，部份人士也把東北外海在日本施政之下的釣魚台列嶼（尖閣諸島）也包括在內。台灣的另一個名稱「福爾摩沙島」，是從葡萄牙語「Ilha Formosa」（美麗之島）音譯而來，在1950年代前是台灣主要的英語名稱。

地理

主條目：台灣地理

台灣全島面積35,915平方公里，四面環海，其中西臨台灣海峽，與對岸中國的福建省平均距離約200公里；北邊隔東海與日本琉球群島相接，東邊為太平洋，西南是南海，南邊則隔巴士海峽與菲律賓相鄰。在西太平洋由阿留申群島、千島群島、日本、琉球、菲律賓等眾多島嶼所形成的島弧花綵列島中，台灣位於中樞位置。目前臺灣使用東經120度的UTC+8區時（中原標準時間或稱「中港台時間」）。

台灣位於太平洋西岸邊緣，受到歐亞大陸板塊與菲律賓海板塊之推擠而隆起，因此台灣山勢高峻，山脈成東北偏北走向，多火山，地震頻仍，川短流急，平原較少，多分佈在山脈西側。

台灣的重要山脈有中央山脈、玉山山脈、雪山山脈、阿里山山脈、海岸山脈，合稱台灣山脈。最高峰為玉山山脈主峰玉山，海拔達3,952公尺，不僅是台灣、東亞第一高峰，也使台灣島成為世界地勢高度第四高的島嶼。平原與盆地雖狹小分散，卻是人口稠密的地區，重要盆地有臺北盆地、臺中盆地、埔里盆地、泰源盆地（又稱嘎咾吧灣盆地或高原盆地）等。嘉南平原是台灣最大的平原，其他有彰化平原、屏東平原、蘭陽平原、花東縱谷平原等。台灣重要的河川有淡水河、大甲溪、大肚溪、濁水溪、曾文溪、高屏溪、蘭陽溪、立霧溪、花蓮溪、秀姑巒溪等等。

由於整島基本呈北北東走向，地形又多變化，形成南北氣候的差異。北部為亞熱帶季風氣候，南部為熱帶季風氣候。冬季盛行來自蒙古高壓的東北季風，夏季盛行西南季風。山脈高峻能阻隔季風，形成雨影效應。台灣夏季高溫多雨，最冷月均溫在14攝氏度以上，雨量2500公厘以上。北部全年有雨，南部則是夏季降雨。熱帶氣旋（颱風）經常在夏秋季節侵襲台灣，造成災害，但也是台灣重要的淡水來源，颱風較少年份的冬季容易有旱象。

從地緣政治的角度來看，台灣位於東亞島弧中央，為亞太經貿運輸重要樞紐。

從外太空看臺灣.... 360度環場虛擬實境 VR (需安裝 Quick Time)史前時期
16世紀的台灣古地圖
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16世紀的台灣古地圖

主條目：台灣史前時期

最早定居在台灣的原住民，其文化與海洋息息相關。據中華民國行政院的資料，以及語言學和人類學的一些研究，台灣原住民與太平洋區域住民（如馬來西亞、印度尼西亞、菲律賓、玻里尼西亞等地）的語言同屬於南島語系（也稱「印度尼西亞語系」），而中國華南地區並不屬於南島語系。由人類學及古文化的角度，台灣原住民的缺齒、紋身、口琴、卉服、織貝、腰機紡織、貫頭衣、親族外婚、父子連名、年齡分級、老人政治、鳥占、獵首、靈魂崇拜、室內葬等特徵，都屬印度尼西亞古文化的特質。

《三國志》記載三國時代吳國曾指派軍隊登陸夷洲，《隋書》則有隋煬帝派兵攻打流求國的記載。但目前還欠缺考古學的證據可確認夷洲與流求國的真實位置，學者間也沒有一致的意見，只能當做研究古代台灣的一種參考而已。若想進一步予以論斷，必得重新覓取明確的資料才有可能（參：夷洲、流求國）