So are Taiwan's offshore islands, all but one of the Batan Islands in the north of the Philippines, and all of the Sakishima Islands in the west of Japan.

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 Chianan Plains in the west that are also home to most of Taiwan's population.

Taiwan's highest point is Yu Shan at, and there are five other peaks over 3500 meters.

Taiwan's five major cities, Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, and Taipei, are special municipalities.

Taiwan's top five trade partners in 2010 are China, Japan, USA, the European Union, and Hong Kong.

Taiwan's accession to the WTO and its desire to become an Asia-Pacific " regional operations center " are spurring further economic liberalization.

However, the true benefits and impacts brought by ECFA to Taiwan's overall economy are still in dispute.

Taiwan's main crops are rice, sugar cane, fruits ( many of them tropical ), and vegetables.

This is in part due to the 1949-generation Mainlanders have gradually passed on the scene, and politicians supporting and opposing the Taiwanese independence movement both realize a majority of Taiwan's current residents, either because they are born in Taiwan to Mainlander parents with no collective memories of the ancestral homes, or they are native Taiwanese thus feeling no historical connotations with the entire pre-1949 Republic of China on mainland China, support the movement as such.

Citizens of the PRC are not subject to the Taiwanese immigration law, but the " Act Governing Relations between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area ", which is however stricter than the immigration law due to the current relationship between China's and Taiwan's governments.

The New Wave Cinema films are, therefore, a fascinating chronicle of Taiwan's socio-economic and political transformation in modern times.

The festival and awards are organised by Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee and is Taiwan's equivalent to the Academy Awards.

These forests are found in eastern Taiwan and Taiwan's Central Mountain Ranges, part of the Taiwan subtropical evergreen forest region covering the higher elevations.

The ocean waters off Taiwan's east coast are deep ; in fact, submarine slopes plunge down to the Pacific Ocean at a grade of 1: 10 and the ocean reaches a depth of more than about from the coast.

The North Peak is also home to Taiwan's highest permanently occupied building, the Yushan Weather Station, where the occasional visitors are given a warm welcome.

Both brews are 4. 5 % alcohol by volume and are regularly seen in Taiwan's convenience and grocery stores.

Next door to the science park are two of Taiwan's science and engineering powerhouses, National Chiao Tung University and National Tsing Hua University.

* Chinese name generator ( in Chinese, generates names that are statistically similar to Taiwan's general population )

Taiwan's shadow plays are accompanied by Chaochow melodies which are often called " priest's melodies " owing to their similarity with the music used by Taoist priests at funerals.

The Rukai () are one of Taiwan's aboriginal peoples.

The Babuza () are a Taiwanese aboriginal people, living primarily in Changhua County and around the western part of Taiwan's Central Basin.

Hsu believes that maintaining a good relationship with the People's Republic of China is vital for Taiwan's survival and growth, and there is no hurry to negotiate with mainland on political issues at the present.

The present name was adopted in 1949, when the Republic of China took over the hospital upon Taiwan's retrocession in 1945.

The United States government has voiced its concerns about the so-called " offensive potential " of some of Taiwan's indigenous missile programs, including HF-3, even though the HF-3 technically does not constitute an " offensive weapon ", as it is purely an anti-ship weapon in its present form and is not inherently more capable of being used in an offensive strike mission than a Harpoon Block II missile which has littoral suppression capability and had already been sold to Taiwan.

Taiwan's dependence on the United States should continue to decrease as its exports to Southeast Asia and China grow and its efforts to develop European markets produce results.

In 2005, Ideal Bike Corporation, Taiwan's third-largest complete-bicycle maker, acquired 60 % of Advanced Sports International Asia, which markets the Fuji brand of bicycles in Asia.

The ROC's financial regulator, the Financial Supervisory Commission, announced that mainland Chinese investors would be permitted to invest in Taiwan's money markets for the first time since 1949.

The Zhengs built alliances, collected taxes and erected aboriginal schools, where Taiwan's aborigines were first introduced to the Confucian Classics and Chinese writing.

This carrier started service in 2004 and had been substantially invested by Taiwan's Far Eastern Air Transport ( FAT ) as its subsidiary to make use of the Angkor International Airport in Siem Reap as its hub and as a fast transit station between Taiwan and People's Republic of China ( where direct flights between the 2 locations were previously banned due to the political status of Taiwan ), while meantime also operated some charter flights in the East Asia and Southeast Asia region.

In recognition of its importance locally and internationally, on August 21, 2003, Taiwan's government proclaimed the day " Cloud Gate Day " and named the street on which the company's office lies " Cloud Gate Lane.

As more and more of its demands were met during the 1990s – such as the direct popular election of Taiwan's president and all representatives in its Legislative Yuan, and open discussion of Taiwan's repressive past as represented in the 2-28 Incident and its long martial law aftermath – a greater variety of views could be advocated in the more liberal political atmosphere.

Although the resulting draft outline of history course for regular senior middle schools was criticized by a variety of groups, President Chen Shui-bian responded that " to seek the truth of Taiwan's history " is not equal to desinicization nor an act of independence and indicated that he would not interfere with the history editing and compilation efforts.

Taiwan: Another of today's variety shows in Asia is Taiwan's Variety Big Brother.

Meanwhile, a series produced by the Discovery Channel in collaboration with Taiwan's Government Information Office ( GIO ) called " Portraits Taiwan " ( 台灣人物誌 ) that spotlighted Taiwanese icons in different fields, selected A-mei as the representative of the " Mass Culture and Entertainment " category.

Though the language used was considered tough, this declaration broke tradition in that it offered different options, as opposed to the firm edicts issued in the past, and addressed " the issue of international living space of the Taiwan region ", although the insistence on Taiwan's recognition of One China Policy still has not loosened.

However, a different approach was used in order to control Taiwan's indigenous peoples.

On September 30, 2007, Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party approved a resolution asserting a separate identity from China and called for the enactment of a new constitution for a " normal nation ".

The current official position of the party is that the " Republic of China ( Taiwan )" is an independent and sovereign country whose territory consists of Taiwan and its surrounding smaller islands and whose sovereignty derives only from the ROC citizens living in Taiwan ( similar philosophy of self-determination ), based on the " Resolution on Taiwan's Future " in 1999.

The first years of the DPP as the ruling party drew accusations from the opposition that, as a self-styled Taiwanese nationalist party, the DPP was itself inadequately sensitive to the ethnographic diversity of Taiwan's population.

It has made some efforts to moderate its tone since passing its Anti-Secession Law in 2005 to prevent a popular backlash from Taiwan's voters.

* Taiwan's Museum of Alien Studies: a new view of the extraterrestrial, from Erenlai

Moreover, Taiwan's trade mission in Singapore was renamed from " Trade Mission of the Republic of China " to " Taipei Representative Office in Singapore.

Camphor extraction and sugarcane refining played an important role in Taiwan's exportation from the late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century.

Industrial output has gradually decreased from accounting for over half of Taiwan's GDP in 1986 to just 31 % in 2002.

Taiwan's agricultural population has steadily decreased from 1974 to 2002, prompting the Council of Agriculture ( COA ) to introduce modern farm management, provide technical training, and offer counseling for better production and distribution systems.

Although the industrial sector has traditionally been Taiwan's largest energy consumer, its share has dropped in recent years from 62 % in 1986 to 58 % in 2002.

He also developed a railway from Taipei to Hsinchu, established a mine in Keelung, and built an arsenal to improve Taiwan's defensive capability against foreigners.

In 1900, the third Taiwan Governor-General passed a budget which initiated the building of Taiwan's railroad system from Kirun ( Keelung ) to Takao ( Kaohsiung ).

Together with businessmen who fled from mainland China, they once again revived Taiwan's prosperity previously ceased along with Japanese withdrawal and managed Taiwan's transition from an agricultural to a commercial, industrial economy.

* Taiwan's 400 years of history, from " Taiwan, Ilha Formosa " ( a pro-independence organization )

Today people who comprise Taiwan's ethnic Han demonstrate major cultural differences from Han elsewhere (;).

The Eighteen Provinces of China proper in 1875, before Taiwan's separation from Fujian in 1885 and its annexation by Japan in 1895.

Due to the necessity of avoiding war with the PRC however, President Chen had refrained from formally declaring Taiwan's independence.

According to an October 2008 poll from the Mainland Affairs Council, on the question of Taiwan's status, 36. 17 % of respondents favor maintaining the status quo until a decision can be made in the future, 25. 53 % favors maintaining the status quo indefinitely, 12. 49 % favors maintaining the status quo until eventual independence, 4. 44 % favors maintaining the status quo until eventual reunification, 14. 80 % favors independence as soon as possible, and 1. 76 % favors reunification as soon as possible.

Together with refugee businessmen from mainland China, they managed Taiwan's transition from an agricultural to a commercial, industrial economy.