Taiwan (island)
Taiwan (臺灣 pinyin tai2 wan1) is an island off the coast of Mainland China. It is also known by the name Formosa. The island is administered by a government which calls itself the Republic of China (ROC). Whether the island is or is not part of China and the meaning of China in this context is an extremely complex and controversial issue.
The Republic of China was founded after Chinese revolutionaries overthrew the Qing government in 1911. The Kuomintang, which at the time controlled the government of the ROC, was exiled to Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party ended in the Communists favor in 1949.
The Republic of China was in the United Nations from the founding of the UN in 1946 until 1971, when the China seat was given to the People's Republic of China government.
Taiwan has a unique and complex diplomatic situation which is described in Transnational issues.
See also:
- History
- Geography
- People
- Government
- Economy
- Communications
- Transportation
- Military
- Transnational issues
Links:
- [1]Article from the CIA World Factbook (upon which the first version of this article was based)
Moved here from China, needs to be merged: