Taiwan

Note: Taiwan's international legal status is disputed. Its official name is the Republic of China, and it has its own government, currency, military, and democratically elected leadership; around 12 countries in the world recognize it as an independent state. The People's Republic of China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province of its own, and most countries, including the United States, officially follow a "One China" policy while maintaining unofficial relations and significant trade and cultural cooperation with Taiwan.

Overview

Taiwan is an island in East Asia, at the meeting point of the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean, about 180 kilometers off the southeastern coast of China. About two-thirds of the island is covered by mountains, a topography that concentrates the population along the western coastal plains. The current political arrangement took shape in 1949, when the Nationalist government, defeated in the Chinese Civil War, fled to the island under Chiang Kai-shek, while the mainland became the communist People's Republic of China. Taiwan underwent democratic transformation starting in the late 1980s and is today regarded as one of the most developed democracies in the region. The official language is Mandarin Chinese, though the local Taiwanese dialect and indigenous Austronesian languages are also present.

Taipei, the capital, home to Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world when completed in 2004, and the National Palace Museum, housing one of the most significant collections of Chinese imperial art, evacuated from mainland China in 1949, serves as the country's cultural and economic center. Taroko National Park, with its limestone gorges and the dramatic cliffs of Taroko Gorge, is one of the island's best-known natural sights. Alishan, with its tea plantations and small mountain railway built for sunrise viewing, is a center of traditional Taiwanese tea culture. Tainan, the island's former capital, is the oldest Chinese-founded settlement in Taiwan, home to numerous temples and Fort Anping, surviving from the Dutch colonial period.

Taiwan's mountainous terrain, including Yushan (Jade Mountain), one of the highest peaks in East Asia at about 3,952 meters, offers excellent terrain for hiking, with numerous well-developed, internationally recognized trails. The island's hot springs, including the Beitou area near Taipei, showcase the living legacy of bathing culture inherited from the Japanese colonial period. Night markets, including Shilin and Raohe Night Market in Taipei, are hubs of Taiwanese street food culture, offering distinctive dishes such as stinky tofu and bubble tea, which became internationally known through Taiwan. Local cuisine blends Chinese, Japanese, and indigenous influences, with beef noodle soup often regarded as the country's national dish.