Geography Taiwan is an island about 160km off the south east coast of Mainland China , 360km from the northern tip of The Philippines and 1,070km from the southern tip of Japan . The island measures 377km long and 142km wide at its widest point.

Climate

The country's climate is subtropical, with average temperatures ranging from 22oC ~24.5oC. Summer runs from May to October, and there is a mild winter from December to February.

Population/Language

Taiwan 's population is 22.6 million (2003), and the official language is Mandarin. Taiwanese and Hakka are the two most popular dialects. English is the most popular foreign language.

Education and Culture

Since 1968, Taiwan has had a nine-year compulsory educational system aimed at fostering talent for the development of the country. In order to build a modern educational system, the government has actively pushed for educational reform in recent years, including improving popular education, diversifying and streamlining vocational education, upgrading higher education, and strengthening teacher education and training. Reforms are geared toward raising standards of school education through a diversified system, humanistic environment, technological facilities, life-oriented curricula and professional instructors. It is also a goal to create a lifelong learning environment for all the citizens by linking up formal education, informal education and outside educational resources.

Economic Development

Beginning in the 1980s, the economy became increasingly open and free from earlier restrictive and protectionist tendencies. Changes in the industrial structure took place when labor-intensive industries were replaced by technology- and capital-intensive industries. In particular, the establishment of the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park played a pivotal role in this structural transformation. The electronics and information technology sectors expanded rapidly to become Taiwan 's mainstream industries, accounting for more output and exports than any other sector in the manufacturing industry. Taiwan has been a world stronghold of electronics ever since, and the island has developed a knowledge-based economy.

On January 1, 2002, after 10 years of effort by the government, Taiwan became a member of the World Trade Organization. Since then, Taiwan 's economy has been fully plugged into the international economy and trade. Taiwan has also had to face new challenges.

In the wake of global energy crises and economic slowdowns, we created the world-acclaimed "economic miracle" and became a successful model for developing countries.