Geography and People

China has an area of 11,418,174 sq km (4,408,557 sq mi), including the Chinese mainland and Taiwan. The mainland area is adjacent to the west Pacific by the Yellow Sea, Pohai (a gulf of the Yellow Sea) and the East China Sea; and the South China Sea is China's door leading to the Indian Ocean. The Han, Manchu, Mongolian, Huihui (Moslem), Tibetan, Miao (Hmong), Yao (Gerbao) peoples, etc. melt into one to form the Chinese nation.

In the late 1940s the Chinese communists launched a civil war on the mainland and eventually founded the "People's Republic of China" in 1949. Subsequently, the government of the Republic of China relocated to Taiwan. The territory under its effective control since then includes Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu as well as the Pratas and Spratly islands, with a total land area of 36,179 sq km (13,969 sq mi). During the past forty-odd years the Taiwan area and the mainland area have been two separate political entities, and China is hence temporarily divided and governed respectively by two governments.

The Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu area had a population of over 21,833,772 as of June 1998. In fact, the ancestors of the residents in Taiwan came mostly from the southeastern coastal provinces of the Chinese mainland, particularly Fukien and Kwangtung. Taiwan's indigenous inhabitants are also part of the big Chinese family.

All the people living in the Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu area have long been well aware of the fact that they belong to an interdependent nationwide community or Gemeinschaft. As they stand firm on Taiwan, they also remember the ultimate goal of national unification and cultivate a worldwide vision, thus working in tandem to usher in a new era for the Chinese people.　

　History and Tradition

China takes pride in being one of the major ancient civilizations in the world. Chinese history began with the emergence of a distinguished leader known as the Yellow Emperor (Huang Ti) at the close of the Neolithic period about 46 centuries ago. Since then, Chinese culture has been deeply influenced by Confucianism and gradually has become the mainstream of the oriental civilization. The differences in social development between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits over the last forty-odd years have fully testified that the Republic of China on Taiwan, which has been sparing no efforts to preserve historical and cultural tradition, is the hope of all the Chinese people.　

　National Flag and National Anthem

The "white sun in a blue sky" portion of the Republic of China's national flag was originally designed by Lu Hao-tung, a martyr of the Chinese revolution. It was redesigned later on by the Founding Father of the ROC, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, to include a crimson background which symbolizes the red blood of martyrs shed for the cause of the republic.

The 12 points of the white sun in the emblem represent the 12 two-hour periods of the day and the 12 months of the year, symbolizing the eternal life and unceasing progress of the Chinese nation which evolves with the times. At one level, the three colors of blue, white, and crimson stand for the Three Principles of the People: nationalism, democracy, and social well-being. At another level, the colors embody qualities that evoke other concepts enumerated in the Three Principles: the blue signifies brightness, purity, freedom, thus a government of the people; the white--honesty, selflessness, equality, thus a government by the people; and the crimson-- sacrifice, bloodshed, brotherly love, thus a government for the people.

The words of the ROC national anthem were first delivered by Dr. Sun Yat-sen as an exhortation at the opening ceremony of the Whampoa Military Academy in Canton on June 16, 1924, and were finally adopted in 1943 by the National Government as the official anthem of this country. Composed by Cheng Mao-yun, the melody was honored as the world's best national anthem at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.　

　Major Social and Economic Indicators

The rapid and dynamic growth in the Republic of China over the past four decades has been lauded as the "Taiwan Miracle" by many. The following statistical data may help you gain a better knowledge of the remarkable development the ROC has achieved.
　

Major Social & Economic Indicators

Click To Country In Formation Page