Taiwan

Taiwan: population, cities

Population

According to Countryaah website, Taiwan has around 23 million residents.

Ethnic composition

There are mainly three population groups living in Taiwan, the indigenous people, ancient Chinese (emigrants from the 19th century) and new Chinese (emigrants from the 1940s and 1950s).

Religious

affiliation Taiwan is mainly home to Buddhists and Taoists. There is also a relatively high number of Christians and a Muslim minority.

National language

Standard Chinese (Mandarin) is the official language in Taiwan. Taiwanese, a type of FuKien dialect, is widespread among the population.

Capital, other cities

The capital of Taiwan is Taipei with around 2.8 million residents.

The largest agglomeration areas (number of residents of the city with its suburbs) in Taiwan are as follows (as of January 2005):

• Changhua with around 1,315,000 residents
• Kaohsiung with around 1,240,000 residents
• Kaohsiung Shih with around 1,512,000 residents
• Taichung with around 1,528,000 residents
• Taichung Shih with around 1,020,000 residents
• Taoyuan with around 1,855,000 residents

Taiwan: geography, map

Defined by DigoPaul, Taiwan is an island between mainland China and the Philippines.

It is located approx. 220 km from the Chinese province of FuJian.

Around 70 smaller islands are grouped around the main island of Taiwan, which has a north-south extension of 377 km and a west-east extension of 144 km.

Two thirds of the country are covered by mountain ranges and hills, only one third of Taiwan is flat.

Over 200 mountains are higher than 3,000 m.

The northwest monsoon dominates the country's climate between November and February. The southeast monsoon brings large amounts of rain over Taiwan from April to September. During the summer months of July to September, tropical cyclones, so-called typhoons, often move across the island and often cause devastating damage.

Area and land use

Taiwan covers an area of 36,188 km².

Thereof:

• Forest

  About 60% of the area of Taiwan is covered with forest.

• Fields and fields

  About two thirds of Taiwan can be used for agriculture. Mainly is sugar cane

• Swamp

  In the north of Taiwan are the so-called Chutzuhu swamps.

• Mountains

  Around two thirds of the country are covered by mountain ranges and hills.

National borders

Taiwan is an island and therefore has no border with any other country.

Coast lengths

Taiwan has a seaside coastline of around 1,566 km.

Tidal range

In Kee Lung the mean tidal range is only around 2.50 m.

You can find detailed explanations of ebb and flow at:

Compare

The world's highest tidal range can be found in the Bay of Fundy in Canada, where it is up to 16 m, and at spring tide even over 20 m. The Bay of Fundy is located on the Atlantic between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, which is called Nova Scotia in German and whose capital is Halifax.

On the German North Sea coast it varies between 1 m and 3 m.

In the western Baltic Sea, on the other hand, the tidal range is only 0.3 m, while it is barely noticeable in the eastern Baltic Sea.

Longitude and latitude

Taiwan covers the following latitude (abbreviation Δφ) and longitude (abbreviation Δλ):

You can find detailed information on this subject under Longitude and Latitude.

Legal time

Central European Time (CET) does not apply in Taiwan, i.e. the same time as in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

Further and detailed explanations of the time can be found under Time zones, time.

The highest point of the sun in Taipei

Taipei lies at a north latitude of around 25 °.

When the sun or its image point is at the tropic of the tropics, i.e. at = 23.5 °, the beginning of summer is June 21st. Then, for the highest position of the sun at noon, according to Eq. 1: (see position of the sun):

25 ° = (90 ° - h) + 23.5 °

so:

Mountains

The highest mountain is the YuShan im with a height of 3,952 m. As mentioned above, Taiwan has over 200 mountains that are higher than 3,000 m. Two other high mountains are:

• HsueShan with an altitude of 3,900 m
• HsiuKuLuanShan with a height of 3,860 m

Rivers

The longest river in the country is the ChuoShui with a length of around 186 km.

The second longest river is the TsengWen with a length of around 138 km.

Lakes

The largest lake in Taiwan is the Sun Moon Lake.

The lake got its name because of its shape, which at one end of the lake is reminiscent of a sun and at the other a crescent moon. It is located at an altitude of approximately 760 m in the Nantou district.

Islands

The following islands are in front of the country or belong to the state elsewhere:

• 64 Pescador Islands with an area of 126 km²
• KinMen with an area of 150 km²
• Matzu with an area of 25 km²
• TungSha with an area of 8.5 km²
• NanSha

Sea areas around Taiwan

East China Sea

The East China Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific and borders China to the west, South Korea to the north, the southern parts of Japan to the east and Taiwan to the south. In the north it is separated from the Sea of Japan by the Korean Strait - and in the south by the Strait of Formosa from the South China Sea. The sea to the northwest between the Korean Peninsula and the People's Republic of China is the Yellow Sea. The East China Sea, the South China Sea and the Yellow Sea together form the China Sea. The East China Sea covers an area of 1.25 million km² - with a maximum depth in the Okinawa Trench of 2,720 m

South China Sea

The South China Sea is part of the China Sea and thus a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. In addition to the South China Sea, the China Sea also includes the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. The South China Sea covers an area of approximately 2,975,000 km² and has a maximum depth of 5,015 m. The sea lies between China, the Indochinese and Malay Peninsulas and the islands of Taiwan, Luzon, Palawan and Borneo. In addition to Vietnam, the following countries are located on the South China Sea in alphabetical order: Brunei, China, Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, which is correctly located in the east on the Gulf of Thailand, but which is part of the South China Sea is.

Strait of Luzon

The Strait of Taiwan is a waterway between Taiwan in the north and the Philippine island of Luzón that connects the Philippine Sea with the South China Sea. The waterway has a length of about 150 km and a width of about 360 km. At the exit of the Luzon Strait to the Philippine Sea lies the 38.5 km² island of Palaui, on which there is a 115 year old lighthouse.