50 Fun Facts About Taiwan

In what year did the ROC begin adding 'Taiwan' beside its official name to avoid confusion?

'Chinese Taipei' is the compromise name used at the Olympics and APEC.

Portuguese sailors gave Taiwan the name 'Ilha Formosa' in 1542. What does it mean?

The name stayed in common English use well into the 20th century.

Which European trading concern built Fort Zeelandia on a sandbar called Tayouan in 1624?

The name 'Taiwan' itself comes from 'Tayouan', originally the name of a local indigenous people.

Which Ming loyalist, also known as Zheng Chenggong, expelled the Dutch and founded Tungning?

Tungning was the first predominantly Han Chinese state in Taiwan's history; the Qing conquered it in 1683.

In which year was Taiwan ceded to Japan after the First Sino-Japanese War?

Pro-Qing officials briefly proclaimed a 'Republic of Formosa' in May 1895 to resist the handover.

On what date did the Republic of China government evacuate to Taiwan and make Taipei its capital?

About two million soldiers, officials and elites came with him, joining a population of roughly six million.

The February 28 incident of 1947 began with what event?

The date is now a public holiday, Peace Memorial Day.

Martial law was declared on Taiwan in May 1949. In which year did Chiang Ching-kuo finally lift it?

The Democratic Progressive Party had been founded, illegally, as the first opposition party the year before.

Who became the first Taiwan-born ROC president in 1988 and won the first direct election in 1996?

Chen Shui-bian of the DPP followed in 2000 as the first non-KMT president.

In 1971 the United Nations voted to recognise which government in place of the ROC?

Taiwan now has formal diplomatic ties with 11 UN member states and the Holy See.

Under what name does Taiwan compete at the Olympic Games?

A 2018 referendum on competing as 'Taiwan' at Tokyo 2020 failed to pass.

On 17 May 2019, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalise what?

The Constitutional Court had ruled in 2017 that the old marriage law was unconstitutional and set a two-year deadline.

Who won Taiwan's presidential election in January 2024?

He has stated that the ROC and PRC 'are not subordinate to each other'.

Taiwan's government is divided into how many branches, or Yuan?

The Legislative Yuan has 113 seats; students occupied it in the 2014 Sunflower Movement.

What did the Japanese call Taiwan's highest peak, a name later used in the coded order to attack Pearl Harbor?

'Jade Mountain' gets its name from the snow that makes its peak look like polished jade in winter; before the Japanese it was Mount Morrison.

Yushan's height makes Taiwan which-highest island in the world?

Mountain ranges cover the eastern two-thirds of the island; most people live on the western plains.

Which line of latitude passes through Taiwan?

Typhoons are most common in July, August and September.

The '921 earthquake' that killed more than 2,400 people struck on 21 September of which year?

The tectonic boundary that built Taiwan's mountains is still active.

Taipei 101 was the world's tallest building from 2004 until overtaken by which tower?

Its Toshiba lifts were then the fastest in the world, reaching the 89th floor in 37 seconds.

How tall is Taipei 101?

In 2011 it became the world's tallest LEED Platinum green building.

Taroko Gorge is one of only three river-carved gorges in the world cut entirely through which stone?

The Liwu River carved it; veterans built the Central Cross-Island Highway through it in the 1950s.

Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan's largest body of water, is home to which indigenous people?

Swimming is normally banned, except for a 3 km mass swim held each year around the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Taiwan's indigenous peoples are the originators of which language family, spread across the Pacific?

Indigenous peoples make up about 2.5% of the population today.

Around 70% of Taiwan's population belong to which ethnic group, native speakers of Taiwanese Hokkien?

The Hakka make up another 14-18%; the ROC has no legally designated official language.

Which chipmaker, founded in 1987 by Morris Chang, was the world's first dedicated semiconductor foundry?

It holds about 70% of the global foundry market and its market cap once equalled roughly 90% of Taiwan's GDP.

In which science park is TSMC headquartered?

It supplies Nvidia, Apple, Broadcom and Qualcomm; the ROC government is its largest single shareholder.

Along with Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea, Taiwan's rapid growth earned it membership of which group?

The boom from the 1960s is called the 'Taiwan Miracle'.

Which two Taiwanese companies named in the Wikipedia article are personal computer manufacturers?

Foxconn, the contract manufacturer behind the iPhone, is Taiwanese too.

Bubble tea originated in Taiwan in which decade?

The chewy pearls were originally made from cassava starch.

Taiwan's famous red-braised beef noodle soup was first created by veterans from which Chinese province?

The clear-broth Lanzhou version, by contrast, dates to the Tang dynasty.

Din Tai Fung, famous for xiaolongbao, was founded in 1958 as what kind of business?

When tinned oil killed the trade around 1970, the family switched to dumplings.

Substantial Taiwanese snacks sold at night markets, compared to tapas or meze, are known as what?

Taiwanese fried chicken and bubble tea have become global exports of the night-market tradition.

Traditionally, stinky tofu is fermented for several months in what?

Factory versions soak for only a day or two; unlike cheese there is no fixed starter culture.

Which Taiwanese filmmaker directed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain and Life of Pi?

He grew up in a military dependents' village in Chaochou.

Which Taiwanese 'King of Mandopop' played Kato in The Green Hornet?

His mother started him on piano lessons at four; his Opus tour grossed over $250 million.

Fans nicknamed Teresa Teng 'Little' after which mainland Chinese leader, whose surname she shared?

By night, the saying went, they listened to little Deng because they wanted to; 'The Moon Represents My Heart' reached the mainland in 1977.

Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, founded in 1973 by Lin Hwai-min, gave its name in 2010 to what?

In 2003 the government declared 'Cloud Gate Day' and renamed the company's street Cloud Gate Lane.

Taipei's national art collection was mostly moved in 1949 from which imperial site?

The Forbidden City collection had already been crated up and moved to Shanghai in 1933 to escape the Japanese.

Taiwan High Speed Rail, opened in 2007, is based primarily on which country's technology?

A rival bid based on TGV and ICE technology lost out; the fastest Taipei-Zuoying run is 1 hour 45 minutes.

Taipei Metro, the island's first rapid transit system, opened in which year?

It now carries more than two million trips a day.

Which port city handles more than 67% of Taiwan's container traffic?

The Japanese renamed it Takao in 1920 after a district of Kyoto.

Kinmen, also called Quemoy, lies only about 10 km from which mainland Chinese city?

The PLA shelled it heavily in August 1958 during the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis.

The Penghu archipelago in the Taiwan Strait is also known by what European name?

The Dutch held them briefly from 1622 to 1624 before moving to Taiwan proper.

In which year was the Formosan black bear listed as endangered under Taiwan's Wildlife Conservation Act?

It is a subspecies of the Asiatic black bear and the island's largest land animal.

Taiwan's National Health Insurance system was introduced in which year?

An ageing population has raised concerns about its long-term sustainability.

Per Pew, what share of Taiwan's population was Buddhist in 2023, the largest single group?

There is roughly one temple, church or religious building for every square kilometre.

Taiwan's professional baseball league, the CPBL, played its first season in which year?

It is now the world's fourth-best-attended baseball league, averaging over 10,000 a game.

Chiang Kai-shek was president of the ROC until his death in which year?

His son Chiang Ching-kuo became premier in 1972 and president in 1978.

Roughly what is Taiwan's population?

The island covers 35,808 square kilometres, with most people packed onto the western third.

Semiconductors and related equipment account for roughly what share of Taiwan's exports?

TSMC's overseas fabs have shifted some of that trade toward the US, Japan and Korea.