1. Taiwan By Graham Floyd

2. Statistics Taiwan has a population of 22,191,087 people Average life expectancy is 76.35 years People are allowed to vote at the age of 20 The population of Taiwan is divided in the following way: 22% of people are 14 or younger 70% of people are 15 - 64 years old 8% of people are 65 or older Approximately 7.06 infants out of 1000 die at birth Taiwan has a literacy rate of 94%

3. Statistics Taiwan has a poverty rate of only 1% In Taiwan there are a total of about 12 million phones, and about 10.2 million cellular phones Taiwan has major drug problems, including the overuse of heroin and methamphetamines One Taiwan national holiday is the Anniversary of the Chinese Revolution, celebrated on October 10th

4. Geography Taiwan’s total area is 36,000 square kilometers (about 13,900 square miles) The Chungyang Range of mountains covers half of the total land area. It’s elevation is 13,114 feet All rivers in Taiwan start in the mountains. Taiwan’s longest river runs 116 miles 1/4 of Taiwan’s land area is suitable for cultivation Taiwan’s climate is tropical/suptropical, with an average of 160 inches of annual rainfall Taiwan suffers from bad pollution problems

5. History Taiwan has been inhabited as long as 10,000 years After World War II, Taiwan was returned to the control of China In 1950, the United States sent naval forces to defend Taiwan from Chinese communist invasion During the 1960’s, Taiwan experienced massive economic growth due to funding from the U.S. Taiwan was expelled from the United Nations in 1971

6. Culture Most of Taiwan’s customs are taken from Chinese traditions Taiwan has many distinct arts, such as calligraphy, jade carving, and a large movie industry

7. Economics Taiwan is very industrial and export a large amount of machinery and electronics. Taiwan exported $120.3 billion worth of goods in 1998 Taiwan’s work force is 9 million strong Tourism in Taiwan averages at about 2.3 million people every year Many products are manufactured in Taiwan, including chemicals, metals, and paper products Taiwan’s principle crop is rice A well-developed road and rail network runs through Taiwan

8. Government Taiwan is a Republic Taiwan’s current president is Lee Teng-Hui Taiwan has a National Assembly, much like our congress, currently with 316 members The government is separated into five branches: Executive - the highest branch Legislative - laws Control - law enforcement Examination - survey and examination Judicial - court system Taiwan currently has three political parties Kuomintang Democratic Progressive Party New Party