| Capital:
Taipei. |
| Official
language: Northern Chinese (Mandarin, or
putonghua). |
| Area:
13,892 sq. mi. (35,980 sq. km), including the Pescadores islands,
but excluding Matsu and Quemoy. Greatest
distances—north-south, 235 mi. (378 km); east-west, 90 mi. (145
km). Coastline—555 mi. (893 km). |
| Elevation:
Highest—Yu Shan (Mount Morrison), 13,113 ft. (3,997 m) above
sea level. Lowest—sea level. |
| Population: Estimated 2002
population—22,735,000; density, 1,637 per sq. mi. (632 per sq.
km); distribution, 77 percent urban, 23 percent rural. 1990
census—20,285,626. |
| Chief
products: Agriculture—asparagus, bananas, chickens and
ducks, citrus fruits, hogs, mushrooms, pineapples, rice, sugar cane,
sweet potatoes, tea, vegetables. Fishing—shrimp, snapper,
tuna. Forestry—cedar, hemlock, oak.
Manufacturing—calculators, clothing and textiles, iron and
steel, paper, plastics, plywood, processed foods, radios, ships,
sporting goods, sugar, television sets, toys. |
| Flag: The
flag has a red field. A white sun appears on a blue canton in the
upper left-hand corner. Red stands for liberty and sacrifice, and
white for fraternity and honesty. Adopted in 1928. |
| Money:
Basic unit—New Taiwan dollar or yuan. One hundred cents equal
one yuan. See
Yuan. | |
