Friday, 10 July 2009

Taiwan


Thank you Licia for that wonderful suprise:)
Taiwan is an island located in East Asia between the South China Sea and the East China Sea off the southeastern coast of mainland China. It is well-known as the major area under the effective jurisdiction of the Republic of China (ROC) since the Chinese Civil War in 1949, and today, the ROC itself is commonly known as "Taiwan".

Separated from the Asian continent by the 180-kilometre-wide Taiwan Strait, the main island of the group is 394 kilometres (245 mi) long and 144 kilometres (89 mi) wide. To its northeast are the main islands of Japan, and the southern end of the Ryukyu Islands of Japan is directly to the east; the Philippines lie to its south. It spans across the Tropic of Cancer and consists of steep mountains, covered by tropical and subtropical vegetation. Other minor islands and islets of the group include the Pescadores, Green Island, and Orchid Island among others; as well as the Diaoyutai Islands which are controlled by Japan since the 1970s and known as the Senkaku-shotō.

Since the end of the World War II in 1945, the island group has been under the administration of the Republic of China, which was then the de facto government of all China. The island group is, however, claimed by the People's Republic of China (PRC), which was established in 1949 on mainland China, displaced the ROC, and considers itself the successor state to the ROC.

Taiwan's rapid economic growth in the decades after World War II has transformed it into an advanced economy as one of the Four Asian Tigers. This economic rise is known as the Taiwan Miracle. It is categorized as an advanced economy by the IMF and high-income economy by the World Bank. Its technology industry plays a key role in the global economy. Taiwanese companies manufacture a large proportion of the world's consumer electronics, although most of them are made in their factories in mainland China.



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