| Population |
 |
| Immigration
from China to Taiwan began as early as the
Tang dynasty, which ruled from AD 618 to 907.
About 98 per cent of the population of Taiwan is Han Chinese. Many of the
rest are Aborigines of Malay origins. The majority of Chinese, some 85 per
cent, are descendants of immigrants who came from China-mostly from Fujian
Province across the Taiwan Strait-between
the 17th and 19th centuries. Of the remaining 15 per cent, virtually all
are survivors or descendants of the 2 million people who came from the
mainland between 1947 and 1949. The population
density is 590 persons per square kilometre (1,528 persons per
square mile), which makes Taiwan one of the ten most densely populated
countries in the world.
Language |
| The
official language is Mandarin Chinese.
However, the majority of the people also speak Taiwanese, the language of
the first Chinese immigrants. Hakka, another Chinese dialect,
is also spoken. Some older people speak Japanese, and the Aborigines speak
their own languages. English is a popular second or third language for
students and is widely understood in urban
areas. Although the official language of both Taiwan and mainland China
is Mandarin Chinese, vocabulary and idiomatic differences exist. |
|
| Various
systems of romanization (representing Chinese characters and words in the
Latin alphabet) have been developed to help westerners
who cannot read Chinese characters pronounce names, read signs, and follow
maps. The average Chinese person would not use romanization. Romanizations
differ; for example, the character for "please" is written qing
(in the pinyin romanization) or ch'ing (in the Wade-Giles
romanization).
Chinese is a tonal language. Each spoken syllable
can have up to five different meanings, depending on the tone with which
it is spoken. For instance, ma can mean "horse" or
"mother", and can even function as a question indicator,
according to the voice inflection used.
Religion |
| Ninety-three
per cent of the people practise a combination of Buddhism,
Confucianism, and Taoism.
Confucianism, while emphasizing ancestor veneration,
does not proclaim loyalty to any specific deity; rather it orders social
patterns and relationships. Worship rituals and beliefs come mainly from
Buddhism. Christianity, in various
forms, is followed by about 5 per cent of the people. Some important
Chinese figures, such as Sun Yat-sen, have been Christians. Freedom of
religion is guaranteed in Taiwan.
Traditional beliefs continue to play an important
role in Taiwanese life: the Chinese art of geomancy,
called feng shui, literally “wind and water”, is still
consulted when selecting the site and physical orientation of any business
premises. A Taiwanese may attribute the collapse of a business to the
unsound feng shui of the building.
Education |
| Education
is very important in Taiwan, because it is considered economically
crucial. It will become more so as the economy continues its shift towards
sectors that require an increasing level of skill. Schooling is free and compulsory
for 9 years (to age 15), but plans are being implemented to extend that to
12 years. Entrance to universities is determined by examinations held each
year in July. Students work very hard to prepare for these, sometimes
studying 16 hours a day, seven days a week, for an entire year. While many
students travel abroad for higher education, universities and other
higher-education facilities in Taiwan are of a high standard and more
students are remaining in Taiwan.
Health and Welfare |
| Taiwan
has a modern health-care system. A new regionalization system has been
implemented in the 1990s. It is designed to offer public-health facilities
to all the population. |
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