Let's get to know Taiwan

Taiwan, also known as the Republic of China, Nationalist China, or Capitalist China, Free China, the Island of Formosa, or Taipei China, is a country located in the far east of the Asian continent, right in front of what they call "Mainland China," or the People's Republic of China, as it is commonly known to us (also formerly referred to as Communist China, or Red China).

It has an approximate area of 36,191 km2: 20% larger than the Argentine province of Misiones (which covers almost 30,000 km2); which, after Tucumán (22,000 km2), is the smallest in this South American country. With this area, Taiwan ranks 139th in the comparison of all countries in the world.

The most important island of the archipelago that makes up Taiwan has been called "Ilha Formosa" since 1546 by Portuguese navigators, who were the Europeans who first sighted it. It measures approximately 400 km in its maximum length, from North to South, and almost 150 km (almost the distance between San Miguel de Tucumán and Santiago del Estero), from East to West, at its widest point.

Its name derives from the Latin "Formosus"; which in the Iberian languages (Spanish and Galician-Portuguese) of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, decaused into "Formosa"; and which means: "Beautiful."

Taiwan currently has more than 23,000,000 inhabitants; almost half of the population of all of Argentina. Paradoxically, they reside in an area equivalent to one of the smallest provinces (almost 46,000,000).

Taiwan has a democratic republic form of government with a unitary system. Its national holiday is on October 10; which commemorates the establishment of the Chinese republic in Nanjing in 1912; when nationalist revolutionaries overthrew the last Chinese emperor of the Qing dynasty, Puyi, who was only six years old. Thus, China became the first republic in Asia.

To this day, many Taiwanese claim their past as heirs of the Celestial Empire and continuators of that republican feat. So much so that Taiwan maintains the flag adopted by the Chinese nationalists since 1924: a blue rectangle in the upper left quadrant, with a white sun. The rest of the flag displays a red background.

This way, Nationalist China continues the tricolor tradition adopted by most countries in the world for their emblems. The blue represents the sky, the white the color of the sun (unlike the Andean peoples, where the solar disk appears yellow), and the red represents the earth.

More than a hundred smaller islands surrounding Formosa are under Taiwanese control. The most famous are: the Pescadores Islands (Penghu), Orchid Island, Green Island, the Kinmen Archipelago (Quemoy), etc.

These latter islands are particularly curious; as they are less than 6 km from Mainland China; whose coast can be seen with the naked eye. Currently, Kinmen is connected by air with Taiwan and by ferry with Xiamen (Mainland China).

Taiwan not only maintains territorial disputes with Communist China. There are also overlapping claims with its other neighbors. There are islets to the North, held by South Korea (Suyan Rock) or Japan (Senkaku Islands), which are also claimed by both Chinas. In the Southwest (South China Sea), several archipelagos are disputed between the two Chinas and Vietnam. Further South, the Spratly Islands are claimed by the Chinas, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

An important mountain range runs from North to South across the island of Formosa; lying mainly along its eastern coast. Its highest peak (Xiuguluan) reaches 3,860 m. It significantly hinders communications between all the localities on the island. So much so that in the past, it took several days to circumnavigate the entire island. Currently, the installation of a modern high-speed train connects most localities from North to South in a few hours. The rest of the cities and towns are connected by the conventional train. There is a significant infrastructure of highways, roads, bike paths, trails, and paths that connect all the towns.

There are six major municipalities on the island of Formosa. The capital, Taipei, is the most important. It is divided into old Taipei and new Taipei; where young people preferably settle, given that the cost of housing and rent is much more affordable. Today, they practically form a single major city with more than 8,500,000 inhabitants; more than a third of the country's population.

Its national bird is a beautiful long-tailed bird called the Taiwan Blue Magpie or Urocissa caerulea.

Archaeological research has shown that the first inhabitants of Taiwan were Austronesian groups, originating from Oceania (Australia and Polynesia). Subsequently, they received the contribution of Han peoples from China. Today, more than 95% of Taiwanese identify as descendants of these latter tribes.

In 1949, after the Chinese civil war and the defeat of the nationalist forces led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, more than 1,200,000 soldiers, former officials, professionals, teachers, and citizens fled Communist China and took refuge in Taiwan, crossing the strait.

In recent years, the country has received more than 570,000 immigrants, mostly from its Southeast Asian neighbors, attracted by greater job and study opportunities, as well as better incomes. The majority arrive, paradoxically, from the People's Republic of China (about 62.25%); and to a lesser extent, they come from Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand.

Another relevant aspect in Taiwan is its low birth rate; aligning with what is standard in major Western countries. It fell to 0.89 (children per woman) in 2022; one of the lowest in the world, below other countries like Spain (1.37) or Japan (1.26). This data has raised alarms among the authorities.

The reasons for this trend are explained by the high cost of living, insufficient support for potential mothers in the workplace; as well as some factors specifically affecting young people of childbearing age: improvements and increased demands in education, the personal careers of potential parents, social and cultural changes of the time, where deciding on having children is postponed or canceled, structural changes at the family level, etc. Other factors also have an influence, such as superstition and the marked influence of the Chinese horoscope on relationships. There are still families or individuals who decide their emotional and partner relationships based on the compatibility of Chinese horoscope signs. This greatly reduces the possibility of forming couples.

The author will soon send a series of articles about Taiwan, gathered during his visit to that Asian country, where he is on a study scholarship.