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'Taiwan's population' was estimated in July 2007 at 22,858,872 ^[1] spread across a total land area of 35,980 km², making it the fourteenth most densely populated country in the world with a population density of 635 people per km². According to official governmental statistics, 98% of Taiwan's population is made up of Han Chinese, while 2% are Taiwanese aborigines. Half the population are followers of one or a mixture of 25 recognized religions. Around 93% of the religious population are followers of a mixture of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, while a minority 4.5% are followers of Christianity.
Taiwan is suffering from a decline in birth rates with a population growth of just 0.30% and a fertility rate of 1.12 children (below the 2.1 births average needed to replace the existing population) for the year 2007. The official national language is Mandarin, although a majority also speak Taiwanese (variant of Min Nan; a Fujian dialect) and Hakka. Japanese speakers are becoming rare as the elderly generation who lived under Japanese rule are dying out. Aboriginal languages are gradually becoming extinct as the aborigines have become acculturated despite a program by the ROC government to preserve the languages.

Contents

Nationality

Ethnic groups

Aborigine

Taiwanese

Languages

Religion

Statistics on registered religions (2002)

Population

Age structure

Sex ratio

Foreign residents

Net migration rate

Life expectancy at birth

Births & Deaths

Population growth rate

Fertility rate

Birth rate

Infant mortality rate

Death rate

HIV/AIDS

Military manpower

Available manpower

Fit for military service

Education

Distribution of students

Literacy

See also

References

Nationality

The people of Taiwan are officially Chinese citizens under the Republic of China government and the majority of the population are regarded as ethnic Han descent from the adjacent Fujian province in mainland China. Despite this, there is a tendency for citizens to identify themselves as Taiwanese (臺灣人 Táiwānrén) to clarify that they are citizen of Republic of China (ROC), not a citizen of the People's Republic of China (PRC) (大陸人 Dālùrén; "mainlander/people from the continent").

Ethnic groups

Main articles: List of ethnic groups in Taiwan

:'Overview:' Han 98% (Taiwanese 84% including Hoklo 70% and Hakka 14%; remainder 15% mainland Chinese), aborigine 2% (13 recognized tribes)
Officially, the population of Taiwan consist of 98% Han Chinese, of which 84% identify as Taiwanese while 15% are recent immigrants. The remainder 2% are aborigines (less than 500,000). A confounding factor is intermarriage between ethnic group, including aborigine groups.

Aborigine

The total population of aborigines was estimated in May 2006 to be 468,602 which is about 2% of the total population of Taiwan. The aborigines inhabit the eastern half of Taiwan which consists mostly of mountainous terrain.

Living in the Eastern plains	Male	Female
'220,513' (47.1%)	111,372	109,141
Living in the mountains	Male	Female
'248,089' (52.9%)	122,016	126,073
468,602	233,388	235,214

:'Note:' Source data obtained from ROC Ministry of the Interior website (Spreadsheet data: m1-04.xls)
The ROC government officially recognizes thirteen aborigine tribes (原住民; yuánzhùmín; literally "original inhabitants"). These are: Ami, Atayal, Paiwan, Bunun, Puyuma, Rukai, Tsou, Saisiyat, Tao (Yami), Thao, Kavalan, Truku, and Sakizaya. Japanese colonial rule of Taiwan classified and recognized nine tribes based on linguistic and cultural data, this criteria was modified and included in the official R.O.C. ethnographies of Taiwanese people. The Thao, Kavalan, Truku, and Sakiazya tribes were recognized much later in 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2007 respectively by the ROC government. There are at least another dozen tribes that are not recognized by the government.
{|class=wikitable
!Tribe
!Chinese transliteration
!Meaning of tribal name
!Population
|-
|Ami
|阿美族 (Āměi-zú)
|"North"
|align=right|148,992
|-
|Atayal
|泰雅族 {Tàiyǎ-zú)
|"Brave person"
|align=right|91,883
|-
|Bunun
|布農族 (Bùnóng-zú)
|n/a
|align=right|41,038
|-
|Paiwan
|排灣族 (Páiwān-zú)
|n/a
|align=right|70,331
|-
|Puyuma
|卑南族 (Bēinán-zú)
|n/a
|align=right|9,606
|-
|Rukai
|魯凱族 (Lǔkǎi-zú)
|n/a
|align=right|12,084
|-
|Tsou
|鄒族 (Zōu-zú)
|n/a
|align=right|6,169
|-
|Saisiyat
|賽夏族 (Sàixià-zú)
|n/a
|align=right|5,311
|-
|Tao
|達悟族 (Dáwù-zú)
|"Person"
|align=right|3,872
|-
|Thao
|邵族 (Shào-zú)
|n/a
|align=right|281
|-
|Kavalan
|噶瑪蘭族 (Gámǎlán-zú)
|"People living in the plain"
|align=right|n/a
|-
|Truku
|太魯閣族 (Tàilùgé-zú)
|n/a
|align=right|n/a
|-
|Sakizaya
|撒奇萊雅族 (Sāqíláiyǎ-zú)
|n/a
|align=right|n/a
|}

Taiwanese

98% of Taiwanese are of Han descent. Approximately two-thirds of those are descendants of early immigrants (70% of ethnic Hoklo and 15% of ethnic Hakka) from the adjacent Fujian (Hokkien) and Guangdong (Canton) province who crossed the Taiwan Strait who to work for the Dutch during the 17th century. Many settlers intermarried with Plains Aborigines. Both Hakka and Hoklo speakers regard themselves as 'native' Taiwanese (本省人 Běnshěngrén; literally "home-province person") and consider the Chinese immigrants displaced from their homes in China during the Chinese Civil War (1946-1949) as 'Mainlanders' (外省人 Wàishěngrén; literally "external-province person").
There is some tension between the "Taiwanese" and "Mainlander" groups in Taiwan, with the former slightly more supportive of full independence, while the latter are somewhat more supportive of some form of unification with mainland China.

Languages

:'Overview:' Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects
Almost everyone in the Republic of China born after the early 1950s can speak Mandarin, which has been the official language and the medium of instruction in the schools for more than four decades.
The majority speak a variant form of Southern Fujianese (Min Nan dialect) which is commonly referred to as Taiwanese. The ethnic Hakka have a distinct Hakka dialect. Between 1900 and 1945 Japanese was the medium of instruction and could be fluently spoken by many of the educated during that period. Chinese romanisation in Taiwan uses both Tongyong pinyin which has been officially adopted by the national government, and Hanyu pinyin which some localities use. Wade-Giles, used traditionally, is also found, as well as Vietnamese.
On Kinmen (Quemoy) the language spoken is also Min Nan. On the Matsu Islands, Foochow dialect, a Min Dong (eastern Fujianese) dialect, is spoken.

Religion

:'Overview:' Buddhist 94%, Christian 4.5%, other 1.5%
Article 13 of the Constitution of the Republic of China guarantees freedom of religion as a right of all its citizens. As of 2002, the Republic of China government recognizes 25 religions which are registered with the Civil Affairs Department of the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) Taiwan Yearbook 2004 - Religion .

Statistics on registered religions (2002)

About half of the population can be considered religious believers, most of whom identify themselves as Buddhists or Taoists. At the same time there is a strong belief in folk religion. These are not considered mutually exclusive, and many people practice a combination of the three. Confucianism also is an honored school of thought and ethical codes. Christian churches have been active in Taiwan for many years, a majority of which are Protestant, with Presbyterians playing a particularly significant role. The ROC government has diplomatic relations with the Holy See, which is the only European nation to formally recognize the ROC and is the ROC's longest lasting diplomatic ally, having established relations in 1942. Islam is a static religion but has seen a surge in recent years as a result of foreign Muslims seeking work in Taiwan, most notably from Indonesia. There is also a small group of Shinto followers under the Tenrikyo sect which began in the 1970s.
{|class=wikitable
!Religion
!Chinese
!Members
!Temples & Churches
|-
|Buddhism||(佛教 Fó jiào)||5,486,000||4,038
|-
|Taoism||(道教 Dào jiào)||4,546,000||8,604
|-
|Yi Guan Dao||(一貫道 Yī Guàn Dào)||845,000||3,218
|-
|Protestantism||(基督新教 Jīdū xīn jiào)||605,000||3,609
|-
|Catholicism||(天主教 Tiānzhǔ jiào)||298,000||1,135
|-
|Lord of Universe Church||(天帝教 Tiān Dì jiào)||260,000||53
|-
|Tian De Jiao||(天德教 Tiān Dé jiào)||200,000||5
|-
|Syuan Yuan Jiao||(軒轅教 Xuānyuán jiào)||150,000||21
|-
|Maitreya Great Tao||(彌勒大道 Mílè dàjiào)||100,000||2,000
|-
|Islam||(伊斯蘭教 Yīsīlán jiào)||53,000||6
|-
|Tenrikyo||(天理教 Tiānlǐ jiào)||30,000||150
|-
|Bahá'í Faith||(巴哈伊教 Bāhāyī jiào)||16,000||13
|-
|Confucianism||(儒學 Rú xué)||14,000||170
|-
|Li-ism||(理教 Lǐ jiào)||169,000||131
|-
|Hai Zih Dao||(亥子道 Hàizi Dào)||2,300||30
|-
|Zhonghua Sheng Jiao||(中華聖教 Zhōnghuá Shèng jiào)||1,400||5
|-
|Mahikarikyo||(真光教團 Zhēnguāng jiàotuán)||1,000||9
|-
|Huang Zhong||(黃中 Huáng Zhōng)||500||1
|-
|Universe Maitreya Emperor Jiao||(宇宙彌勒皇教 Yǔzhòu Mílè Huáng jiào)||300||2
|-
|Da Yi Jiao||(大易教 Dà yì jiào)||300||1
|-
!Total
!12,777,800
!23,201
|}
Note: Statistics for the following religions are missing from the table above:

★ Tantric Buddhism

★ Xian Tian Jiu Jiao (先天救教)

★ Church of Scientology (山達基教會)

★ The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (耶穌基督後期聖徒教會)

★ Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (世界基督教統一神靈協會)
:Source: Taipei Times Taiwan Yearbook 2004 - Religion .

Population

According to May 2006 statistics from the Ministry of the Interior, the population of the Republic of China was 22,805,547, 99.6% of which live in Taiwan Province (Note: Taipei City and Kaohsiung City are municipalities and thus officially not part of Taiwan Province), Taipei City, or Kaohsiung City. The remaining 0.4% (82,618) live across the Taiwan Strait just off the coast of Fujian in mainland China. The ROC has jurisdiction over Taiwan Province and Fukien Province, the latter consists of a few islands administered as two counties, Kinmen and Matsu (Lienchiang). Not many people know that Fujian province is divided between the PRC and ROC, though the ROC only has jurisdiction over a few small islands off the coast of mainland Fujian province.
The Republic of China (Taiwan) is ranked 49th most populous nation in the world.
{| class="wikitable"
! Rank !! Name !! Chinese name !! Population
|-
|1||Taiwan Province || 臺灣省 or 台灣省 || 18,590,635 ¹
|-
|2|| Taipei City || 臺北市 or 台北市 || 2,620,693
|-
|3|| Kaohsiung City || 高雄市 || 1,511,601
|-
|4|| Fukien Province || 福建省 || 82,618 ²
|-
!Total|| || ||22,805,547
|}
Notes:
{|cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 border=0 style=background:transparent
|-valign=top
|width=15|1. || Excludes the cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung, which were split off from the Taiwan Province in 1967 and 1979 respectively.
|-valign=top
|2. ||Covers only the modern counties of Kinmen and Lienchiang, which are under the effective jurisdiction of the Fukien Province.
|}

Age structure

{|class=wikitable
!Age range
!Male
!Female
!Total
|-
|0-14 years
|align=right|2,330,951
|align=right|2,140,965
|align=right|'4,471,961' (19.4%)
|-
|15-64 years
|align=right|8,269,421
|align=right|8,040,169
|align=right|'16,309,590' (70.8%)
|-
|65 years and over
|align=right|1,123,429
|align=right|1,131,152
|align=right|'2,254,581' (9.8%)
|-
!Total
!11,723,801
!11,312,286
!23,036,132
|}
:Source: CIA World Factbook (2006 est.)

Sex ratio

:at birth: 1.1 male(s)/female
:under 15 years: 1.09 male(s)/female
:15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
:65 years and over: 0.99 male(s)/female
:total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Foreign residents

Total: 422,738 (May 2006 est.)
:Source: Ministry of the Interior (MOI)

Net migration rate

:0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
:-0.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

The Republic of China (Taiwan) is ranked 51st in the world for highest life expectancy at birth.
{|class=wikitable
!Gender
!Life expectancy
|-
|Male
|align=right|74.67 years
|-
|Female
|align=right|80.47 years
|-
!Average
!77.43 years
|}
:Source: CIA World Factbook (2006 est.)

Births & Deaths

Population growth rate

{|class=wikitable
!Year
!Population growth rate
|-
|2007
|0.30%
|-
|-
|2006
|0.61%
|-
|2005
|0.63%
|-
|2004
|0.64%
|-
|2003
|0.65%
|-
|2002
|0.78%
|-
|2001
|0.8%
|-
|2000
|0.81%
|}
:Source: CIA World Factbook

Fertility rate

:1.12 children born/woman (2007 est.)

Birth rate

:12.56 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
:14.42 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate

:total: 6.29 deaths/1,000 live births
:male: 6.97 deaths/1,000 live births
:female: 5.55 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Death rate

:6.48 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
:5.91 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

HIV/AIDS

The first reported case of HIV/AIDS was recorded in December 1984 and the first local infection recorded in February 1986. As of May 2006, there were 11,486 recorded cases of HIV of which 2,631 were confirmed with AIDS. There were 1,425 deaths leaving 10,029 people living with HIV/AIDS. This is less than 0.5% of the total population of Taiwan. Statistics by the Center for Disease Control show that the gender distribution of infected person was 90% male and 10% female.
{|class=wikitable
!Data
!Population
|-
|Adult prevalence
|11,486
|-
|People living with HIV/AIDS
|10,029
|-
|Deaths
|1,425
|}
:Source: Center for Disease Control (CDC), Republic of China (Taiwan) - May 2006 est.(PDF file)

Military manpower

The Republic of China (Taiwan) has a compulsory military draft for males aged 19-35 years of age with a service obligation of 16 months (to be reduced to 12 months in 2008).

Available manpower

Defined as 19-49 years of age.
{|class=wikitable
!Gender
!Population
|-
|Male
|align=right|5,883,828
|-
|Female
|align=right|5,680,773
|-
!Total
!11,564,601
|}

Fit for military service

Of the available manpower, the following are fit for military service. Defined as 19-49 years of age.
{|class=wikitable
!Gender
!Population
|-
|Male
|align=right|4,749,537
|-
|Female
|align=right|4,644,607
|-
!Total
!9,394,144
|}

Education

The Republic of China has a nine-year compulsory education program in Taiwan, Kinmen, and Matsu initiated by the Ministry of Education in 1968. This consists of six years in elementary education and three years in junior high education. About 94.7% of junior high graduates continue their studies in either a senior high or vocational school . Reflecting a strong commitment to education, in FY 2001 16% of the ROC budget was allocated for education . The enrollment rate was 96.77% for the school year 2004-2005 ^[2]. For the school year 2005-2006, there were 5,283,855 students in both public and private schools, about a quarter of the entire population. The literacy rate is above 95%.
Taiwan has an extensive higher education system with more than 100 institutions of higher learning. Each year over 100,000 students take the joint college entrance exam; about 66.6% of the candidates are admitted to a college or university. Opportunities for graduate education are expanding in Taiwan, but many students travel abroad for advanced education, including 13,000 who study in the United States annually .
Since the mid-1990s, the government has introduced several education reforms in a bid to further improve education standards such as the replacement in 2002 of the 48-year long Joint University Entrance Examination (JUEE; 大學聯考; Dàxué liánkǎo) which had been set up in 1954.
See also: List of universities in Taiwan

Distribution of students

{|class=wikitable border=1
! Sector
! Education
! Years of study
! Typical Age range
! Students
! Distribution
|-
| style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" | Pre-school
| Kindergarten
| (2 years)
| 4-6 years old
| align=right | 224,220
| align=right | 4.2%
|-
| style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" rowspan="2" | Compulsory
| Elementary
| 6 years
| 6-12 years old
| align=right | 1,831,913
| align=right | 34.7%
|-
| Junior High
| 3 years
| 12-15 years old
| align=right | 951,236
| align=right | 18%
|-
| style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" rowspan="2" | Senior Secondary
| Senior High
| 3 years
| 15-18 years old
| align=right | 420,608
| align=right | 8%
|-
| Senior Vocation
| 3 years
| 15-18 years old
| align=right | 331,604
| align=right | 6.3%
|-
| style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" rowspan="2" | Higher Education
| Junior College
| 2-5 years
| 15-20 years old
| align=right | 37,068
| align=right | 0.7%
|-
| University & College
| 4-7 years
(up to 13 years)
| 18-25 years old
(up to 31 years old)
| align=right | 1,259,490
| align=right | 23.8%
|-
| style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" rowspan="3" | Other
| Special School
| up to 14 years
| 4-18 years old
| align=right | 6,361
| align=right | 0.1%
|-
| Supplementary School
| n/a
| n/a
| align=right | 200,573
| align=right | 3.8%
|-
| Open University
| n/a
| n/a
| align=right | 20,782
| align=right | 0.4%
|-
! Total
!
!
!
! 5,283,855
! 100%
|}
:Source: Number of students at each level (SY 2005-2006), Ministry of Education, Republic of China (Taiwan).

Literacy

Definition of literacy is those aged 15 and over who can read and write.
{|class=wikitable
!Gender
!Population
|-
|Male
| n/a
|-
|Female
|n/a
|-
!Total
|n/a
|-
!Literacy rate
| 96.1%
|}
:Source: CIA World Factbook (2003 est.)

See also

'Related links' 

References

1. Taiwan
2. Taiwan Yearbook 2005 - Education