Chapter One : Basic information 1.1 Population The population of the Taiwan area in 1946, one year after the end of the Second World War was only 6.09 million. It rose to 15 million in 1971, exceeded 20 million in 1989, and totaled at 21.18 million in 1994. By the end of 2000, the population of the Taiwan area was 22.28 million (see figure 1.1). Figures show that the population of the Taiwan area has increased by 2.6 times in the past 50 years. The population is expected to reach 23.92 million in 2010, an increase of 1.64 million on the 2000 figure. The population growth rate in 2000 was 0.834%. Population density was 617 people per square kilometer, the second highest in the world for nations with a population exceeding 10 million. Population density in the cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung was around 10,000 per square kilometer, roughly twice that of Singapore and Hong Kong. The urban population of the Taiwan area in 1998 accounted for 77.2 percent of the whole. Looking at the figures broken down by age-group, 21.1% were children (aged 0-14 years), a proportion that is declining, 70.3% were in the 15-64 year old age group, while 8.6 % were seniors aged 65 and over, a proportion that is increasing. Thus, Taiwan is gradually becoming an "old-aged" society. In 2000 the average life expectancy in the Taiwan area was 75.10 years - 72.54 years for men and 78.21 years for women. Analyzed for different areas, life expectancy was seen to increase with urbanization. Analysis of the level of education received by Taiwan's population aged over six years in 2000 showed that 5.1% percent were illiterate or had studied outside schools. Those with only elementary level education accounted for 21.4%, those with secondary education ( junior high, senior high and senior vocational schools ) accounted for 52.1% and those with higher education 10.0%. 1.2 Geography Taiwan is located off the southeastern rim of Asia, roughly 160 kilometers southeast of Mainland China. It comprises the island of Taiwan, the Penghu archipelago and another 86 islands and islets. Taiwan is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east and faces Fujian Province to the west across the Taiwan Strait. To the south is the Bashi Channel; the Ryukyu Islands are close by to the northeast. Taiwan's territory lies between 119 degrees and 124 degrees of east longitude and 21 degrees and 25 Figure 1.1 Current population statistics for the Taiwan area Source: Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of China (2001) degrees of north latitude. The island of Taiwan is 377 kilometers long north to south and 142 kilometers east to west at its widest point. Taiwan has a total area of 36,006 square kilometers (including 39 square kilometers of reclaimed land). High mountains dominate the island of Taiwan. The central mountain range runs from north to south in the central and eastern parts of the island; the plain is in the west. The mountains rise steeply in the east and flat land occupies a narrow and restricted area. Roughly two thirds of land area is above 100 meters elevation; several peaks in the central mountain range surpass 3,000 meters. There are abundant forest resources; only one quarter of the land can be used for arable farming. The island of Taiwan has 1,140 kilometers of coastline and 151 rivers. The central mountain range is the chief watershed; most rivers flow east or west into the Pacific Ocean or the Taiwan Strait respectively. Rivers are short; only six exceed 100 kilometers in length. The Choshui River is the longest at 186 kilometers. Steep topography, combined with the great difference between wet and dry seasons and the high degree of development mean that during torrential rain the water level can rise very rapidly and easily lead to disaster. 1.3 Climate Taiwan is located between the world's largest landmass and its largest ocean. The Tropic of Cancer passes through the island of Taiwan, giving it a subtropical and tropical oceanic climate. High temperatures and rainfall and strong winds characterize the climate. Because of Taiwan's position in the Asian monsoon region, its climate is greatly influenced by monsoons as well as by its own complicated topography. The annual mean temperature in the lowlands is 22-25oC and monthly mean temperatures exceed 20oC for eight months starting April each year. The period from June to August is the hot season with mean temperatures 27-29oC. Temperatures are cooler between November and March; in most places, the coldest monthly mean temperature is above 15oC. The climate is mild rather than cold and temperatures only fall dramatically when a cold wave affects the region. The whole island has warmed over the past 100 years in line with the trend of global warming. The rate of warming was at 1.0-1.4oC/100 years. Warming was not only evident in urban areas: Yushan mountain and other areas without major development plans also displayed warming. Average annual rainfall in the lowland parts of the Taiwan area is at a range of 1,600~2,500 mm. Due to the influences of topography and the monsoon climate, the rainfall differs greatly with different areas and seasons. In mountainous areas, average rainfall may exceed 4,000 mm per year. Rainfall is generally higher in mountainous areas than in lowland areas, higher in the east than in the west and higher on windward slopes than on the leeward side. The northeast monsoon prevails during the winter; this is the rainy season in the north though rainfall is not intense. But in the same winter period is the dry season in the south. During the summer, the southwest monsoon prevails, often giving rise to convective thunderstorms and bringing intense and copious rainfall. With added downpours brought by typhoons, this season often accounts for over 50% of annual rainfall in the south so that central and southern regions often suffer greatly. Relative humidity on the island of Taiwan, surrounded as it is by ocean, is high, usually measured at a range of 78~85%. In the north, relative humidity is higher during winter than during summer. The situation in the south is on the opposite. Over the past 100 years, the rainfall in the north has increased while the rainfall in the south has decreased. The trend is not as consistent as that of temperature change. 1.4 The Economy In the half century since the end of the Second World War in 1945, the Taiwan area has created an "economic miracle" that has caught the attention of the world. It is now already joining the ranks of developed countries. Taiwan's economic development during these 50 years can be roughly divided into four periods: agricultural, light industry, heavy industry and technological. From 1946 to 1952, the country was suffering the destruction brought by war and industry was waiting for revival. To promote economic development, the government adopted a policy of using "agriculture to cultivate industry and industry to develop agriculture," as a way to restore agricultural output. The land reform program during this period "reduced land rents", "distributed public land", and "purchased and resold land from large landlords". This promoted vigorous agricultural development and led to the birth of an agricultural product processing industry, setting a foundation for economic development. From 1953, the government implemented a series of economic development plans focused on industrial development. From 1953 to 1971, the nation's economic development was focused on building up light industry. In the early period (1953-1960), priority was given to "import substitution" to boost the nation's industrial production; during the later period (1961-1971), an "export promotion" policy was increasingly stressed, as a way to open up foreign markets. Subsequently, from 1972 to 1978, heavy industry developed at great speed as industrial development techniques and conditions reached maturity. But the speed of this development and Taiwan's land shortage and high population density also put a great strain on the environment. After 1979, some labor intensive industries, such as food processing, leather goods production and apparel manufacture began to wither. From 1986, the industrial sector's share of the economy began to decline while the service sector showed an upward trend. Meanwhile, the agricultural sector, while fluctuating year-on-year, broadly showed a downward trend in terms of the overall makeup of the economy. Thus it could be seen that the service industry was already becoming the lead player in the economy. As a consequence, the government, with a policy of "accelerating the upgrading of industry" and "developing strategic industries" as a guiding principle, promoted strategic industries that were low energy consumers, offered high added value, were high-tech and low-polluting, and had great export potential as a means to adjust the composition of Taiwan's economy. The nation's rapid industrial development has led to continuous economic growth. In 1992, average GNP per person rose above US$10,000. In 1995, it was over US$12,000. In the 35 years from 1966 to 2000, excluding the five years 1974, 1975, 1982, 1985, 1998 when the economic growth rate fell below 5%, the economic growth rate ranged from 5.39% to 13.59%. See figure 1.2 for the trend in economic growth 1991-1998; key economic indicators can the government be seen in Table 1.1. Figure1.2 Taiwan's economic growth rate 1991-2000 Source: Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of China (2001) Annual Report on Economic Statistics for the Taiwan Area (2001) Table 1.1 Key economic indicators for the Taiwan area Year Economic growth rate Output and share of total output Total (GDP) Agriculture Manufacturing industry Service industry % Million NTD Share of total output % 1989 8.23 3,938,826 4.9 42.30 52.80 1990 5.39 4,307,043 4.18 41.22 54.60 1991 7.55 4,810,705 3.79 41.07 55.14 1992 6.76 5,337,693 3.60 39.86 56.54 1993 6.32 5,874,513 3.66 39.00 57.34 1994 6.54 6,376,498 3.57 37.28 59.15 1995 6.03 6,892,046 3.55 36.24 60.21 1996 5.67 7,477,540 3.29 35.47 61.24 1997 6.77 8,131,152 2.73 34.93 62.34 1998 4.57 8,938,967 2.47 34.57 62.96 1999 5.42 9,289,929 2.56 33.19 64.25 2000 5.98 9,685,939 2.06 32.37 65.57 Source: Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of China (2001) Annual Report on Economic Statistics for the Taiwan Area (2001) As incomes have increased annually, since 1987, the share of the economy accounted for by service industry output has also risen. It passed 50% in 1989 and represented 65.6% of total economic output in 2000. In 2000, manufacturing industry accounted for 32.4% and agriculture accounted for just 2.1% of output, all-time lows for both sectors. Other social indices compiled since 1989, such as those on number and density of vehicles and factories, daily per capita refuse production and monthly water usage are given in Table 1.2. From the table it can be seen that data such as those that are closely related to economic development all increased. This reveals that economic growth has also produced a continually growing strain on the environment. Table 1.2 Social indices for the Taiwan area Year No. of registered vehicles (million vehicles) Density of vehicles (No. per Km2) No. of registered factories Density of factories (No. per Km2) Refuse production (million metric tons) Daily per capita refuse production (kg) Monthly per capita water use (m3) 1991 10.61 295 95,327 2.65 7.42 1.00 6.93 1992 11.27 313 94,673 2.63 8.00 1.09 6.93 1993 11.86 329 96,630 2.68 8.22 1.10 7.21 1994 12.38 344 95,581 2.66 8.49 1.12 7.15 1995 13.20 367 97,012 2.69 8.71 1.14 7.08 1996 14.27 396 96,820 2.69 8.63 1.13 7.30 1997 15.31 524 99,339 2.76 8.72 1.14 7.21 1998 15,92 442 98,836 2.74 8.88 1.14 7.07 1999 1,628 452 100,682 2.80 8.57 1.08 7.21 2000 1,702 470 8,861 2.73 7.86 0.98 7.25 Source: ROC Taiwan Area Environmental Protection Yearbook (2001) 1.5 Land use The Taiwan area covers 36,006 square kilometers. The land is mainly covered by forestry resources, occupying 58% of land. Second comes agricultural land, occupying 25%. Other uses include urban construction, transport and water conservancy infrastructure, etc. A discussion of land utilization in each of these categories follows: 1.5.1 Forest In 1954, forest covered 1.78 million hectares on the island of Taiwan. Between 1977 and 1994, forest coverage was maintained at about 1.86 million hectares. According to 1994 data, there were 2,102,400 hectares of forest covering 58.3% of the island of Taiwan. Broadleaf coverage accounted for 1,120,400 hectares or 31.19% of the island; coniferous trees covered 438,500 hectares (12.21%). There were 391,200 hectares of mixed coverage (10.8%) and 152,300 hectares of bamboo forest (4.24%). State-owned forest land (as opposed to publicly- and privately-owned land) was most abundant at 1,612,900 hectares. Since 1974, the government has established six national parks, 23 forest reserves, 18 nature reserves and ten wildlife refuges to promote wildlife and environmental protection and preservation of rare plants and animals. 1.5.2 Agriculture Taiwan's cultivated land can be divided into paddy fields and dry fields. Paddy fields can further be divided into single season cropping and two season cropping. In the early period, agricultural production emphasized raising productivity. In 1946, paddy fields covered 507,000 hectares. This area grew as irrigation facilities were extended. In the 1950s and 1960s, the area covered by paddy fields remained at around 530,000 hectares. After that the area covered gradually fell. With industrial development continuing apace, some agricultural land was adopted for non-agricultural purposes or for different crops. The area covered by paddy fields had dropped to under 500,000 hectares by 1984 and continued to fall. In 2000 there were just 442,000 hectares of paddy fields. Advances in farming technology meant that some formerly single season cropping fields now produce two crops per year. Consequently, the roughly 124,510 hectares of single cropping fields accounted for just 28.2% of all paddy fields in 2000, down from 41% in 1946. Statistics on the Taiwan area's cultivated land are shown in Figure 1.3 Figure 1.3 Cultivated land in the Taiwan area Source: Taiwan Agriculture Yearbook (2001) 1.5.3 Livestock The livestock industry of the Taiwan area has grown rapidly in the last 20 years. It has transformed from being a rural sideline occupation to being a capital and technology intensive industry. Pig and chicken rearing industries are most significant and have grown in size year by year. Cows are the major grazing livestock but numbers are very low. The more traditional duck rearing industry is also small. Since 1997, struggling to cope with foot and mouth disease in pigs and the imminent impact on the industry of WTO membership, the pig and cattle-raising sectors have shrunk. It is anticipated that all parts of the livestock industry will be in prolonged decline for several years after WTO entry before they stabilize. In 2000, 9.9 million pigs, 389 million chickens, 24,505 head of cattle and 34 million ducks were slaughtered. Statistics on production of pigs, cattle, chickens, ducks and geese in the Taiwan area are given in Table 1.3. Table 1.3 Livestock in the Taiwan area Year Pigs Cattle Chickens Ducks Geese Number slaughtered (1,000 head) 11,078.268 33.658 215,940 39,952 4,140 12,121.873 27.328 226,556 39,900 4,777 1991 13,525.987 27.229 233,971 36,295 4,628 1992 13,310.000 29.573 257,666 40,558 5,683 1993 13,225.000 26.412 288,243 45,483 6,397 1994 13,860.000 28.829 301,914 40,886 8,521 1995 14,180.000 33.961 319,820 42,580 7,744 1996 14,310.000 33.168 345,509 41,759 7,078 1997 11,400.000 33.770 389,966 41,156 7,503 1998 9,800.000 29.377 389,524 35,719 7,955 1999 8,980.000 25.840 385,563 35,208 7,464 2000 9,990.000 24.505 389,770 34,099 6,503 Source: Taiwan Agriculture Yearbook (2001) 1.5.4 Fisheries The fishery resources industry of the Taiwan area can be divided into fishing and aquaculture. The fishing industry can be subdivided into the inland, inshore, coastal and deep sea fishing industries; aquaculture can be subdivided into the inland and marine aquaculture industries. In 2000, the total fishing catch was 1.1 million metric tons; aquaculture covered 260,000 hectares. Statistics on fishery resources are given in Table 1.4. Table 1.4 Taiwan area fishery resources Year Fishing catch Aquaculture - area covered Aquaculture Subtotal (1,000 MT) Deep sea (1,000 MT) Coastal (1,000 MT) Inshore (1,000 MT) Inland (1,000 MT) Inland (1,000 MT) Marine (1,000 ha) Inland (1,000 ha) Production (1,000 MT) 1951 79 16 23 39 1.1 1956 151 44 60 45 1.5 37.4 37.4 42.4 1961 256 106 113 35 1.5 38.9 38.9 57.4 1966 367 169 168 29 1.2 38.1 38.1 58.5 1971 572 293 247 31 1.4 43.3 11.9 31.5 77.8 1976 675 325 314 33 2.6 54.0 14.1 39.9 135.5 1981 710 322 346 39 2.7 60.8 16.2 44.6 201.9 1986 828 463 306 57 2.2 65.4 15.0 50.4 266.1 1989 1122 734 334 50 3.9 71.1 16.1 55.0 249.8 1990 1111 767 292 48 3.5 76.4 18.1 58.3 344.3 1991 1024 714 267 41 2.3 74.1 15.8 58.3 291.9 1992 1066 733 281 45 1.8 72.3 14.0 58.3 261.6 1993 1139 835 259 43 1.7 71.0 14.4 56.5 285.3 1994 968 684 242 40 1.5 69.6 14.4 55.2 288.0 1995 1010 709 256 44 1.2 70.1 14.2 55.9 286.6 1996 967 669 257 41 0.4 67.6 15.4 52.2 272.5 1997 1037 748 248 41 0.4 63.2 14.6 48.6 270.2 1998 1093 839 210 44 0.5 63.2 14.1 49.1 255.2 1999 1101 855 206 40 0.6 63.2 14.0 49.2 263.1 2000 1100 886 170 44 0.6 62.6 13.6 49.0 256.4 Source: Taiwan Agriculture Yearbook (2001) 1.5.5 Mining Mining resources are scarce in the Taiwan area. Economically viable mineral reserves can be categorized as energy reserves, metallic reserves, industrial raw materials and sand and stone. 1. Energy reserves Energy reserves consist mainly of coal, oil and natural gas. Most coal is found in the north and center of Taiwan from Jinbaoli on the northeast coast stretching southwest to the Taan River. This area measures 120 kilometers north to south and is about 20 kilometers wide. Oil and natural gas are found mainly in the western foothills and lowlands. 2. Metallic reserves The main metallic mineral reserves of the Taiwan area are of gold, silver, copper, iron sulfide and placer mineral. Main deposits are in the north and east, including Jinguashi, Dongao and Nanao in Ilan and Mugua River of Hualien. 3. Industrial raw materials The industrial raw materials of the Taiwan area are principally non-metallic. They include limestone, marble, dolomite, clay, fireclay and salt. Salt production is chiefly along the southwest coast. The mining of limestone, clay and fireclay mining is concentrated in the west and south. Other minerals are mainly found in the east. Taiwan's limestone is mainly distributed in Kaohsiung County and City in the south and Taitung County in the east. More than 90% of production goes to making cement. Marble is mined in an area 150 kilometers long and 10 kilometers wide in Ilan, Hualien and Taitung Counties. 4. Sand and stone Sand and stone can be categorized as river, land or marine depending on origin. A total of 21 rivers are mined. After extensive exploitation, land deposits are no longer sufficient to be mined. In the future, marine deposits may become the main source. 1.6 Transport Taiwan's transport infrastructure was almost destroyed during the Second World War and left effectively paralyzed. Thereafter, the government made reconstruction a top priority and drew up comprehensive plans to restore the transport infrastructure. A large amount of money and manpower was invested, helping realize the successes of the present day. 1.6.1 Railways A total of 81.53 million passengers took rail trips in 1952. In 1956, the number of rail rides rose to more than 100 million as rail transport continued to grow. Between 1961 and 1990, 120 million to 140 million rail trips were made annually. Numbers then began to rise again and they reached 460 million trips in 2000. Statistics for passenger rail transport in recent years are given in Table 1.5. Table 1.5 Passenger rail transport in Taiwan Year Passenger transport Freight transport Number of passengers Passenger kilometers Tonnage (kilotons) Kiloton-kilometers 1989 127,973,000 8,144,904,000 30,867 2,111,502 1990 132,392,000 8,322,568,000 28,054 1,877,264 1991 137,785,000 8,621,006,000 26,256 1,961,142 1992 149,877,000 9,361,405,000 28,194 2,139,956 1993 158,031,000 9,552,265,000 30,582 2,017,778 1994 160,992,000 9,552,265,000 31,233 2,006,711 1995 160,925,000 9,499,386,000 30,120 1,899,539 1996 171,263,000 9,032,420,000 27,410 1,584,857 1997 197,111,000 9,506,929,000 26,571 1,513,848 1998 233,339,000 10,305,456,000 26,560 1,404,355 1999 309,815,000 11,020,369,000 25,993 1,314,912 2000 460,311,000 12,623,814,000 22,261 1,179,056 Source: R.O.C. Transportation Statistics Monthly Report (2001) 1.6.2 Road transport The highway network of the Taiwan area currently includes the freeway network, round-the-island highway network, cross-island highways, longitudinal highway system, coastal highway system and the connecting highway system. At the time of Taiwan's retrocession in 1945, only around 7,000 miles of the highway network were passable due to war damage. In 1990, the mileage of the network rose to 20,042 kilometers in length. It reached 20,375 kilometers in 2000. The development of the highway system in Ta