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| Adolescents in Taiwan today are growing up in a more affluent and pluralistic society. (Photo by Chang Su-ching) |
As of July 2002, the total population
of Taiwan was 22.5 million people. With an average population
density of 621 persons per square km, Taiwan is the second most
densely populated area in the world. The most populous city
on the island is Taipei (2.64 million), followed by Kaohsiung
(1.51 million). The population of Taiwan is almost exclusively made up of Han Chinese. They share the island with eleven major indigenous tribes: the Ami, Atayal, Paiwan, Bunun, Puyuma, Rukai, Tsou, Saisiyat, Yami, Shao, and Kavalan.
Altogether, indigenous
peoples make up less than 2 percent of the entire population.
Early Han Chinese immigrants, or "Taiwanese," consist of two
groups: the Hakka (15 percent of the total population), mostly
from Guangdong Province; and the Southern Fujianese (70 percent
of the total population), from China's southeastern province
of Fujian.
In 1949, immigrants from various parts of China moved to Taiwan with the KMT
government. They are generally referred to as "mainlanders" and comprise less
than 15 percent of the population. Intermarriage between all four groups--indigenous
peoples, Hakkas, Southern Fujianese, and mainlanders--is quite common, so the
distinguishing characteristics of each group grow fainter with the passage of
time.
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| Written
Chinese, such as this sampling of Tang dynasty calligraphy
written in the cursive script, uses semantically meaningful
characters instead of phonetic symbols. (Courtesy of the
National Palace Museum) |
The official language used in Taiwan is Mandarin, based on the Beijing dialect.
Two other major dialects are spoken on the island: Southern Fujianese (often
called Taiwanese) and Hakka (spoken by the Hakka minority group).
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| Aboriginal women from the Bunun tribe pose in their festival finery. (Photo by Larry Hsieh) |
Population Profile as of December 2001
Natural Increase Rate: 5.94 per 1,000 persons
Birth Rate: 11.65 per 1,000 persons
Death Rate: 5.71 per 1,000 persons
Male-to-female Ratio: 104:100
Population under 15 Years of Age: 20.81%
Population over 65 Years of Age: 8.81%
Life Expectancy: men - 72.67; women - 78.44 (2000)
(Ministry of the Interior http://www.moi.gov.tw)
