Several thousand years ago many aboriginal tribes migrated from south east
Asia to the group of islands in Taiwan. Their main occupation was hunting and shifting cultivation. Even today they inhabit in the mountainous interiors of Taiwan. Their population has dwindled to 250000.
Today Taiwanese are mostly of Chinese origin and are descendents of immigrants from
Fujian and Guangdon. About 2 million Chinese fled from other parts of the main land to Taiwan with the nationalist government in 1949.
The Taiwanese comprise of two major groups namely Hokkein or
Fujianese. They migrated from the province of Fuji and speak a dialect of that region. The other group called Hakka descended from Guangdong.
Living in isolation for centuries, the mixed practices of the groups evolved a new culture and tradition altogether. Different religion and views were accepted and followed with zeal. Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism were the major religions.
Idols of Gods derived from Chinese mythology were worshiped. Many temples devoted to different gods of various religion were built throughout the country.
Some senior Taiwanese speak Japanese fluently. The food, housing and lifestyle also have a Japanese touch to them. This is because of the influence of Japanese culture on Taiwan when Japan occupied it in 1895 and ruled till 1945.
Today westernization is conspicuous in all aspects of life.
Fact Sheet
Population: 22,894,384
Age Structure: 0-14 years 19.7%
15- 64 years 70.7%
65 years and above 9.6%
Population Growth Rate: 0.63%
Birth Rate: 12.64 births/ 1000 population
Death Rate: 6.38 deaths/ 1000 population
Total Fertility Rate: 1.57 children born/ woman
Fertility decline rate: 1.8 children/ woman per decade
Infant mortality rate: 6.4 deaths per 1000 live births.
Life expectancy: Total Population 77.26 years
Male 74.49 years.
Female 80.28 years
Sex Ratio: At Birth 1.1 male/ female
Under 15 years 1.09 male per female
!5-64 years 1.03 male per female
65 years and above 1.01 male per female
Total Population 1.04 male per female
Literacy: Those who can read and write and are above 15 years of age
Total population 97%
Religion: 97% of the population follow a mixture of Buddhism, Taoism and Confuscianism 4.5% are Christians and 2.5% follow other religion.
Languages: Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese and Hakkan dialect
