Taipei, Taiwan

Taiwan (Listen / ˌ taɪwɑ ː n / TY-Wahn), is also known, especially in the past, Formosa (Portuguese: Ilha Formosa, "beautiful island"), is an island in East Asia, Western Pacific Ocean and is located off the southeast coast of mainland China. The island is more than 99% of the actual surface of China (ROC) after the Chinese civil war in 1950. Taiwan, the island has the largest population and, hence, the name "Taiwan" has also become a pars pro toto the common name for the ROC.

Separated from Asia by the 160 km (99 miles) wide Taiwan Strait, the group's main island is 394 kilometers (245 miles) long and 144 km (89 miles) wide. Northeast of the main islands of Japan and the East China Sea and the southern end of the Ryukyu Islands, Japan is directly east of the Philippines Batanes islands lie south by the Bashi Channel. The mountainous island stretching from the Tropic of Cancer and is covered by tropical and subtropical vegetation. Other smaller islands and islets of the group include the islands of Penghu (Pescadores), Green Island and Orchid Island, and the Diaoyutai Islands (Senkaku Islands), which were controlled by Japan since the 1970s.

Taiwan was ceded to the Empire of Japan by the Qing empire in the Treaty of Shimonoseki after the first Sino-Japanese War in 1895. In 1945, Taiwan was liberated from Japan after World War II. Four years later, the ROC lost the mainland of China during the Chinese Civil War in the Communist Party of China and resettled his government to Taiwan. Taiwan made up the vast majority of ROC territory since 1950 and is one of the reasons why the ROC is commonly known as "Taiwan." The political status of Taiwan, is controversial because it is claimed by China, which was created in 1949 by the Communists in mainland China and sees itself as the successor to the ROC. In fact, since the establishment of China has never checked any of the territories the ROC government is now in control. Japan had originally purchased from Taiwan Qing empire in 1895 under Article 2 of the Treaty of Shimonoseki.

At the end of World War II, Japan renounced all claims to sovereignty over its former colonial empire, including Taiwan and Penghu (Pescadores), but said that Taiwan and Penghu to be assigned. The handling of this and later Taiwan's sovereignty by the Allies of World War II led to a complex legal and political status of Taiwan and unresolved.

Taiwan's rapid economic growth in the decades after World War II has transformed into an industrialized and developed one of the four Asian tigers. This economic growth is known as the Miracle of Taiwan. It is classified as an advanced economy like the IMF and high-income economy by the World Bank. Advanced technology industry plays a central role in the global economy. Taiwanese companies make much of consumer electronics in the world, although most of them are now made at their factories in China.