black03 black

Taiwan Seriously

[Home] [About] [Links] [Archive] [Contact]
black02

The About Page

You thought this is the About page for this site. Wrong, this page is about the main topic - Taiwan.

I’ll present here facts about the country, bit by bit - starting with a geographical comparison. After all, most people know it only from labels like ‘Made in Taiwan’. Some people think it’s not even a country. They are right, somehow. Others think it is a country, an independent nation. They are right, too. It depends on whom you ask. However, better not talk about politics.

In terms of geography and demographics Taiwan is a small and crowded place. Just over 23 million people live on a land area of 32260 square kilometers (or 12601 sq. miles). That’s a little bit less than the land area of The Netherlands and 20% less than that of Switzerland. If you prefer American data there are few US states that are that small, but if you combine the land area of Vermont and Massachusetts you arrive at 43738 sq km. That are is shared among a combined population of about 7 million people (data from 2006). Here a table with the data:

 

population estimate

land area
(square km)

population density (people/sq km)

Taiwan1

23,036,087

32,260

714

The Netherlands1

16,491,461

33,883

487

Switzerland1

7,523,934

39,770

189

Vermont2

608,827

23,677

26

Massachuetts2

6,349,097

20065

316

1data from CIA factbook
2data from www.50states.com

In addition, the eastern and central part of the country is mountainous and sparsely populated. Most people live in the western part with a clear preference for the north and there for Taipei. One map says more than a thousand words:
TW_population

map from http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/art-73666

The eastern part is very beautiful, with mountains, tropical and subtropical forests, lakes. The combination of mountains, frequent earthquakes, landslides and the problems which all this poses to construction raises hopes that it will continue to be beautiful.

The western part largely consists of concrete and asphalt, charmless cities, freeways, multilevel bridges. This kind of landscape can be a fascinating, too. Creative use of the camera required, though.

More later.

[Home] [About] [Links] [Archive] [Contact]
Taiwan

map from Taiwan Yearbook
click on the image to see the map in context

Best viewed with Mozilla Firefox