279 lines
22 KiB
Plaintext
279 lines
22 KiB
Plaintext
TAIWAN
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GEOGRAPHY
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Total area: 35,980 km2; land area: 32,260 km2; includes the
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Pescadores, Matsu, and Quemoy
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Comparative area: slightly less than three times the size of
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Connecticut
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Land boundaries: none
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Coastline: 1,448 km
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Maritime claims:
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Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
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Territorial sea: 12 nm
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Disputes: involved in complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with
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China, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam; Paracel Islands occupied by
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China, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; Japanese-administered
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Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai) claimed by China and Taiwan
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Climate: tropical; marine; rainy season during southwest monsoon
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(June to August); cloudiness is persistent and extensive all year
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Terrain: eastern two-thirds mostly rugged mountains; flat to gently
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rolling plains in west
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Natural resources: small deposits of coal, natural gas, limestone,
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marble, and asbestos
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Land use: arable land 24%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures
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5%; forest and woodland 55%; other 15%; irrigated 14%
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Environment: subject to earthquakes and typhoons
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PEOPLE
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Population: 20,658,702 (July 1991), growth rate 1.1% (1991)
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Birth rate: 16 births/1,000 population (1991)
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Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
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Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1991)
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Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (19901
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Life expectancy at birth: 72 years male, 78 years female (1991)
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Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman (1991)
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Nationality: noun--Chinese (sing., pl.); adjective--Chinese
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Ethnic divisions: Taiwanese 84%, mainland Chinese 14%, aborigine 2%
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Religion: mixture of Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist 93%,
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Christian 4.5%, other 2.5%
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Language: Mandarin Chinese (official); Taiwanese and Hakka dialects
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also used
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Literacy: 91.2% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can
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read and write (1990)
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Labor force: 7,900,000; industry and commerce 53%, services 22%,
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agriculture 15.6%, civil administration 7% (1989)
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Organized labor: 1,300,000 or about 18.4% (government controlled)
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(1983)
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@m2Administration
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Long-form name: none
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Type: one-party presidential regime; opposition political parties
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legalized in March, 1989
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Capital: Taipei
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Administrative divisions: the authorities in Taipei claim to be the
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government of all China; in keeping with that claim, the central
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administrative divisions include 2 provinces (sheng, singular and plural)
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and 2 municipalities* (shih, singular and plural)--Fu-chien (some 20
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offshore islands of Fujian Province including Quemoy and Matsu),
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Kao-hsiung*, T'ai-pei*, and Taiwan (the island of Taiwan and the
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Pescadores islands); the more commonly referenced administrative
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divisions are those of Taiwan Province--16 counties (hsien, singular and
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plural), 5 municipalities* (shih, singular and plural), and 2 special
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municipalities** (chuan-shih, singular and plural); Chang-hua, Chia-i,
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Chia-i*, Chi-lung*, Hsin-chu, Hsin-chu*, Hua-lien, I-lan, Kao-hsiung,
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Kao-hsiung**, Miao-li, Nan-t'ou, P'eng-hu, P'ing-tung, T'ai-chung,
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T'ai-chung*, T'ai-nan, T'ai-nan*, T'ai-pei, T'ai-pei**, T'ai-tung,
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T'ao-yuan, and Yun-lin; the provincial capital is at
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Chung-hsing-hsin-ts'un; note--Taiwan uses the Wade-Giles system
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for romanization
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Constitution: 25 December 1947, presently undergoing revision
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Legal system: based on civil law system; accepts compulsory ICJ
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jurisdiction, with reservations
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National holiday: National Day (Anniversary of the Revolution),
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10 October (1911)
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Executive branch: president, vice president, premier of the
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Executive Yuan, vice premier of the Executive Yuan, Executive Yuan
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Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Yuan
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Judicial branch: Judicial Yuan
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Leaders:
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Chief of State--President LI Teng-hui (since 13 January 1988);
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Vice President LI Yuan-zu (since 20 May 1990);
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Head of Government--Premier (President of the Executive Yuan)
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HAO Po-ts'un (since 2 May 1990); Vice Premier (Vice President of the
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Executive Yuan) SHIH Ch'i-yang (since NA July 1988)
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Political parties and leaders:
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Kuomintang (Nationalist Party), LI Teng-hui, chairman;
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Democratic Socialist Party and Young China
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Party controlled by Kuomintang;
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Democratic Progressive Party (DPP);
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Labor Party;
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27 other minor parties
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Suffrage: universal at age 20
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Elections:
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President--last held 21 March 1990 (next to be held March 1996);
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results--President LI Teng-hui was reelected by the National Assembly;
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Vice President--last held 21 March 1990
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(next to be held March 1996);
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results--LI Yuan-zu was elected by the National Assembly;
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Legislative Yuan--last held 2 December 1989 (next to be held
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December 1992);
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results--KMT 65%, DPP 33%, independents 2%;
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seats--(304 total, 102 elected) KMT 78, DPP 21, independents 3;
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National Assembly:--originally elected in November 1947 (last
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supplementary election in December 1986; Assembly will be completely
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reelected in December 1991)
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Member of: expelled from UN General Assembly and Security
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Council on 25 October 1971 and withdrew on same date from other
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charter-designated subsidiary organs; expelled from IMF/World Bank group
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April/May 1980; seeking to join GATT; attempting to retain membership in
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INTELSAT; suspended from IAEA in 1972, but still allows IAEA controls
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over extensive atomic development; AsDB, ICC, ICFTU, IOC
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Diplomatic representation: none; unofficial commercial and cultural
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relations with the people of the US are maintained through a private
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instrumentality, the Coordination Council for North American Affairs
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(CCNAA) with headquarters in Taipei and field offices in Washington and
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10 other US cities with all addresses and telephone numbers NA;
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US--unofficial commercial and cultural relations with the people of
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Taiwan are maintained through a private institution, the American
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Institute in Taiwan (AIT), which has offices in Taipei at #7 Lane 134,
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telephone 886 (2) 709-2000, and in Kao-hsiung at #2 Chung Cheng 3d
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Road, telephone 886 (7) 224-0154 through 0157, and the American Trade
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Center at Room 3207 International Trade Building, Taipei World Trade
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Center, 333 Keelung Road Section 1, Taipei 10548, telephone 886 (2)
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720-1550
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Flag: red with a dark blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner
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bearing a white sun with 12 triangular rays
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ECONOMY
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Overview: Taiwan has a dynamic capitalist economy with considerable
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government guidance of investment and foreign trade and partial
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government ownership of some large banks and industrial firms. Real
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growth in GNP has averaged about 9% a year during the past three decades.
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Export growth has been even faster and has provided the impetus for
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industrialization. Agriculture contributes about 4% to GNP, down from 35%
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in 1952. Taiwan currently ranks as number 13 among major trading
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countries. Traditional labor-intensive industries are steadily being
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replaced with more capital- and technology-intensive industries.
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GNP: $150.8 billion, per capita $7,380; real growth rate
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5.2% (1990)
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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.4% (1990)
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Unemployment rate: 1.7% (1990)
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Budget: revenues $30.3 billion; expenditures $30.1 billion,
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including capital expenditures of $NA (FY91 est.)
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Exports: $67.2 billion (f.o.b., 1990);
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commodities--textiles 15.6%, electrical machinery 18.2%, general
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machinery and equipment 14.8%, basic metals and metal products 7.8%,
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foodstuffs 1.7%, plywood and wood products 1.6% (1989);
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partners--US 36.2%, Japan 13.7% (1989)
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Imports: $54.7 billion (c.i.f., 1990);
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commodities--machinery and equipment 15.3%, crude oil 5%, chemical
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and chemical products 11.1%, basic metals 13.0%, foodstuffs 2.2% (1989);
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partners--Japan 31%, US 23%, FRG 5% (1989)
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External debt: $1.1 billion (December 1990 est.)
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Industrial production: growth rate 4.7% (1990 est.)
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Electricity: 17,000,000 kW capacity; 68,000 million kWh produced,
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3,310 kWh per capita (1990)
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Industries: electronics, textiles, chemicals, clothing,
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food processing, plywood, sugar milling, cement, shipbuilding, petroleum
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Agriculture: accounts for 4% of GNP and 16% of labor force
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(includes part-time farmers); heavily subsidized sector; major
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crops--vegetables, rice, fruit, tea; livestock--hogs, poultry, beef,
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milk, cattle; not self-sufficient in wheat, soybeans, corn; fish catch
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increasing, 1.4 million metric tons (1988)
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Economic aid: US, including Ex-Im (FY46-82), $4.6 billion; Western
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(non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $445
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million
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Currency: New Taiwan dollar (plural--dollars);
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1 New Taiwan dollar (NT$) = 100 cents
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Exchange rates: New Taiwan dollars per US$1--27.2 (January 1991),
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27.243 (November 1990), 26.407 (1989), 28.589 (1988), 31.845 (1987),
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37.838 (1986), 39.849 (1985)
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Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
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COMMUNICATIONS
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Railroads: about 4,600 km total track with 1,075 km common
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carrier lines and 3,525 km industrial lines; common carrier lines
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consist of the 1.067-meter gauge 708 km West Line and the 367 km East
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Line; a 98.25 km South Link Line connection is under construction; common
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carrier lines owned by the government and operated by the Railway
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Administration under Ministry of Communications; industrial lines owned
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and operated by government enterprises
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Highways: 20,041 km total; 17,095 km bituminous or concrete,
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2,371 km crushed stone or gravel, 575 km graded earth
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Pipelines: 615 km refined products, 97 km natural gas
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Ports: Kao-hsiung, Chi-lung (Keelung), Hua-lien, Su-ao, T'ai-tung
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Merchant marine: 226 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,557,167
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GRT/9,153,646 DWT; includes 1 short-sea passenger, 52 cargo, 17
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refrigerated cargo, 75 container, 15 petroleum, oils, and lubricants
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(POL) tanker, 3 combination ore/oil, 1 specialized tanker, 62 bulk
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Airports: 38 total, 37 usable; 33 with permanent-surface runways;
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3 with runways over 3,659 m; 16 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 8 with
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runways 1,220-2,439 m
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Telecommunications: best developed system in Asia outside of Japan;
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7,800,000 telephones; extensive microwave transmission links on east and
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west coasts; stations--91 AM, 23 FM, 15 TV (13 relays); 8,620,000
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radios; 6,386,000 TVs (5,680,000 color, 706,000 monochrome);
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earth stations--1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Indian Ocean
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INTELSAT; submarine cable links to Japan (Okinawa), the Philippines,
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Guam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia, Middle East, and
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Western Europe
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DEFENSE FORCES
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Branches: Army, Navy (including Marines), Air Force, Taiwan
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Garrison Command, Ministry of National Defense
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Manpower availability: males 15-49, 5,874,345; 4,577,294 fit for
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military service; about 187,807 currently reach military age (19)
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annually
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