Taiwan,officially the Republic of China (ROC),is a country in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan,also known as Formosa,lies between the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean,with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest,Japan to the northeast,and the Philippines to the south. It has an area of 35,808 square kilometres,with mountain ranges dominating the eastern two-thirds and plains in the western third,where its highly urbanized population is concentrated. The combined territories under ROC control consist of 168 islands in total covering 36,193 square kilometres. The largest metropolitan area is formed by Taipei,New Taipei City,and Keelung. With around 23.9 million inhabitants,Taiwan is among the most densely populated countries.
The Taiwan independence movement is a political movement which advocates the formal declaration of an independent and sovereign Taiwanese state,as opposed to Chinese unification or the status quo in Cross-Strait relations.
The history of the island of Taiwan dates back tens of thousands of years to the earliest known evidence of human habitation. The sudden appearance of a culture based on agriculture around 3000 BC is believed to reflect the arrival of the ancestors of today's Taiwanese indigenous peoples. People from China gradually came into contact with Taiwan by the time of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) and Han Chinese people started settling there by the early 17th century. The island became known by the West when Portuguese explorers discovered in 16th century and named it Formosa. Between 1624 and 1662,the south of the island was colonized by the Dutch headquartered in Zeelandia in present-day Anping,Tainan whilst the Spanish built an outpost in the north,which lasted until 1642 when the Spanish fortress in Keelung was seized by the Dutch. These European settlements were followed by an influx of Hoklo and Hakka immigrants from Fujian and Guangdong.
The Potsdam Declaration,or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender,was a statement that called for the surrender of all Japanese armed forces during World War II. On July 26,1945,United States President Harry S. Truman,United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill,and Chairman of China Chiang Kai-shek issued the document,which outlined the terms of surrender for the Empire of Japan,as agreed upon at the Potsdam Conference. The ultimatum stated that,if Japan did not surrender,it would face "prompt and utter destruction."
The Treaty of Shimonoseki,also known as the Treaty of Maguan in China and Treaty of Bakan in the period before and during World War II in Japan,was an unequal treaty signed at the Shunpanrōhotel,Shimonoseki,Japan on April 17,1895,between the Empire of Japan and Qing China,ending the First Sino-Japanese War.
The political status of Taiwan or the Taiwan issue is an ongoing geopolitical dispute about Taiwan,currently controlled by the Republic of China (ROC),that arose in the mid-twentieth century. Originally based in mainland China before and during World War II,the ROC government retreated to Taiwan in 1949 after it was defeated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the Chinese Civil War and the subsequent establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since then,the effective jurisdiction of the ROC has been limited to Taiwan,Penghu,Kinmen,Matsu,and smaller islands.
Taiwan Province is a de jure administrative division of the Republic of China (ROC). Provinces remain a titular division as a part of the Constitution of the Republic of China,but are no longer considered to have any administrative function practically.
The Penghu or Pescadores Islands are an archipelago of 90 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait,located approximately 50 km (31 mi) west of the main island of Taiwan across the Penghu Channel,covering an area of 141 square kilometers (54 sq mi). The archipelago collectively forms Penghu County of Taiwan and is the smallest county of Taiwan. The largest city is Magong,located on the largest island,which is also named Magong.
The Cairo Declaration was the outcome of the Cairo Conference in Cairo,Egypt,on 27 November 1943. President Franklin Roosevelt of the United States,Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom,and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek of the Republic of China were present. The declaration developed ideas from the 1941 Atlantic Charter,which was issued by the Allies of World War II to set goals for the post-war order. The Cairo Communiqué was broadcast through radio on 1 December 1943.
The Treaty of San Francisco,also called the Treaty of Peace with Japan,re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers on behalf of the United Nations by ending the legal state of war,military occupation and providing for redress for hostile actions up to and including World War II. It was signed by 49 nations on 8 September 1951,in San Francisco,California,at the War Memorial Opera House. Italy and China were not invited,the latter due to disagreements on whether the Republic of China or the People's Republic of China represented the Chinese people. Korea was also not invited due to a similar disagreement on whether South Korea or North Korea represented the Korean people.
The Republic of Formosa was a short-lived republic that existed on the island of Taiwan in 1895 between the formal cession of Taiwan by the Qing dynasty of China to the Empire of Japan in the Treaty of Shimonoseki and its being taken over by Japanese troops. The Republic lasted 151 days;it was proclaimed on 23 May 1895 and extinguished on 21 October,when the Republican capital Tainan was taken over by the Japanese. Though sometimes claimed as the first East Asian republic to have been proclaimed,it was predated by the Lanfang Republic in Borneo,established in 1777,as well as by the Republic of Ezo in Japan,established in 1869.
As a result of the surrender and occupation of Japan at the end of World War II,the islands of Taiwan and Penghu were placed under the governance of the Republic of China (ROC),ruled by the Kuomintang (KMT),on 25 October 1945. Following the February 28 massacre in 1947,martial law was declared in 1949 by the Governor of Taiwan,Chen Cheng,and the ROC Ministry of National Defense. Following the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949,the ROC government retreated from the mainland as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China. The KMT retreated to Taiwan and declared Taipei the temporary capital of the ROC. For many years,the ROC and PRC each continued to claim in the diplomatic arena to be the sole legitimate government of "China". In 1971,the United Nations expelled the ROC and replaced it with the PRC.
The Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty,formally the Treaty of Peace between the Republic of China and Japan and commonly known as the Treaty of Taipei,was a peace treaty between Japan and the Republic of China (ROC) signed in Taipei,Taiwan on 28 April 1952,and took effect on August 5 the same year,marking the formal end of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945).
The island of Taiwan,together with the Penghu Islands,became an annexed territory of the Empire of Japan in 1895,when the Qing dynasty ceded Fujian-Taiwan Province in the Treaty of Shimonoseki after the Japanese victory in the First Sino-Japanese War. The consequent Republic of Formosa resistance movement on Taiwan was defeated by Japan with the capitulation of Tainan. Japan ruled Taiwan for 50 years. Its capital was located in Taihoku (Taipei) led by the Governor-General of Taiwan.
The Japanese invasion of Taiwan,also known as Yiwei War in Chinese,was a conflict between the Empire of Japan and the armed forces of the short-lived Republic of Formosa following the Qing dynasty's cession of Taiwan to Japan in April 1895 at the end of the First Sino-Japanese War. The Japanese sought to take control of their new possession,while the Republican forces fought to resist Japanese occupation. The Japanese landed near Keelung on the northern coast of Taiwan on 29 May 1895,and in a five-month campaign swept southwards to Tainan. Although their advance was slowed by guerrilla activity,the Japanese defeated the Formosan forces whenever they attempted to make a stand. The Japanese victory at Baguashan on 27 August,the largest battle ever fought on Taiwanese soil,doomed the Formosan resistance to an early defeat. The fall of Tainan on 21 October ended organised resistance to Japanese occupation,and inaugurated five decades of Japanese rule in Taiwan.
The complex relationship between Japan and Taiwan dates back to 1592 during the Sengoku period of Japan when the Japanese ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent an envoy named Harada Magoshichirou to the Takasago Koku. The bilateral trading relations continued through the Dutch colonial rule and the Tungning Kingdom of Taiwan in 17th century before the completion of Japan's Sakoku policy. After the Meiji restoration in latter half of the 19th century,Japan resumed its expansionist ambition upon Taiwan and successfully annexed Taiwan from 1895 to 1945,until the surrender of Japan after World War II. Taiwan was also surrendered by Japan to the Republic of China on 25 October 1945.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Taiwan:
The Theory of the Undetermined Status of Taiwan,also called the Theory of the Undetermined Sovereignty of Taiwan,is one of the theories which describe the island of Taiwan's present legal status.
Following their defeat in the Chinese Civil War,on December 7,1949,the remnants of the Nationalist government of the Republic of China (ROC),alongside many refugees,retreated to the island of Taiwan (Formosa). The exodus is sometimes called the Great Retreat in Taiwan. The Nationalist Kuomintang party (KMT),its officers,and approximately 2 million ROC troops took part in the retreat,in addition to many civilians and refugees,fleeing the advance of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCP,who now effectively controlled most of mainland China,spent the subsequent years purging any remnant Nationalist agents in western and southern China,solidifying the rule of the newly established People's Republic of China (PRC).
Republic of China 
