Taiwan
Taiwan is an island and approximately as large as Baden-Wuerttemberg. It is situated in the center of the Asia-Pacific region between the mainland China, Japan and the Philippines and is economically and culturally well integrated in the region. With more than 23 million inhabitants, as many as Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg together, the island is densely populated. Most of the Taiwanese are concentrated in or near the capital Taipei.
Basic Information
Taiwan | Germany | |
General | ||
Population | 23,170,321 | 81,471,834 |
Capital | Taipei | Berlin |
Form of government | multiparty-democracy | federal parliamentary republic |
Administration | 5 direct-controlled municipalities (Kaohsiung, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei, New Taipei), 3 Provincial cities (Chiayi, Hsinchu, Keelung) and 14 counties (Chiayi, Changhua, Hsinchu, Hualien, Kinmen, Lienchiang, Miaoli, Nantou, Penghu, Pingtung, Taitung, Taoyuan, Yilan, Yunlin) | 16 federal states (Baden-Wurttemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringia) |
Currency | New Taiwan Dollar TWD | Euro € |
Country code | + 886 | + 49 |
National holiday | October 10th - Republic Day | October 3rd - German Unity Day (Tag der Deutschen Einheit) |
Official language | Mandarin | German |
Geographics | ||
Location | Asia - Pacific | Central Europe |
Area in km² | 35,980 | 357,022 |
Neighboring countries | separated by sea: Japan, People's Republic of China, Philippines | Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland; |
Political system | ||
Constitution | Constitution of the Republic of China (中華民國憲法) from 1947 (with amendments) | Grundgesetz (GG) from 1949 (with amendments) |
Head of state | President Ma Ying-jeou (since 2008) | Federal president Christian Wulff (since 2010) |
Parliament | Legislative Yuan (113 members) | Bundestag (612 members) |
Parties | Parliamentary elections 2008: | Parliamentary elections 2009: |
Head of the government | Prime Minister Wu Den-yih (KMT), since 2010 | Federal Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel (CDU), since 2004 |
Last update: May 2011
