Republic of China

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Republic of China 中華民國 - JhongHuá MínGuó
Official flag Official Coat of Arms
National information
National motto:	n/a
National anthem:	Three Principles of the People
About the people
Official languages:	Mandarin Chinese
Population: (# of people)	Total: 22,749,838 (ranked #47) Density: 705 per km²
Geography / Places
Here is the country on a map of the world.
Capital city:	Taipei (Provisional; official ROC capital remains the city of Nanjing (Nanking) in Mainland China)
Largest city:	Taipei
Area	Total: 32,260 (ranked #134) Water: 3336 km² (10.34%)
Politics / Government
Established:	Xinhai Revolution Declared: October 10, 1911 Confirmed: January 1, 1912
Leaders:	President Chen Shui-bian Premier Su Tseng-chang
Economy / Money
Currency: (Name of money)	New Taiwan dollar
International information
Time zone:	+08:00
Telephone dialing code:	886
Internet domain:	.tw

The Republic of China (ROC) (Traditional Chinese: 中華民國, Simplified Chinese: 中华民国) is a country in East Asia that used to be called Nationalist China (but its leaders are not always Nationalists now). It is located southeast of Mainland China. People there vote for their leaders from more than one political party.

Contents 1 Territory 2 History 3 Politics 4 Language

[edit] Territory

The part of ROC that most people know best is the island of Taiwan. Most places on Taiwan Island belong to Taiwan Province, except the two largest cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung. West of Taiwan Island, there are three small groups of islands that also belong to ROC. They are:

• The Pescadores (Penghu, 澎湖列島): They also are part of Taiwan Province.
• Quemoy (Kinmen, 金門): called Lienchiang County, part of Fujian province
• Matsu (馬祖列島): the smallest county, also part of Fujian province
• Diaoyutai Islands:The Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚臺列嶼|Diàoyútái Lièyû) are a group of islands where nobody lives that the Republic of China (Taiwan) takes care of, but claimed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Japan. In Japanese, the islands are known as the Senkaku Islands (尖閣諸島, Senkaku Shotō?).
• Dong-Sha Islands:The Pratas Islands or Dong-Sha Islands (東沙羣島) consists of three islands located in northeastern South China Sea, 340 km southeast of Hong Kong.
• TaipingTaiping (Traditional Chinese: 太平島|Tàipíng), also known as Itu Aba, is the largest of the Nansha Islands (Spratly Islands) in the South China Sea.

The ROC used to govern Mainland China too. Now it is owned by the Communist People's Republic of China see History and Political problems of China.

[edit] History

The Nationalists, led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, got rid of the Qing Dynasty ruled by the Manchus, then they established the ROC and ended Imperial Dynastic Rule in late-1911. The ROC at that time had Mainland China and all of what is now called Mongolia.

After the Japanese were defeated by the Allies during World War II, Taiwan was controlled by the ROC.

In 1949, the Chinese Communists fought a war against the Nationalists and won. They established the People's Republic of China. The Nationalists left mainland China while having the lands they control now.

[edit] Politics

After the ROC created a base on Taiwan, it hoped one day to return to Mainland. But Chinese Communists grew stronger, so the Nationalists never did go back. But the Communists say they replaced the ROC as the only government of China and also calls Taiwan their own.

There are those people in Taiwan who want to never be a part of the People's Republic of China. They believe in Taiwan independence and want to rename the ROC "Taiwan" so Taiwan can no longer be part of China. Some other people (about 10%) want to join with the People's Republic of China. They want Chinese unification. But most Taiwanese (over 60%) want the status quo: things the way they are now with no change.

[edit] Language

Most Taiwanese speak Chinese, and others speak Taiwanese or Hakka . A small percentage of the population is aboriginal, and these people have their own languages, although unfair treatment exerted by the Chinese population have been bad, and many of these people, and their languages, struggle to survive. Some older Taiwanese who went to school before 1947 can speak Japanese. After the Nationalist government fled the Mainland in 1947-49, they brought their language, Mandarin with them, and made Mandarin the only official language. Thereafter everyone in the ROC had to learn Mandarin. In the past, students were prohibited from speaking their mother tongue in school and were expected to speak only Mandarin. Taiwanese, Hakka, and native languages were considered bad until the early 1990s, when education in these languages began to be taught in some school systems. They were promoted, but by this time, many young people could speak only Mandarin. The Cantonese language, spoken in southern China, is not spoken in Taiwan.

Countries and territories of Asia

Afghanistan | Armenia2 | Azerbaijan | Bahrain | Bangladesh | Bhutan | Brunei | Cambodia | China (PRC) | Cyprus2 | East Timor | Gaza Strip | Georgia2 | Hong Kong3 | India | Indonesia | Iran | Iraq | Israel | Japan | Jordan | Kazakhstan | Kuwait | Kyrgyzstan | Laos | Lebanon | Macau3 | Malaysia | Maldives | Mongolia | Myanmar | Nepal | North Korea | Oman | Pakistan | Philippines | Qatar | Russia1 | Saudi Arabia | Singapore | South Korea | Sri Lanka | Syria | Taiwan (ROC) | Tajikistan | Thailand | Turkey1 | Turkmenistan | United Arab Emirates | Uzbekistan | Vietnam | West Bank | Yemen

1. Includes territory in both Europe and Asia. 2. Usually thought of as Asia, but sometimes counted as part of Europe for cultural and historical reasons. 3. Special territories.