Taiwan

Population: 22,370,461 (July 2001 est.)

Languages: Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects

Background: In 1895, military defeat forced China to cede Taiwan to Japan, however it reverted to Chinese control after World War II. Following the communist victory on the mainland in 1949, 2 million Nationalists fled to Taiwan and established a government...

Currency: new Taiwan dollar (TWD, TWD (TW$33.70 = US$1))

Data from CIA World Factbook. Click on CIA link for more. Click on map or flag for larger images.