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Taiwan Government

What is the capital of Taiwan?

Country Name Taiwan
Full Country Name none
Local - Long none
Local - Short Taiwan
Former Name Formosa
Etymology- history of name "Tayowan" was the name of the coastal sandbank where the Dutch erected their colonial headquarters on the island in the 17th century; the former name "Formosa" means "beautiful" in Portuguese
Government Type semi-presidential republic
Capital Name Taipei
Capital - geographic coordinate 25 02 N, 121 31 E
Capital Time Difference UTC+8 (13 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
National Holiday Republic Day (Anniversary of the Chinese Revolution), 10 October (1911)
Constitution previous 1912, 1931; latest adopted 25 December 1946, promulgated 1 January 1947, effective 25 December 1947; revised several times, last in 2005

Taiwan Capital City Map

Source: Google Maps

Taiwan Government and Politics

Who is the president of Taiwan?

Executive Branch: chief of state: President TSAI Ing-wen (since 20 May 2016); Vice President LAI Ching-te (since 20 May 2020)

head of government: Premier CHEN Chien-jen (President of the Executive Yuan) (since 25 January 2023); Vice Premier CHENG Wen-tsan (Vice President of the Executive Yuan) (since 25 January 2023)

cabinet: Executive Yuan - ministers appointed by president on recommendation of premier

elections/appointments: president and vice president directly elected on the same ballot by simple majority popular vote for a 4-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 11 January 2020 (next to be held on 13 January 2024); premier appointed by the president; vice premiers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the premier

election results: 2020: TSAI Ing-wen elected president; percent of vote - TSAI Ing-wen (DPP) 57.1%, HAN Kuo-yu (KMT) 38.6%, James SOONG (PFP) 4.2%; note - TSAI is the first woman elected president of Taiwan

2016: TSAI Ing-wen elected president; percent of vote - TSAI Ing-wen (DPP) 56.1%, Eric CHU (KMT) 31%, James SOONG (PFP) 12.8%
Citizenship Criteria: citizenship by birth: no

citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Taiwan

dual citizenship recognized: yes, except that citizens of Taiwan are not recognized as dual citizens of the People's Republic of China

residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years
Legal System: civil law system
Suffrage: 20 years of age; universal
Legislative Branch: description: unicameral Legislative Yuan (113 seats; 73 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote, 34 directly elected in a single island-wide constituency by proportional representation vote, and 6 directly elected in multi-seat aboriginal constituencies by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)

elections: last held on 11 January 2020 (next to be held on 11 January 2024)

election results: percent of vote by party - Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) 34.0%, Kuomintang (KMT) 33.4%, Taiwan People's Party (TPP) 11.2%; seats by party - DPP 61, KMT 38, TPP 5
Judicial Branch: highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of the court president, vice president, and approximately 100 judges organized into 8 civil and 12 criminal divisions, each with a division chief justice and 4 associate justices); Constitutional Court (consists of the court president, vice president, and 13 justices)

judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court justices appointed by the president; Constitutional Court justices appointed by the president with approval of the Legislative Yuan; Supreme Court justices appointed for life; Constitutional Court justices appointed for 8-year terms with half the membership renewed every 4 years

subordinate courts: high courts; district courts; hierarchy of administrative courts
Regions or States: includes main island of Taiwan plus smaller islands nearby and off coast of China's Fujian Province; Taiwan is divided into 13 counties (xian, singular and plural), 3 cities (shi, singular and plural), and 6 special municipalities directly under the jurisdiction of the Executive Yuan

counties: Changhua, Chiayi, Hsinchu, Hualien, Kinmen, Lienchiang, Miaoli, Nantou, Penghu, Pingtung, Taitung, Yilan, Yunlin

cities: Chiayi, Hsinchu, Keelung

special municipalities: Kaohsiung (city), New Taipei (city), Taichung (city), Tainan (city), Taipei (city), Taoyuan (city)

note: Taiwan uses a variety of romanization systems; while a modified Wade-Giles system still dominates, the city of Taipei has adopted a Pinyin romanization for street and place names within its boundaries; other local authorities use different romanization systems
Political Parties and Leaders: Democratic Progressive Party or DPP [LAI Ching-te]

Kuomintang or KMT (Nationalist Party) [Eric CHU Chi-luan]

New Power Party or NPP [CHEN Jiau-hua]

People First Party or PFP [James SOONG]

Taiwan People's Party or TPP [KO Wen-je]

Taiwan Statebuilding Party or TSP [CHEN Yi-chi]

note: the DPP and the KMT are the two major political parties; there are hundreds of registered minor parties
International Law Organization Participation: has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt
International Organization Participation: ADB (Taipei, China), APEC (Chinese Taipei), BCIE, ICC (national committees), IOC, ITUC (NGOs), SICA (observer), WTO (Taipei, China)
Diplomatic Representation in the US: chief of mission: none; commercial and cultural relations with its citizens in the US are maintained through an unofficial instrumentality, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO), a private nonprofit corporation that performs citizen and consular services similar to those at diplomatic posts, represented by HSIAO Bi-khim (since 20 July 2020); office: 4201 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016; telephone: [1] (202) 895-1800

Taipei Economic and Cultural Offices (branch offices): Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver (CO), Houston, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Seattle
Diplomatic Representation from US: chief of mission: the US does not have an embassy in Taiwan; commercial and cultural relations with the people of Taiwan are maintained through an unofficial instrumentality, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), a private nonprofit corporation that performs citizen and consular services similar to those at diplomatic posts; it is managed by Director Sandra OUDKIRK (since July 2021)

mailing address: 4170 AIT Taipei Place, Washington DC 20521-4170

telephone: [886] 2-2162-2000

FAX: [886] 2-2162-2251

email address and website:

TaipeiACS@state.gov

https://www.ait.org.tw/

branch office(s): American Institute in Taiwan

No. 100, Jinhu Road,

Neihu District 11461, Taipei City

other offices: Kaohsiung (Branch Office)
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