History

• People immigrated to Taiwan from throughout Asia and Austronesia.Sea maps series: South China Sea image by Stasys Eidiejus from Fotolia.com
  
  Taiwan has been continuously inhabited for 12 to 15 thousand years. The island's original indigenous people are of Austronesian descent. About 500 CE, significant immigration from mainland China began. The Dutch arrived in 1624. The Spanish subsequently appeared, as did a more organized Chinese force, and the country found itself transitioning to modern social and economic standards, as well as facing the zealotry of Christian missionaries. Japanese occupation forces controlled the country well into the 20th century. Until 2000, Taiwan was run by Chinese exiles the Kuomintang. In that year, the Democratic Progressive Party won the presidency.
  
  

Indigenous Peoples

• Taiwan's indigenous population is of Austronesian descent.Strand image by shubox from Fotolia.com
  
  Though the current population of Taiwan is only 2 percent indigenous, or aboriginal, these people were the island's sole inhabitants for more than 10,000 years. The Digital Museum of Taiwanese Indigenous Peoples lists 14 ethnic groups, all of which have distinct ways of life. With a population of 160,000, the Amis is the most populous indigenous group. The Amis live in centralized villages and follow a matrilineal kinship model. Other indigenous groups are the Atayal, Bunum and Puyuma peoples.
  
  

Peoples of Chinese Descent

• The majority of Taiwanese people are of Chinese descent.chinese map image by yang xiaofeng from Fotolia.com
  
  The Han Chinese, who began arriving in Taiwan from China in the 17th century, comprise varying percentages of the Taiwanese population, depending on the source. The descendants of the Han Chinese are considered ethnically Taiwanese. Recent Chinese immigrants and their progeny are ethnically Chinese, while the pre-Han inhabitants of the island are indigenous or aboriginal. The Taiwanese government puts the Han population at 95 percent of the Taiwanese populace. The CIA World Fact Book states that Taiwanese peoples, including the Holo and Hakka ethnicities, are 84 percent of the population, while the Chinese are 14 percent. This all depends on where the line is drawn between Taiwanese and Chinese. The Holo and Hakka ethnicities immigrated to Taiwan between Han culture has since come to dominate Taiwan.
  
  

Language

• Though Mandarin Chinese is Taiwan's official language, other languages are spoken.chinese concept image by Jane September from Fotolia.com
  
  Mandarin Chinese is Taiwan's official language, and though the majority of Taiwanese people know Mandarin, many other languages are spoken within the country. Indigenous groups preserve their native languages, which are of the Austronesian linguistic family. Holo and Haka are Mainland Chinese languages spoken in Taiwan that were carried to the island via migration. As a result of the Japanese occupation and education edicts, a handful of older Taiwanese people speak Japanese, in addition to other languages.
  
  

Religion

• Buddhism is a dominant religion in Taiwan.buddha image by Lytse from Fotolia.com
  
  The CIA World Fact Book estimates that 93 percent of Taiwanese people are Buddhist and Taoist, 4. percent are Christian, and 2.5 percent practice other religions. Many of the country's Christians are indigenous people who were converted either by European or Chinese missions. Chinese settlers brought Taoism and Buddhism to the island. The Rukai, an indigenous group, traditionally divide the supernatural into five categories: benevolent spirits, anthropomorphic gods (gods in human form), evil spirits, spirits of the accidentally deceased, and ancestral spirits. The Amis base their traditional religion on spirits known as Kawa, though in modern times are all but converted to Christianity.