Taiwan Human Geography

Although located on the edge of overpopulated lands, only in modern times the island, already known to the Chinese since the century. I-II d. C., has undergone the influence of its neighbors, especially since the century. XVII with the settlement of numerous colonies of farmers and traders who, starting above all from the Chinese province of Fujian, settled on the western coasts of Taiwan, gradually marginalizing the indigenous populations, of Malaysian stock, now estimated at around 2% of the residents. According to localtimezone, the majority of the population is therefore Taiwanese (84%), bearing in mind that this definition applies to the descendants of the first settlers from China and that they must be distinguished from the Chinese (14%) of more recent immigration. The conquest of the Japanese, who held the island from 1895 to 1945, had little demographic importance, but the immigration of Chinese refugees, soldiers, officials, large bourgeois who abandoned the motherland as a result the defeat of Chiang Kai-shek’s nationalist government. This the last immigration had its peaks between 1949 and 1951 and naturally led to a considerable increase in the population, which went from 6 million residents in 1946 to ca. 9 million residents of 1955 and exceeds 22 million, according to the 2000 census. A certain slowdown in the rate of population growth is due in particular to the birth control and family planning measures launched in the 1960s. With the very high density of 634 residents / km², Taiwan ranks among the most densely populated countries in Asia; the distribution is however very unequal and is largely in relation to the environmental conditions and the various developments in urbanism, so that in the fertile western plain there are very high densities, over 600 residents / km², with peaks in some municipalities of over 6000 residents. / km², especially in the central and eastern regions there are values ​​even lower than 25 residents / km². Most of the surviving Aborigines are confined to these areas and are organized in small communities; others are found in large cities (T’aipei and Kaohsiung). Given the high demographic load on a relatively small territory, the rural population preferably lives in large villages and the scattered houses themselves are never very far from each other. Among the forms of settlement, however, the urban type predominates (80% of the population lives in the city), already strengthened by the Japanese and which underwent a significant increase in the second half of the twentieth century. with the industrial development of the country; the cities are historically marked by a typically Chinese urbanism, with a succession of low buildings, from the facades full of signs, with their many shops of merchants and small artisans, flanked by modern buildings and skyscrapers.

There are numerous cities with over 100,000 residents. and three exceed one million citizens; among these stands T’aipei, the capital, located in the north of the island, which more than any other has suffered from the recent expansion. Located on the Tamsui River, it was enhanced by the Japanese for its river port; at the beginning of the 21st century, in addition to the activities related to its political, administrative and cultural pre-eminence (it is home to various universities, among other things), T’aipei bases its economy on multiple chemical and food industries, etc. Not far from T’aipei, on the northeastern coast it is flanked by modern buildings and skyscrapers. There are numerous cities with over 100,000 residents. and three exceed one million citizens; among these stands T’aipei, the capital, located in the north of the island, which more than any other has suffered from the recent expansion. Located on the Tamsui River, it was enhanced by the Japanese for its river port; at the beginning of the 21st century, in addition to the activities related to its political, administrative and cultural pre-eminence (it is home to various universities, among other things), T’aipei bases its economy on multiple chemical and food industries, etc. Not far from T’aipei, on the northeastern coast it is flanked by modern buildings and skyscrapers. There are numerous cities with over 100,000 residents. and three exceed one million citizens; among these stands T’aipei, the capital, located in the north of the island, which more than any other has suffered from the recent expansion. Located on the Tamsui River, it was enhanced by the Japanese for its river port; at the beginning of the 21st century, in addition to the activities related to its political, administrative and cultural pre-eminence (it is home to various universities, among other things), T’aipei bases its economy on multiple chemical and food industries, etc. Not far from T’aipei, on the northeastern coast it is which more than any other has suffered from the recent expansion. Located on the Tamsui River, it was enhanced by the Japanese for its river port; at the beginning of the 21st century, in addition to the activities related to its political, administrative and cultural pre-eminence (it is home to various universities, among other things), T’aipei bases its economy on multiple chemical and food industries, etc. Not far from T’aipei, on the northeastern coast it is which more than any other has suffered from the recent expansion.

Located on the Tamsui River, it was enhanced by the Japanese for its river port; at the beginning of the 21st century, in addition to the activities related to its political, administrative and cultural pre-eminence (it is home to various universities, among other things), T’aipei bases its economy on multiple chemical and food industries, etc. Not far from T’aipei, on the northeastern coast it is Keelung (Chilung), the largest port on the island, the outlet of an important coal and mining region in general; the industrial apparatus is conspicuous, which includes shipbuilding complexes, cement factories, chemical and metallurgical plants, etc. AS of T’aipei, aligned between the sea and the fertile western plain and well connected by rail to the capital, there is a whole series of medium and large cities, activated by conspicuous industries, including Hsinchu, in the hinterland of the capital, and more to the S another metropolis of Taiwan, T’aichung with the nearby Changhua and the more isolated Chiai. A third major urban concentration occurs in the southwestern plain, where Tainan, the ancient capital, today a large agricultural and commercial center, and P’ingtung, home to large sugar factories, gravitate to Kaohsiung, the second largest city on the island by number of residents, with mighty refineries and plants for the petrochemical and steel industry, also served by a good port and an international airport.