Retrocession DayRetrocession Day is the name given to the annual observance and a former public holiday in Taiwan to commemorate the end of Japanese rule of Taiwan and Penghu, and the claimed retrocession ("return") of Taiwan to the Republic of China on 25 October 1945. However, the idea of "Taiwan retrocession" is in dispute. Taiwan, then more commonly known to the Western world as "Formosa", became a colony of the Empire of Japan when the Qing Empire lost the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894 and ceded the island with the signing of the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki.
TyphoonA typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for almost one-third of the world's annual tropical cyclones. The term hurricane refers to a tropical cyclone in the northeast Pacific and northern Atlantic. For organizational purposes, the northern Pacific Ocean is divided into three regions: the eastern (North America to 140°W), central (140°W to 180°), and western (180° to 100°E).
China and the United NationsChina is one of the charter members of the United Nations and is one of five permanent members of its Security Council. One of the victorious Allies of World War II (the Chinese theatre of which was the Second Sino-Japanese War), the Republic of China (ROC) joined the UN upon its founding in 1945. The subsequent resumption of the Chinese Civil War led to the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. Nearly all of Mainland China was soon under its control and the ROC government retreated to the island of Taiwan.
Demographics of TaiwanThe population of Taiwan is approximately 23.35 million as of April 2023. Immigration of Han Chinese to the Penghu islands started as early as the 13th century. The main island was inhabited by a diversity of Taiwanese indigenous peoples speaking Austronesian languages until Han settlement began in the early 17th century, around the time of the Ming–Qing transition, when workers were imported from Fujian to the colony of Dutch Formosa in the southwest of Taiwan.
WaishengrenWaishengren (), sometimes called mainlanders, are a group of migrants who arrived in Taiwan from mainland China between the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II in 1945, and Kuomintang retreat and the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. They came from various regions of mainland China and spanned multiple social classes. The term is often seen in contrast with benshengren (), which refers to Hoklo and Hakka people in Taiwan who arrived prior to 1945 who had lived under Japanese rule.
Taiwan MiracleThe Taiwan Miracle () or Taiwan Economic Miracle refers to the rapid economic development to a developed, high-income country during the latter half of the twentieth century. As it developed alongside South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong, Taiwan became known as one of the "Four Asian Tigers". Taiwan was the first developing country to adopt an export-oriented trade strategy after World War II.
Wuchang UprisingThe Wuchang Uprising was an armed rebellion against the ruling Qing dynasty that took place in Wuchang (now Wuchang District of Wuhan), Hubei, China on 10 October 1911, beginning the Xinhai Revolution that successfully overthrew China's last imperial dynasty. It was led by elements of the New Army, influenced by revolutionary ideas from Tongmenghui. The uprising and the eventual revolution directly led to the downfall of the Qing dynasty with almost three centuries of imperial rule, and the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC), which commemorates the anniversary of the uprising's starting date of 10 October as the National Day of the Republic of China.
Bunun peopleThe Bunun (), also historically known as the Vonum, are a Taiwanese indigenous people. They speak the Bunun language. Unlike other aboriginal peoples in Taiwan, the Bunun are widely dispersed across the island's central mountain ranges. In the year 2000, the Bunun numbered 41,038. This was approximately 8% of Taiwan's total indigenous population, making them the fourth-largest indigenous group. They have five distinct communities: the Takbunuaz, the Takituduh, the Takibaka, the Takivatan, and the Isbukun.
Senkaku IslandsThe Senkaku Islands are a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, administered by Japan. They are located northeast of Taiwan, east of China, west of Okinawa Island, and north of the southwestern end of the Ryukyu Islands. They are also known as the Pinnacle Islands or the Diaoyu Islands in China and as the Tiaoyutai Islands in Taiwan. The islands are the focus of a territorial dispute between Japan and China and between Japan and Taiwan.
Atayal peopleThe Atayal (), also known as the Tayal and the Tayan, are a Taiwanese indigenous people. The Atayal people number around 90,000, approximately 15.9% of Taiwan's total indigenous population, making them the third-largest indigenous group. The preferred endonym is "Tayal", although the Taiwanese government officially recognizes them as "Atayal". The Atayal word for Atayal is tayal, meaning "human" or "man". The first record of Atayal inhabitance is found near the upper reaches of the Zhuoshui River.
