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Administrative divisions includes main island of Taiwan plus smaller islands nearby and off coast of China's Fujian Province; Taiwan is divided into 18 counties (hsien, singular and plural), 5 municipalities (shih, singular and plural), and 2 special municipalities (chuan-shih, singular and plural) 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; names for administrative divisions that follow are taken from the Taiwan Yearbook 2007 published by the Government Information Office in Taipei. counties: Changhua, Chiayi [county], Hsinchu, Hualien, Kaohsiung [county], Kinmen, Lienchiang, Miaoli, Nantou, Penghu, Pingtung, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei [county], Taitung, Taoyuan, Yilan, and Yunlin municipalities: Chiayi [city], Hsinchu, Keelung, Taichung, Tainan special municipalities: Kaohsiung [city], Taipei [city]
Administrative divisions > A note Taiwan uses the Wade-Giles system for romanization
Administrative divisions > Note Taiwan uses a variety of romanization systems; while the Wade-Giles system still dominates, city of Taipei has adopted standard Pinyin romanization for street and place names within its boundaries; other local authorities use different romanization systems; names for administrative divisions that follow are in Wade-Giles system with Pinyin equivalents in parentheses
Ambassadors from the United States > Other senior diplomatic representatives > Ambassador	Stephen Young
Ambassadors from the United States > Other senior diplomatic representatives > Title Director of the Taipei office of the American Institute in Taiwan
Capital city	Taipei
Capital city > Geographic coordinates	25 03 N, 121 30 E
Capital city > Name	Taipei
Capital city > Time difference UTC+8 (13 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Constitution 25 December 1947; amended in 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2005; note: constitution adopted on 25 December 1946; went into effect on 25 December 1947
Corruption	5.9		[34th of 160]
countries' copyright length > Usual term of copyright protection	TRIPS
Diplomatic representation from the US none; unofficial commercial and cultural relations with the people on Taiwan are maintained through an unofficial instrumentality - the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) - which has offices in the US and Taiwan; US office at 1700 N. Moore St., Suite 1700, Arlington, VA 22209-1996, telephone: [1] (703) 525-8474, FAX: [1] (703) 841-1385); Taiwan offices at #7 Lane 134, Hsin Yi Road, Section 3, Taipei, Taiwan, telephone: [886] (2) 2162-2000, FAX: [886] (2) 2162-2251; #2 Chung Cheng 3rd Road, 5th Floor, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, telephone: [886] (7) 238-7744, FAX: [886] (7) 238-5237; and the American Trade Center, Room 3208 International Trade Building, Taipei World Trade Center, 333 Keelung Road Section 1, Taipei, Taiwan 10548, telephone: [886] (2) 2720-1550, FAX: [886] (2) 2757-7162
Diplomatic representation in the US none; unofficial commercial and cultural relations with the people of the US are maintained through an unofficial instrumentality, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), which has its headquarters in Taipei and in the US in Washington, DC; there are also branch offices called Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in 12 other US cities
Elections > Head of state	Direct election
Executive branch > Cabinet Executive Yuan - (ministers appointed by president on recommendation of premier)
Executive branch > Chief of state President MA Ying-jeou (since 20 May 2008); Vice President Vincent SIEW (since 20 May 2008)
Executive branch > Election results MA Ying-jeou elected president on 22 March 2008; percent of vote - MA Ying-jeou 58.45%, Frank HSIEH 41.55%; MA Ying-jeou takes office on 20 May 2008
Executive branch > Elections president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms (eligible for a second term); election last held 22 March 2008 (next to be held in March 2012); premier appointed by the president; vice premiers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the premier
Executive branch > Head of government Premier (President of the Executive Yuan) LIO Chao-shiuan (since 20 May 2008); Vice Premier (Vice President of Executive Yuan) Paul CHIU (CHANG-hsiung) (since 20 May 2008)
Flag description red field with a dark blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white sun with 12 triangular rays
Flag modification	8		[144th of 197]
foreign consulates in Edinburgh, Scotland > Consulate Address	1 Melville Street
Government type	multiparty democracy
International organization participation ADB, APEC, BCIE, ICC, IOC, ITUC, WCL, WFTU, WTO
Judicial branch Judicial Yuan (justices appointed by the president with consent of the Legislative Yuan)
Key ministers > Finance	Lin Chuan
Key ministers > Foreign affairs	Chen Tan-sun
Key ministers > Interior	Su Jia-chyuan
Key ministers > Justice	Shih Mao-lin
Key ministers > Transport & communications	Lin Ling-san
Legal system based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch Legislative Yuan (225 seats - 168 elected by popular vote, 41 elected on basis of proportion of islandwide votes received by participating political parties, eight elected from overseas Chinese constituencies on basis of proportion of island-wide votes received by participating political parties, eight elected by popular vote among aboriginal populations; members serve three-year terms); National Assembly (300 seat nonstanding body; delegates nominated by parties and elected by proportional representation six to nine months after Legislative Yuan calls to amend Constitution, impeach president, or change national borders) - see note
Legislative branch > Election results Legislative Yuan - percent of vote by party - DPP 38%, KMT 35%, PFP 15%, TSU 8%, other parties and independents 4%; seats by party - DPP 89, KMT 79, PFP 34, TSU 12, other parties 7, independents 4; National Assembly - percent of vote by party - DPP 42.5%, KMT 38.9%, TSU 7%, PFP 6%, others 6.6%; seats by party - DPP 127, KMT 117, TSU 21, PFP 18, others 17
Legislative branch > Elections Legislative Yuan - last held 11 December 2004 (next to be held in December 2007); National Assembly - last held 14 May 2005; dissolved in June 2005
Legislative branch > Note as a result of constitutional amendments approved by National Assembly in June 2005, number of seats in legislature will be reduced from 225 to 113 beginning with election in 2007; amendments also eliminated National Assembly thus giving Taiwan a unicameral legislature
National holiday Republic Day (Anniversary of the Chinese Revolution), 10 October
political parties > Multi party	•
Political parties and leaders Democratic Progressive Party or DPP [TSAI Ing-wen]; Kuomintang or KMT (Nationalist Party) [WU Po-hsiung]; Non-Partisan Solidarity Union or NPSU [CHANG Po-ya]; People First Party or PFP [James SOONG]
Political pressure groups and leaders Organization for Taiwan Nation Building; World United Formosans for Independence
Political pressure groups and leaders > Other environmental groups; independence movement; various business groups
Prime minister	Su Tseng-chang
Status democracy
Suffrage 20 years of age; universal
Transnational Issues > Disputes > International involved in complex dispute with China, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei over the Spratly Islands; the 2002 "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea" has eased tensions but falls short of a legally binding "code of conduct" desired by several of the disputants; Paracel Islands are occupied by China, but claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam; in 2003, China and Taiwan became more vocal in rejecting both Japan's claims to the uninhabited islands of the Senkaku-shoto (Diaoyu Tai) and Japan's unilaterally declared exclusive economic zone in the East China Sea where all parties engage in hydrocarbon prospecting

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