Taiwan
population: Official estimate (31 Jun 2026) · indicators as of 2026-09-05 · 6 metros tracked
🗺️ Geography6 metros
Taiwan metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.
Hover for rank, click to open the metro page. Boundaries derived from Overture Maps administrative divisions; metros without source coverage are omitted.
🏙️ 6 tracked metros
| Metro | State | Tier | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #60 | Taipei★ Capital▲ Largest | Xinbei Shi [New Taipei City] | 9.3M | 41.1 | Major Metro |
| #167 | Taichung | Taizhong Shi [Taichung Shih] | 4.1M | 17.4 | Regional Hub |
| #214 | Kaohsiung | Gaoxiong Shi [Kaohsiung Shih] | 2.8M | 13.4 | Regional Hub |
| #261 | Hsinchu | Xinzhu [Hsinchu] | 1.0M | 10.3 | Regional Hub |
| #481 | Tainan | Tainan Shi | 1.9M | 5.1 | Established Metro |
| #1431 | Jiayi | Jiayi [Chiayi] | 765K | 0.9 | Local Metro |
🗂️ Administrative subdivisions
22 entries listed under Taiwan across 3 types. Click any to see its metros and footprint.
County (Xian)s (13)
Special Municipalities (6)
Provincial Cities (3)
📋 At a glance
- Official languages
- Tsou, Seediq, Kanakanavu, Standard Taiwanese Mandarin, Puyuma +17 more
- Currency
- New Taiwan dollar (TWD)
- Government
- Constitutional republic
- Legislature
- Legislative Yuan
- Constitution
- 1947, null amendment events since
- Demonym
- taiwanese
- Time zones
- Taiwan time, UTC+08:00
- Driving side
- Right
- Calling code
- +886
- Internet TLD
- .tw
- ISO 3166
- TW
- Established
- 1912
- Highest point
- Yushan Main Peak (3,952 m (12,966 ft))
- National anthem
- National Anthem of the Republic of China
Facts via Wikidata.
💹 Economy and development
Ranks are among sovereign countries with data; ★ marks a top-5% finish. Sources: World Bank Open Data and Our World in Data (UNDP, UN WPP, V-Dem, Global Carbon Budget, Ember, Energy Institute; CC BY 4.0). Each card credits its originating body. Renewable share is of electricity generation, not of primary energy. Each figure is the most recent year available.
Alliances & Organisations1 full membership
Regional
Full memberDashed border = Candidate / ApplicantItalic = Dialogue / Observer
🏛️ Leadership History21 leaders · click to expand
marks a leader associated with atrocities or defiance of law, systemic subversion of democratic institutions, or a criminal conviction. Convictions arising from political persecution, and annulled convictions, are excluded. denotes a monarch. These are editorial designations, applied per entry rather than derived automatically.
Republic of China (Taiwan)
Lai Ching-te✦ Current
2024–PresentPresident
Tsai Ing-wen
2016–2024President
Ma Ying-jeou
2008–2016President
⚠️ Chen Shui-bian
2000–2008President
Lee Teng-hui
1988–2000President
Chiang Ching-kuo
1978–1988President
Yen Chia-kan
1975–1978President
⚠️ Chiang Kai-shek
1950–1975President
Li Tsung-jen
1949–1950President
⚠️ Chiang Kai-shek
1948–1949President
| Name | Role | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Lai Ching-te✦ Current | President | 2024–Present |
| Tsai Ing-wen | President | 2016–2024 |
| Ma Ying-jeou | President | 2008–2016 |
| ⚠️ Chen Shui-bian | President | 2000–2008 |
| Lee Teng-hui | President | 1988–2000 |
| Chiang Ching-kuo | President | 1978–1988 |
| Yen Chia-kan | President | 1975–1978 |
| ⚠️ Chiang Kai-shek | President | 1950–1975 |
| Li Tsung-jen | President | 1949–1950 |
| ⚠️ Chiang Kai-shek | President | 1948–1949 |
Republic of China
| Name | Role | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Li Zongren | President | 1949–1950 |
| ⚠️ Chiang Kai-shek | President | 1943–1949 |
| Lin Sen | President | 1931–1943 |
| ⚠️ Chiang Kai-shek | President | 1928–1931 |
| Cao Kun | President | 1923–1924 |
| Li Yuanhong | President | 1922–1923 |
| Xu Shichang | President | 1918–1922 |
| Feng Guozhang | President | 1917–1918 |
| Li Yuanhong | President | 1916–1917 |
| Yuan Shikai | President | 1912–1916 |
| Sun Yat-sen | President | 1912–1912 |
📈 Power over timeThe Power Atlas →
The powerline is the headline share of world power, running from the state’s first ranked year (benchmark estimates with wide error bars before 1816). Latent power is material mass a state could mobilise (population, manpower, heavy industry). Recognised power is what the system actually treats it as (military spending, productive economy, reach, and status such as a Security Council seat or nuclear arsenal). When latent runs above recognised, a power is rising or under-rated; when recognised runs higher, it is punching above its weight or coasting on prestige. Material sub-indices run 1816 through 2016.
⚔️ Conflicts since 19455 interstate wars · click to expand
| Conflict | Years | Against | Combat deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second Taiwan Strait Crisis | 1958 | China | 1,054+ |
| First Taiwan Strait Crisis | 1954–1955 | China | 914–1,054 |
| Two-Liu War | 1932–1933 | Taiwan Forces of Liu Wenhui,Taiwan Forces of Wang Jialie,Taiwan Ma Clique,Taiwan Allied warlords | — |
| Central Plains War | 1929–1930 | Taiwan Forces of the coalition of Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, Wang Jingwei, and Li Zongren,1930–1944,Start,Finish,Name of Conflict,Belligerents,Victorious party (if applicable),Defeated party (if applicable) | — |
| Chiang-Gui War | 1929 | Taiwan Republic of China | — |
Bold = principal belligerent. Source: Wikipedia, “List of interstate wars since 1945.”
👥 Population over time
Our World in Data population (CC BY): UN WPP 2024 from 1950, Gapminder v7 1800-1949, HYDE 3.3 earlier; today's borders. Figures above are as of 2023, the last year that is estimated rather than forecast. The dashed tail to 2026 is a UN WPP medium-variant projection. It is drawn because the line should reach the present, and drawn differently because it has not happened yet: no rank, peak or share on this page uses it. Before 1950 the series is reconstruction rather than contemporaneous statistics, which is worth knowing when a country’s peak sits back there. The current population shown elsewhere on this page comes from the workbook and is unchanged by this. Taiwan is past its peak, which is less unusual than it sounds: the two lines here can point in opposite directions, and for most of Europe and East Asia they now both point down.
👥 To 2100
The UN’s probabilistic projection for Taiwan: the median with its 80% and 95% bands, the UN’s own high, low and zero-migration scenarios beside it. Not this site’s model; the site reads it and says what it implies.
Tap or drag across the chart to read any year: the estimate to 2023, then the UN median, its bands and the scenarios.
What drives it
Births, deaths and net migration on the UN medium path, with fertility, life expectancy and median age, every decade from 1950.
Show all 16 decades
Source: United Nations, DESA, Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO. Estimates to 2023; projections 2024 to 2100, medium variant and probabilistic intervals. The UN revises every two years; this is the WPP 2024 revision.
🏆 National Teams
Taiwan on the international stage. Click a card for the full record.
