Republic of China

State · 1912–present · Capital: Taipei

The Republic of China (ROC) is the official name of Taiwan, a country in East Asia consisting of the island of Taiwan and 168 islands in total, with around 23.9 million inhabitants; Taipei is its capital and largest metropolitan area. After the loss of mainland China to the Communists in the Chinese Civil War, the government of the Republic of China, controlled by Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang, moved to Taiwan in 1949. From the early 1960s Taiwan saw rapid economic growth known as the 'Taiwan Miracle,' and in the late 1980s and early 1990s it transitioned from a one-party state under martial law to a multi-party democracy with directly elected presidents beginning in 1996. The ROC lost its United Nations seat to the People's Republic of China in 1971, and its political and international status remains contentious.