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Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa, lies between the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast, and the Philippines to the south. It has an area of 35,808 square kilometres (13,826 square miles), with mountain ranges dominating the eastern two-thirds and plains in the western third, where its highly urbanized population is concentrated. The combined territories under ROC control consist of 168 islands in total covering 36,193 square kilometres (13,974 square miles). The largest metropolitan area is formed by Taipei (the capital), New Taipei City, and Keelung. With around 23.9 million inhabitants, Taiwan is among the most densely populated countries.

Taiwan has been settled for at least 25,000 years. Ancestors of Taiwanese indigenous peoples settled the island around 6,000 years ago. In the 17th century, large-scale Han Chinese immigration began under Dutch colonial rule and continued under the Kingdom of Tungning, the first predominantly Han Chinese state in Taiwanese history. The island was annexed in 1683 by the Qing dynasty and ceded to the Empire of Japan in 1895. The Republic of China, which had overthrown the Qing in 1912 under the leadership of Sun Yat-sen, assumed control following the surrender of Japan in World War II. With the loss of mainland China to the Communists in the Chinese Civil War, the government of the Republic of China moved to Taiwan in 1949 under the Kuomintang (KMT).

From the early 1960s, Taiwan saw rapid economic growth and industrialization known as the "Taiwan Miracle". In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the ROC transitioned from a one-party state under martial law to a multi-party democracy, with democratically elected presidents beginning in 1996. Taiwan's export-oriented economy is the 21st-largest in the world by nominal GDP and the 20th-largest by PPP measures, with a focus on steel, machinery, electronics, and chemicals manufacturing. Taiwan is a developed country. It is ranked highly in terms of civil liberties, healthcare, and human development.

The political and international status of Taiwan is contentious. Despite being a founding member, the ROC no longer represents China as a member of the United Nations after UN members voted in 1971 to recognize the PRC instead. The ROC maintained its claim to be the sole legitimate representative of China and its territory until 1991, when it ceased to regard the Chinese Communist Party as a rebellious group and acknowledged its control over mainland China. Taiwan is claimed by the PRC, which refuses to establish diplomatic relations with countries that recognise the ROC. Taiwan maintains official diplomatic relations with 11 out of 193 UN member states and the Holy See. Many others maintain unofficial diplomatic ties through representative offices and institutions that function as de facto embassies and consulates. International organizations in which the PRC participates either refuse to grant membership to Taiwan or allow it to participate on a non-state basis. Domestically, the major political contention is between the Pan-Blue Coalition, which favors eventual Chinese unification under the ROC and promoting a pan-Chinese identity, contrasted with the Pan-Green Coalition, which favors eventual Taiwan independence and promoting a Taiwanese identity; in the 21st century, both sides have moderated their positions to broaden their appeal. (Full article...)

Kaohsiung City (Chinese: 高雄市; Hanyu Pinyin: Gāoxióng; Tongyong Pinyin: Gaosyóng; Wade–Giles: Kao-hsiung; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ko-hiông; old name: Takao, Takow, Takau) is a city located in southern Taiwan. Kaohsiung City is also the most dense and the second largest city in Taiwan, with a population around 1.51 million. As one of two central municipalities under the administration of the Republic of China (Taiwan), Kaohsiung City is a second-level political division, with the same status as a province. The city is further divided into eleven districts, each with a district office that handles day-to-day businesses between the Kaohsiung City government and its citizens.

Kaohsiung is a major center for manufacturing, refining, and transportation. Kaohsiung is the major port through which most of Taiwan's oil is imported, which accounts for the large amount of heavy industry. It is an export processing zone—producing aluminium, wood and paper products, fertilizers, cement, metals, machinery, and ships. With its harbor one of the four largest in the world, Kaohsiung is the center of Taiwan's shipbuilding industry, as well as home to a large Republic of China Navy base. (Full article...)

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Ang Lee (Chinese: 李安; pinyin: Lǐ Ān) (born October 23, 1954) is an Academy Award-winning Taiwanese film director. Lee won the 2006 Best Director Oscar for Brokeback Mountain (2005).

Many of Ang Lee films have focused on the interactions between modernity and tradition. Some of his films have also had a light-hearted comic tone which marks a break from the tragic historical realism which characterized Taiwanese filmmaking after the end of the martial law period in 1987. Lee's films also tend to draw on deep secrets and internal torment that come to the surface, such as in the gay-themed films The Wedding Banquet (1993) and Brokeback Mountain (2005), the martial arts epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director, and the comic book adaptation Hulk (2003).

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Here are some tasks awaiting attention: Cleanup : Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards, Politics of the Republic of China Expand : Taiwanese literature, Lingya District, List of Taiwanese singers, Kaohsiung (on its geography/geology section) NPOV : Million Voices Against Corruption, President Chen Must Go

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