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Programs Offered:
WISE Abroad offers
internships and Language
Training,
and Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) in Taipei,
Taiwan.
About Taiwan and Taipei:
Taiwan's culture is a mixture of its distinctive Chinese
heritage and Western influences. While Taiwan has assimilated
western customs and life styles, it remains very much a society
of Chinese heritage. Popular culture, fine arts, and folk
traditions embody traditional and modern, Asian, and Western
themes. Through over
fifty years of hard work and sustainable economic policies,
Taiwan has transformed itself from an underdeveloped,
agricultural island to an economic power house that is a leading
manufacturer of high-technology goods. Taipei, Taiwan's Capital,
houses one
of Taiwan's marvelous attractions, the Palace Museum, which
displays over 650,000 priceless pieces of Chinese bronze, jade,
calligraphy, painting, and porcelain. This collection was taken
from the mainland in 1949 when Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist
Party (KMT) escaped to Taiwan.
 
Location:
Eastern Asia, islands bordering the East
China Sea, Philippine Sea, South China Sea, and Taiwan Strait,
north of the Philippines, off the southeastern coast of China
Population
22,749,838 (July 2004 est.)
Religion
Mixture of Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist
93%, Christian 4.5%, other 2.5% Language
Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min),
Hakka dialects
Government Type
Multiparty democratic regime headed by
popularly-elected president and unicameral legislature
Economy
Taiwan has a dynamic capitalist economy with
gradually decreasing guidance of investment and foreign trade by
government authorities. In keeping with this trend, some large
government-owned banks and industrial firms are being
privatized. Exports have provided the primary impetus for
industrialization. The trade surplus is substantial, and foreign
reserves are the world's third largest. Agriculture contributes
2% to GDP, down from 32% in 1952. While Taiwan is a major
investor throughout Southeast Asia, China has become the largest
destination for investment and has overtaken the US to become
Taiwan's largest export market. Because of its conservative
financial approach and its entrepreneurial strengths, Taiwan
suffered little compared with many of its neighbors from the
Asian financial crisis in 1998. The global economic downturn,
combined with problems in policy coordination by the
administration and bad debts in the banking system, pushed
Taiwan into recession in 2001, the first year of negative growth
ever recorded. Unemployment also reached record levels. Output
recovered moderately in 2002 in the face of continued global
slowdown, fragile consumer confidence, and bad bank loans.
Growing economic ties with China are a dominant long-term
factor. Exports to China - mainly parts and equipment for the
assembly of goods for export to developed countries - drove
Taiwan's economic recovery in 2002. Although the SARS epidemic,
Typhoon Maemi, corporate scandals, and a drop in consumer
spending caused GDP growth to contract to 3.2% in 2003,
increasingly strong export performance kept Taiwan's economy on
track, and the government expects Taiwan's economy to grow 4.1%
in 2004.
NOTE: Please visit the CIA World
FactBook for more country facts at:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
Source: CIA World Factbook |
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