The Republic of Taiwan, known by various names in the Aboriginal languages and Chinese languages, is a multicultural country in East Asia. Most of its landmass is the island of Taiwan, but it owns some much smaller islands, as well. Taiwan has a mix of Aboriginal Taiwanese and Chinese. The relatively flat western area of Taiwan is split into counties, while the mountainous east is split into semi-autonomous tribal areas. (It should be noted that most Aboriginals live in cities outside of tribal areas.) Recently, Taiwan has been considering joining the Chinese Union. However, as the majority of Taiwanese aren't Chinese and even some ethnic Chinese disapprove of joining, only a minority currently supports the union. (Some Aboriginals prefer a union with Luzon, instead.) However, Taiwan is still integrated into the Chinese Union in many ways, and is often called the "Plus One" in the "Chinese Union Plus One" (CUPO) semi-union. A more popular future for Taiwan (rather than full integration into the Chinese Union) is to jointly create the "Chinese Union and Taiwan" confederation.
On June 27th, 2007, Taiwan became the third nation (after Sundarapore and India to institute a meat ban, which impacts the whole nation except for some specific instances in some aboriginal groups that rely on hunting and gathering.
Demographics[]
Vegetarianism[]
Taiwan has one of the highest percentages of vegetarians in the world. This is mainly due to Buddhism, Hokkien and Hakka vegetarian practices, and a respect for nature that many of the Aboriginals have long held. Even the relatively few unsettled Aboriginals tend to just be "gatherers" instead of "hunter-gatherers". On June 27th, 2007, Taiwan completely initiated its meat ban.
- 97% Vegetarian (100% inside Taiwan)
- 03% Non-Vegetarian (0% inside Taiwan)
Ethnic Groups[]
- 52% Aboriginal Taiwanese
- 10% Atayal Aboriginals
- 08% Amis Aboriginals
- 06% Paiwan Aboriginals
- 05% Bunun Aboriginals
- 29% other Aboriginals
- 47% Han Chinese
- 21% Hokkien Chinese
- 14% Hakka Chinese
- 10% Mandarin Chinese
- 02% other Chinese
- 01% others (chiefly Chinese minority groups and Japanese)
Religion[]
- 37% Buddhist*
- 35% Freethinker
- 21% atheist
- 14% agnostic
- 12% Daoist*
- 10% Aboriginal religions (most influenced by Buddhism)
- 04% Jain
- 02% other (chiefly Hindu and Christian)
- (*Buddhism and Daoism are practiced together by many people. Also, even atheists and agnostics sometimes take part in some religious rituals, even if they aren't religious.)