includes main island of Taiwan plus smaller islands nearby and off coast of China's Fujian Province; Taiwan is divided into 18 counties (hsien, singular and plural), 5 municipalities (shih, singular and plural), and 2 special municipalities (chih-hsia-shih, singular and plural)
note: Taiwan uses a variety of romanization systems; while a modified Wade-Giles system still dominates, the city of Taipei has adopted a Pinyin romanization for street and place names within its boundaries; other local authorities use different romanization systems; names for administrative divisions that follow are taken from the Taiwan Yearbook 2007 published by the Government Information Office in Taipei.
counties: Changhua, Chiayi (county), Hsinchu (county), Hualien,
Kaohsiung (county), Kinmen, Lienchiang, Miaoli, Nantou, Penghu,
Pingtung, Taichung (county), Tainan (county), Taipei (county),
Taitung, Taoyuan, Yilan, and Yunlin
municipalities: Chiayi (city), Hsinchu (city), Keelung, Taichung (city), Tainan (city)
special municipalities: Kaohsiung (city), Taipei (city)
National holiday:
Republic Day (Anniversary of the Chinese Revolution), 10 October (1911)
Constitution:
adopted on 25 December 1946; promulgated on 1 January 1947; effective 25 December 1947; amended numerous times
Legal system: