Free area of the Republic of China

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. But with the loss of mainland China to the Communists in the Chinese Civil War, the government moved to Taiwan in 1949 under the Kuomintang (KMT).

The Matsu Islands (UK: /ˌmætˈsuː/ or US: /ˌmɑːtˈsuː/) are an archipelago of 36 islands and islets in the East China Sea governed by the Republic of China (Taiwan), situated alongside the southeastern coast of mainland China. The archipelago forms Lienchiang County (/ljɛnˈdʒjɑːŋ/), the smallest county in the ROC-controlled territories by area and population, as well as one of two counties that is a part of the nominal Fuchien Province.

The current Lienchiang County of the ROC was once part of an intact Lienchiang County of Fujian before its effective partition in 1949 following the Chinese Civil War, which resulted in the mainland portion of the county being controlled by the People's Republic of China (PRC), while the offshore islands of Matsu remained under ROC control. The circumstance has made the county the only former geographical unit with the same name that is now divided between the administrations of the ROC and the PRC.

The Constitution of the Republic of China is the fifth and current constitution of the Republic of China (ROC), ratified by the Kuomintang during the Constituent National Assembly session on 25 December 1946, in Nanking, and adopted on 25 December 1947. The constitution, along with its Additional Articles, remains effective in ROC-controlled territories.

Intended for the entire territory of the Republic of China as it was then constituted, it was never extensively nor effectively implemented due to the outbreak of the Chinese Civil War in mainland China at the time of the constitution's promulgation. The newly elected National Assembly soon ratified the Temporary Provisions against the Communist Rebellion on May 10, 1948. The Temporary Provisions symbolises the country's entering into the state of emergency and granted the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China extra-constitutional powers.

The Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (Chinese: 臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), also called Cross-Strait Act (Chinese: 兩岸條例), is the law of the Republic of China (Taiwan or ROC) governing cross-strait relations. In article 1, the act mentions its applicability in the period before national unification.

The main purpose of the act is to protect the security and welfare of the people of Taiwan. The act defines its de facto controlled territory as the Taiwan area, while at the same time affirming sovereignty over the Mainland area in article 2. It also provides a legal framework on the relations between Taiwan and mainland China without recognising the People's Republic of China (PRC) and its governmental organisations. It is enacted in accordance with Article 11 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China promulgated on 1 May 1991.

Martial law in Taiwan (Chinese: 戒嚴時期; pinyin: Jièyán Shíqí; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Kài-giâm sî-kî) refers to the periods in the history of Taiwan after World War II, during control by the Republic of China Armed Forces of the Kuomintang-led regime. The term is specifically used to refer to the over 38-year-long consecutive martial law period between 20 May 1949 and 14 July 1987, which was qualified as "the longest imposition of martial law by a regime anywhere in the world" at that time (having since been surpassed by Brunei).

With the outbreak of Chinese Civil War, the "Declaration of Martial Law in Taiwan Province" (臺灣省戒嚴令; Táiwān Shěng Jièyán Lìng; Tâi-oân-séng Kài-giâm Lēng) was enacted by Chen Cheng, who served as the chairman of Taiwan Provincial Government and commander of Taiwan Garrison Command, on 19 May 1949. This order was effective within the territory of Taiwan Province (including Island of Taiwan and Penghu). The provincial martial law order was then superseded by an amendment of the "Declaration of Nationwide Martial Law", which was enacted by the central government after the amendment received a retroactive consent by the Legislative Yuan on 14 March 1950. Martial law in Taiwan Area (including Island of Taiwan, Penghu) was lifted by a Presidential order promulgated by President Chiang Ching-kuo on 15 July 1987.

The Legislative Yuan (Chinese: 立法院; pinyin: Lìfǎyuàn; lit. 'Law-establishing court') is the unicameral legislature of Republic of China (Taiwan), which ruled Mainland China prior to its retreat in 1949, located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for four-year terms by people of the Taiwan area through a parallel voting system.

Originally located in Nanjing, the Legislative Yuan, along with the National Assembly (electoral college) and the Control Yuan (upper house), formed the tricameral parliament under the original 1947 Constitution. The Legislative Yuan previously had 760 members representing constituencies in all of China (includes provinces, municipalities, Tibet Area, and various professions in Mainland China).

This is a list of the presidents of the Republic of China.

The Republic of China controlled Mainland China before 1949. In the fall of 1949, the ROC government retreated to Taiwan and surrounding islands as a result of the takeover of the mainland by the Chinese Communist Party and founding of the People's Republic of China. Since 1949, the Republic of China, now commonly known as "Taiwan", has only controlled Taiwan and nearby islands. Martial law ended in Taiwan in 1987 and direct elections were introduced in 1996.