Climate of Taiwan

Taiwan’s climate is subtropical, except for the very southern part of the island, which is tropical. Summers are long and hot, lasting from April or May to September or October. The winters are short and mild, although snow does fall in the mountains and occasionally at lower elevations in the north. The mean annual high temperature on the island is 70 °F (21 °C); elevation makes a considerable difference in the temperature in the winter, though it is not much of a factor in the summer. The warm Kuroshio (Japan Current), which flows northward to the east of Taiwan, moderates the island’s temperatures.

Taiwan receives abundant precipitation throughout the year, totaling about 102 inches (2,590 mm) annually. In general, rainfall is heavier on the east side of the island and in the mountains. However, its distribution depends on the seasonal monsoon (wet-dry) wind patterns. The winter (October through March) southeastward-blowing winds produce a rainy season in the north, while dry conditions prevail in the southern part of the island; the conditions are reversed in summer. The climate patterns on the islands near Taiwan are similar except that they are not affected by elevation. The climate of the offshore islands is similar to that of coastal southeastern China.

Taiwan does not experience tornadoes, which are common on the mainland. However, it is affected by typhoons (tropical cyclones) from late summer to early fall that are among the strongest in the world. Taiwan’s typhoons can inflict considerable damage to crops and sometimes cause severe flooding.

Plant and animal life

Vegetation covers nearly all of Taiwan’s land surface, a situation created by good rainfall and warm temperatures for most of the year. The island was once covered almost completely by forests, but now only a little more than half of the land surface is forested. Taiwan has a large variety of trees, though nearly three-fourths of the forests are hardwoods. Conifers, which make up fewer than one-fifth of trees, are the most useful in building. Fewer trees grow on the smaller islands Taipei governs, in most cases because persistent winds there inhibit forest growth. That situation is especially true of the P’eng-hu Islands (Pescadores). There also is a great variety of other plant life on Taiwan, owing to different soil types, elevation, and other factors.

As the climate varies with elevation, so too does the natural vegetation. Stands of mixed bamboo, palm, and tropical evergreens grow in the lowlands. Subtropical evergreen forests, including camphor laurel, are found at elevations between about 2,000 to 6,000 feet (600 to 1,800 metres). Broad-leaved evergreen forests are represented by cedars, cypress, junipers, rhododendrons, maples, and Japanese cedars (Cryptomeria japonica) from 6,000 to 8,000 feet (1,800 to 2,400 metres), whereas coniferous forests are found above 7,500 feet (2,300 metres).

Some 45 mammal species are indigenous to Taiwan; most of the others are similar to those found on the mainland. The largest mammal is the Formosan black bear. Foxes, flying foxes, deer, and wild boars are still found in less-inhabited areas of the island. About 550 species and subspecies of birds have been sighted on Taiwan, of which some 85 species or subspecies are indigenous. There are a great number of reptile species, including a large variety of snakes, many of which are poisonous. The smaller islands that are governed by Taipei have fewer varieties of plant and animal life.

Ethnic groups

The population of Taiwan is composed of four ethnic or subethnic groups: aboriginal peoples, two groups of Taiwanese—the Fukien Taiwanese (Fukienese [Fujianese], or Hoklo) and the Hakka—and Chinese who came from mainland China beginning in the mid-1940s.

Aboriginal peoples, who were once the only residents of Taiwan, today constitute only a tiny fraction—roughly 2 percent—of Taiwan’s total population. The government recognizes 16 aboriginal groups or tribes. The Ami is the largest group, comprising about two-fifths of the aboriginal population. The next three largest groups in descending order of numbers—the Paiwan, Atayal, and Bunan—together account for most of the remaining aboriginal population. The two smallest groups, the Thao and Hla’alua, number only several hundred each. Aboriginal peoples are considered to be the original inhabitants of Taiwan, although that is not certain. They were present on the island more than 10,000 years ago. On the basis of language and culture, they were thought to have migrated to Taiwan from Southeast Asia. However, some scholars considered it possible that they migrated from southern China and that some tribes may have had other origins. Studies undertaken in the late 20th and early 21st centuries suggest that they may have been on the island much earlier and, on the basis of DNA evidence, that they may have migrated to other places in the region, among them Polynesia, including what is now New Zealand.

The Hoklo (Fukien Taiwanese) and the Hakka began arriving on the island a thousand years ago, although most migrated during the 14th–17th century. The Hoklo hailed from southern Fukien (Fujian) province. The Hakka came from Kuangtung (Guandong) province and Fukien, though they had no “home province” in China and throughout the centuries suffered from discrimination and thus have sometimes been compared to the Roma or Jews. It is uncertain which of the two peoples migrated to Taiwan first, but the Fukien Taiwanese came in larger numbers and forced the Hakka off their land and into the interior, more dangerous parts of the island, where the land was not as good.

The relationship between these two groups of early-arrival Chinese, or Taiwanese, was not good, and they often engaged in conflict or local wars. They generally regarded each other as enemies. Today the Hakka comprise about 15 percent of the total population. The Fukien Taiwanese are the majority ethnic group in Taiwan, making up about 65 percent of its residents.

After World War II, Chinese from various parts of China went to Taiwan as the Japanese colonial government and Japanese businesspeople and farmers there departed. The newer arrivals became known as mainland Chinese, or recent Chinese immigrants. Many more Chinese went to Taiwan in 1949, after the Chinese communists under Mao Zedong defeated the Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang took his political party, government, military, and anyone able to flee at the time to Taiwan. However, more Chinese arriving during that period hailed from southern coastal China than from other parts of the mainland. Mainland Chinese constitute about 15 percent of Taiwan’s population.