, 121 30 E
time difference: UTC+8 (13 hours ahead of Washington, DC during
Standard Time)

Administrative divisions:

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 (chuan-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, Hualien, Kaohsiung
[county], Kinmen, Lienchiang, Miaoli, Nantou, Penghu, Pingtung,
Taichung, Tainan, Taipei [county], Taitung, Taoyuan, Yilan, and
Yunlin
municipalities: Chiayi [city], Hsinchu, Keelung, Taichung, Tainan
special municipalities: Kaohsiung [city], Taipei [city]

National holiday:

Republic Day (Anniversary of the Chinese Revolution), 10 October
(1911)

Constitution:

25 December 1947; amended in 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2005
note: constitution adopted on 25 December 1946; went into effect on
25 December 1947

Legal system:

based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction

Suffrage:

20 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: President MA Ying-jeou (since 20 May 2008); Vice
President Vincent SIEW (since 20 May 2008)
head of government: Premier (President of the Executive Yuan) LIO
Chao-shiuan (since 20 May 2008); Vice Premier (Vice President of
Executive Yuan) Paul CHIU (CHANG-hsiung) (since 20 May 2008)
cabinet: Executive Yuan - (ministers appointed by president on
recommendation of premier)
elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket
by popular vote for four-year terms (eligible for a second term);
election last held 22 March 2008 (next to be held in March 2012);
premier appointed by the president; vice premiers appointed by the
president on the recommendation of the premier
election results: MA Ying-jeou elected president on 22 March 2008;
percent of vote - MA Ying-jeou 58.45%, Frank HSIEH 41.55%; MA
Ying-jeou takes office on 20 May 2008

Legislative branch: