FACT FOCUS
- There are 16 officially recognized
indigenous tribes in Taiwan.
- The nation is home to over 580,000 new
immigrants, most of whom hail from
China and Southeast Asia.
While Taiwan may be described as a predominantly
Han Chinese society, with more than 95 percent of
the population claiming Han ancestry, its heritage is
actually much more complex. The successive waves
of Chinese immigrants that began arriving in the
17th century belonged to a variety of subgroups
with mutually unintelligible languages and different customs. Today in Taiwan, however, distinctions
between them have become blurred as a result of
extensive intermarriage and the universal use of
Mandarin. Taiwan is a multicultural society comprising
diverse Han subgroups, as well as Indigenous Malayo-
Polynesian peoples and immigrants from all over the
world. Recent years, for example, have seen an influx
of new arrivals from China and Southeast Asia, mostly
through marriage. Currently, the number of new
immigrants is over 580,000.
There is growing appreciation in Taiwan for the cultural
legacies of the 16 officially recognized Austronesian-speaking
tribes, which constitute a little more than
2.5 percent of the population. Public and private
organizations are making efforts to revitalize their
languages and cultures, as illustrated by the launch of
Taiwan Indigenous Television and the passage of the
Indigenous Peoples Basic Act.
This convergence and interplay of currents of humanity
in Taiwan have helped transform it into an open-hearted,
forward-looking society that has incorporated
diverse elements of civilization from around the world
in a distinctive and harmonious manner.
Members of Taiwan’s Indigenous tribes
perform an Amis dance in front of the
Presidential Office as part of National
Day celebrations. (Courtesy of Presidential Office)
