Taiwanese People

Self Identification

In a 2002 poll by the Democratic Progressive Party, over 50% of the respondents considered themselves "Taiwanese" only, up from less than 20% in 1991. In a poll released in December 2006 by the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), 57% of people on Taiwan consider themselves to be Taiwanese. 23% Chinese and 20% both Chinese and Taiwanese (China Post, 2006). In June 2008, according to a poll from a Taiwanese mainstream media TVBS, when the respondents are not told that a Taiwanese can also be a Chinese, 68% of the respondents identify themselves as "Taiwanese" while 18% would call themselves "Chinese".

The sense of a collective Taiwanese identity has continued to increase despite fluctuations in support for pro-independence political parties. This has been cited as evidence that the concept of Taiwanese identity is not the product of local political manipulation, but an actual phenomenon of ethnic and sociopolitical identities.

Taipei 101

Bubble Tea

Excerpts from Wikipedia.org

Taiwanese people (臺灣人 also 台灣人) may refer to individuals who either claim or are imputed cultural identity focused on the island of Taiwan and/or Taiwan Area which have been governed by the Republic of China since 1945. At least three competing (occasionally overlapping) paradigms are used to identify someone as a Taiwanese person: a nationalist criteria, self-identification (including the concept of "New Taiwanese") criteria, and socio-cultural criteria. These standards are fluid, in keeping with an evolving social and political milieu. The complexity resulting from competing and evolving standards is compounded by a larger dispute regarding Taiwan's identity, the political status of Taiwan, and its potential de jure Taiwan independence or political integration with the People's Republic of China.

According to official governmental statistics, 98% of Taiwan's population is made up of Han Chinese, while 2% are Taiwanese aborigines. The composite category of "Taiwanese people" is often reputed by many Taiwanese to include a significant population of at least four constituent ethnic groups: the Hoklo (70%), the Hakka (15%), Mainlander (13%), and Taiwanese aborigines (2%) . Although the concept of the "four great ethnic groups" was a deliberate attempt by the Hoklo dominated Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to defuse Taiwanese-Mainlander tensions, this conception has become a dominant frame of reference for dealing with Taiwanese ethnic and national issues. Despite the wide use of the "four great ethnic groups" in public discourse as essentialized identities, the relationships between the peoples of Taiwan have been in a constant state of convergence and negotiation for centuries. The continuing process of cross-ethnic mixing with ethnicities from within and outside Taiwan, combined with the disappearance of ethnic barriers due to a shared socio-political experience, has led to the emergence of "Taiwanese" as a larger ethnic group.

Definitions of Taiwanese: Although group identity is often claimed on the basis of race and culture, for Taiwanese specifically, it is held together by a common socio-political experience. Any connection Taiwanese may have with one another is purely subjective, based on the shared belief in a common destiny stemming from the very real parameters of daily life, including government, economy, education, popular culture and mass media. Political leaders often attempt to manipulate and fix identities for political gain, by assigning an essentialist identity to a community.

Identities are not fixed, but fluid and change with time and memory or in response to a changing environment rather than stemming from a primordial or authentic source. New identities are continually emerging based on individuals’ perceptions of commonalities and differences as the patterns of local communities, kinship and language pattern usage change with economic, cultural and demographic change, and on the national experience.

The word "Taiwanese people" has multiple meanings and can refer to one of the following:

the various ethnic groups living or born in Taiwan, its minor islands, Penghu islands today etc.
All citizens of the Republic of China. Those who hold the citizenship (nationality) of the Republic of China, not necessarily those based in Taiwan or Penghu, but also include those living in Kinmen, Matsu Islands and other ruling territory of the Republic of China
Ancestors who before the Japanese rule of Taiwan had moved to the island of Taiwan, its minor islands, Penghu islands etc. This includes the ancient Yue people, Han-Chinese, Taiwanese aborigines as well as Dutch people. In addition, this includes Japanese migrants from Japan to Taiwan during the Japanese rule of Taiwan and their descendents today.
People living outside Taiwan before or after 1949, but are of Taiwanese ancestry or descent, who may live in other territories such as People's Republic of China and do not necessarily hold the nationality of the Republic of China. They may not necessarily be born or live in Taiwan. Outside Taiwan, they are typically known as "Overseas Taiwanese" or "people of Taiwanese descent" ("taiyi 台裔", "tairen 台人")
Besides the factors as above for consideration, whether one identify oneself as a Taiwanese, depends also on how a person and another person (predominantly those of kinship)'s self-identification. Consideration of sets of Values are important as well.

Taiwanese National Identity

Roughly 84% of Taiwan's population descends from Han Chinese who migrated from mainland China between 1661 and 1895. Another significant fraction descends from Han Chinese who immigrated from mainland China in the 1940s and 1950s. But between 1895 and the present, Taiwan and mainland China have shared a common government for only 4 years. The shared cultural origin combined with several hundred years of geographical separation, some hundred years of political separation and foreign influences, as well as hostility between the rival ROC and PRC have resulted in national identity being a contentious issue with political overtones. Since democratization and the lifting of martial law, a distinct Taiwanese identity (as opposed to Taiwanese identity as a subset of a Chinese identity) is often at the heart of political debates. Its acceptance makes the island distinct from mainland China, and therefore may be seen as a step towards forming a consensus for de jure Taiwan independence. The pan-green camp supports a distinct Taiwanese identity, while the pan-blue camp supports a Chinese identity only. The KMT has downplayed this stance in the recent years and now supports a Taiwanese identity as part of a Chinese identity.

According to a survey conducted in March 2009, 49% of the respondents consider themselves as Taiwanese only, and 44% of the respondents consider themselves as Taiwanese and Chinese. 3% consider themselves as only Chinese. Another survey, conducted in Taiwan in July 2009, showed that 82.8% of respondents consider that the ROC and the PRC are two separate countries developing each on its own. A recent survey conducted in December 2009 showed that 62% of the respondents consider themselves as Taiwanese only, and 22% of the respondents consider themselves as both Taiwanese and Chinese. 8% consider themselves as only Chinese. The survey also shows that among 18–29 year old respondents, 75% consider themselves as Taiwanese only.

History of Taiwanese Identity

The earliest notion of a Taiwanese group identity emerged in the form of a national identity following the Qing Dynasty's ceding of Taiwan to Japan in the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895. Prior to Japanese rule, residents of Taiwan developed relationships based on class solidarity and social connections rather than ethnic identity. Although Han often cheated Aborigines, they also married and supported one another against other residents of the same ethnic background. Taiwan was the site of frequent feuding based on ethnicity, lineage and place of origin.

Japanese era

In the face of the Japanese colonial hierarchy, the people of Taiwan were faced with the unequal binary relationship between colonizer/colonized. This duality between "one" and "other" was evident in the seven years of violence between the Japanese and groups of united anti-Japanese Han and Aborigines. Only later did the Japanese attempt to incorporate Taiwanese into the Japanese identity as "loyal subjects", but the difference between the experience of the colonized and the colonizer polarized the two groups.

The concept of "race" was utilized as a tool to confirm and facilitate Japanese political policies. A system of household registers based on the notion of race to separate and define groups of subjects. From within the group of "non-Japanese" the government divided Han citizens into "Han" and "Hakka" based on their perception of linguistic and cultural differences. The Japanese also maintained the Qing era classification of aborigines as either "raw" or "cooked", which to the Japanese embodied the social ramification of ethnic origin and perceived loyalty to the empire.

Martial law era

In 1945, Taiwan entered the political sphere of the Republic of China (ROC). Shortly following the Kuomintang's arrival, however, social conflict erupted in the midst of rampant government corruption, soaring inflation and an increasing flow of immigrants from China. The latter were preferred for jobs in the civil service as opposed to Taiwanese who were regarded as "untrustworthy". Recurrent violent suppression of dissent also played an important role in enforcing a separate sense of "Taiwanese-ness".

Under the Kuomintang's structure, "Taiwanese" became a strong "regional" identity. The term has often been used synonymously with benshengren, a term which covered both Hoklo and Hakka whose ancestors arrived in Taiwan before the Japanese restrictions on immigration in 1895. "Taiwanese" was used in contrast with waishengren (mainlanders), who included the people who followed the KMT to Taiwan between 1945 and 1949 and their descendants. The government tended to stress provincial identities, with identification cards and passports issued until the late 1990s displaying one's ancestral province and county. During this period the terms "cooked" and "raw" Aborigines disappeared. The former "raw" Aborigines were termed Shandi Tongbao, Gaoshanzu (Mountain Race) or Gaoshan Tongbao (Mountain Compatriots).

Democratic Era

With Taiwan's political liberalization in the 1970s and 1980s, encouraged by Taiwan's changing international status, the concept of a "Taiwanese people" became politicized by opponents of the KMT. The "tang wai" movement deployed concepts of "Taiwanese identity" against the authoritarian KMT government, often using extreme tactics to build a short-term ethno-centric opposition to the KMT (Edmunson 2002:34–42). The campaign saw resonance with the people of Taiwan and the term "Taiwanese" has been used by politicians of all parties to refer to the electorate in an effort to secure votes. The concept of a separate Taiwanese identity has become such an integral factor to the election culture in Taiwan, that identifying as a Taiwanese has become essential to being elected in Taiwan (Corcuff 2002:243–249).

New Taiwanese

The term "New Taiwanese" (新台灣人) was coined by former President of the Republic of China, Lee Teng-hui in 1995 to bridge the ethnic cleavage which formed following the February 28 Incident in 1947 and characterized the frigid relations between waishengren and benshengren during forty years of martial law. Although the "xin Taiwan guan" (新臺灣觀; New Taiwanese Concept) or "xin Taiwan lun" (新台灣論; The debate on the new Taiwanese identity) was originally aimed at the successive generations of Taiwanese with mainlander ancestry, it has been further articulated by Lee and other political and social leaders to refer to any person who loves Taiwan and is committed to calling Taiwan home. Although critics have called the "New Taiwanese Concept" a political ploy to win votes from benshengren who regarded the KMT as an alien regime, it has remained an important factor in the dialectic between ethnic identities in Taiwan. Despite being adopted early on by former Provincial Governor James Soong (1997) and later by, then Taipei mayoral candidate Ma Ying-jeou (1999), the term has since been dropped from contemporary political rhetoric (Corcuff 2002:186–188).

Multicultural present

In contemporary Taiwan the phenomenon of mixed marriages between couples comprising different ethnic groups has grown to include people from the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, the Philippines, Europe, the Americas and the Pacific Islands. The increasing number of marriages between Taiwanese and other countries creates a problem for the rigid definitions of ethnic identity used by both the ROC and the PRC when discussing Taiwan. In one-fourth of all marriages in Taiwan today, one partner will be from another country and one out of every twelve children is born to a family of mixed parentage. As Taiwan's birthrate is among the lowest in the world, this contingent is playing an increasingly important role in changing Taiwan's demographic makeup. By 2010, this social-cultural group of people is typically known as "Taiwan's new resident" (Taiwan Xinzhumin 台灣新住民）.

* Vietnamese people in Taiwan, Vietnamese migrant brides in Taiwan, Indonesians in Taiwan

Taiwan: National Identity and Democratization by Alan M. Wachman

Memories of the Future: National Identity Issues and the Search for a New Taiwan by Stephane Corcuff

Language Choice and Identity Politics in Taiwan by Jennifer M. Wei

Becoming Japanese: Colonial Taiwan and the Politics of Identity Formation Leo T S Ching

Refracted Modernity: Visual Culture and Identity in Colonial Taiwan by Chao-Ching Fu, et al.

Religion and the Formation of Taiwanese Identities by Paul Katz, Murray Rubinstein

Lee Teng-Hui and Taiwan's Quest for Identity by Shih-Shan Henry Tsai

Is Taiwan Chinese?: The Impact of Culture, Power, and Migration on Changing Identities by Melissa J Brown

Cultural, Ethnic, and Political Nationalism in Contemporary Taiwan: Bentuhua by John Makeham, A-chin Hsiau

Constructing Taiwanese Identity over Time: A Discourse Analysis of Chinese Textbooks by Sheue-jen Ou

Museums and Cultural Identities: Learning and Recollection in Local Museums in Taiwan by Chia-Li Chen

Serving the Household and the Nation: Filipina Domestics and the Politics of Identity in Taiwan by Shu-Ju Ada Cheng

Taiwan and Chinese Nationalism: National Identity and Status in International Society by Christopher Hughes

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Republic of Taiwan

The Republic of Taiwan (臺灣共和國) is the proposal to rename the Republic of China, commonly called "Taiwan" (former name: Formosa), with this new name that would be unambiguously distinguishable from a national identity of "China" and from the country commonly known as "China", People's Republic of China, in order to pursue permanent independence rather than eventual unification with the Chinese mainland. This state is the goal of supporters of the Taiwan independence movement and would cover (at most) the areas currently under the control of the Republic of China (i.e., Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu Islands and other minor islands; often, Kinmen and Matsu Islands, which are part of Fujian Province, and the South China Sea Spratlys far from Taiwan itself, are excluded). In this sense, sometimes the State of Taiwan (臺灣國) is used to avoid prejudging a republican polity.

History: Historically, there were efforts to create such a state, by this name, during the Japanese rule of Taiwan. In the 1950s a Republic of Taiwan Provisional Government was set up in Japan. Liao Wen-yih was nominally the President. At one time it held quasi-official relations with the newly independent Indonesia. This was possible mainly through the connections between Sukarno and the Provisional Government's Southeast Asian liaison, Chen Chih-hsiung, who had assisted in Indonesia's local resistance movements against the Japanese rule.

Since then several scholars have drafted various versions of a constitution, as both political statement or vision and as intellectual exercise. Most of these drafts favor a bicameral parliamentary rather than presidential system. In at least one such draft, seats in the upper house would be divided equally among Taiwan's established ethnicities. In the 1980s the Chinese Nationalist government considered publication of these ideas criminal. In the most dramatic case, it decided to arrest the pro-independence publisher Cheng Nan-jung for publishing a version in his Tang-wai magazine, Liberty Era Weekly (自由時代週刊). Rather than giving himself up, Cheng self-immolated in protest.

Other campaigns and tactics toward such a State have included soliciting designs from the public for a new national flag (see image) and anthem (for example, Taiwan the Formosa). More recently the Taiwan Name Rectification Campaign (台灣正名運動) has played an active role. More traditional independence supporters, however, have criticized name rectification as merely a superficial tactic devoid of the larger vision inherent in the Republic of Taiwan agenda.

Initially, the Taiwanese Independence movement began as an attempt to overthrow the Republic of China government and replace it with a native Republic of Taiwan government. This was because the ruling party of the ROC, the Kuomintang, at first consisted of predominantly mainland Chinese who had fled to Taiwan in or around 1949, at the end of the Chinese Civil War. However, as economic successes overshadowed political concerns, and as the mainland Chinese gradually blended with the Taiwanese, the general population became more and more receptive towards the "alien" government. The rapid process of democratization in the late 1980s and early 1990s by and large ended, as such, the Taiwanese localization movement.

While democracy developed within Taiwan, abroad the situation had turned against the Republic of China government. Following its expulsion from the United Nations and because of the One-China policy pushed forward by the PRC, the Republic of China progressively lost diplomatic recognition. It does however maintain unofficial diplomatic relations with most countries in the world via de facto embassies called Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Offices. In response to this situation, a modern movement for a Republic of Taiwan evolved from the original independence movement. The new movement claims that the current situation of Taiwan being ruled by a government officially named the Republic of China creates confusion internationally with the People's Republic of China, and is the principal obstacle preventing Taiwan from becoming a normal nation, in the sense of participating in international organizations such as the United Nations. The ROC had been forced, under pressure of the PRC, to participate in international affairs under such names as "Chinese Taipei" and the "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu".

Current views: Opponents of a Republic of Taiwan claim that rejecting the name Republic of China would almost certainly trigger a war with the People's Republic of China, and it is unnecessary since the Republic of China (Taiwan) is already one independent nation. Independence advocates counter this in saying that unless international support is achieved Taiwan can never be truly safe from an increasingly militant mainland China, and that foreign powers are hardly likely to pledge support if Taiwan itself does not demonstrate a resolve.

The creation of the Republic of Taiwan is formally the goal of the Taiwan Solidarity Union and former President Lee Teng-hui. Although the Democratic Progressive Party was originally also an advocate for both the idea of the Republic of Taiwan and Taiwan independence, as it took power the DPP has tried taking a middle line in which a sovereign, independent Taiwan is identified with the "Republic of China (Taiwan)" and its symbols.

While many believe the formal declaration of a Republic of Taiwan would likely trigger a military response from the People's Republic of China, some among the independentists believe such a response would be ineffective with or without subsequent involvement by the United States.

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History of the Major Socio-Cultural Groups

According to the government, the majority of Taiwan's 23 million population consist of 98% Han Chinese (GIO 2004) with a minority Austronesian population of less than 500,000. Migration to Taiwan from southern Asia began approximately 12,000 BC, but large-scale migration to Taiwan did not occur until the 18th to the beginning of the 20th century as a result of political and economic chaos in China (Shepherd 1993; Bellwood 2000; Blust 1988). The first large scale migration occurred as a result of the Manchu invasion and conquest of China, overthrowing the Ming dynasty and establishing the Qing dynasty, which was established in 1644 and remained until 1911.

In 1624, the Dutch East India Company, on the suggestion of the Ming Court, established an outpost in Tainan in southern Taiwan. The Dutch soon realized Taiwan's potential as a colony for trading deer hide, venison, rice, and sugar. However, Aborigines were not interested in developing the land and transporting settlers from Europe would be too costly. Due to the resulting labor shortage, the Dutch opted to hire Han farmers from across the Taiwan Strait. Migration of male laborers from Fujian, China steadily increased into the 18th and 19th century. In time, this migration and the gradual removal of ethnic markers (coupled with the acculturation, intermarriage and assimilation of plains Aborigines with the Han) resulted in the wide spread adoption of Han patterns of behavior making Taiwanese Han the ethnic majority.

It was not until the Japanese arrival in 1895 that Taiwanese first developed a collective Taiwanese identity in contrast to that of the colonizing Japanese. When the Chinese Civil War broke out between Kuomintang nationalists and the Chinese communists in 1945, there was another mass migration of people from China to Taiwan fleeing the communists. These migrants are known as the Mainlanders. The descendants of Hoklo, Hakka and plains Aborigines who have lived together on Taiwan for over four hundred years and have come to be known as benshengren, or native Taiwanese.

Aborigines

Taiwanese aborigines or Aboriginal peoples (原住民; literally "original inhabitants") are the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. Their ancestors are believed to have been living on the islands for approximately 8,000 years before major Han Chinese immigration began in the 17th century. Taiwan's Austronesian speakers were traditionally distributed over much of the island's rugged central mountain range and concentrated in villages along the alluvial plains. Today, the bulk of the contemporary Taiwanese aborigine population reside in the mountains and the major cities. The total population of Aborigines on Taiwan is around 458,000 as of January 2006, which is approximately 2% of Taiwan's population. The cities of Yilan, Hualien, and Taitung are known for their aboriginal communities. In the 1990s several groups of recognized indigenous tribes, which had traditionally viewed themselves as separate, united under the singular ethnonym '原住民' or 'Aborigines'.

Highland Tribes (高山族)：Atayal（泰雅族), Saisiyat (賽夏族), Bunun (布農族), Tsou (鄒族), Rukai (魯凱族), Paiwan (排灣族), Puyuma (卑南族), Amis (阿美族), Yami (達悟族), Taroko (太魯閣族), Sakizaya (撒奇萊雅族), Thao (邵族), Sediq (賽德克族).

Hoklo

The Hoklo communities in Taiwan originated from male laborers from Fujian (hired by the Dutch), some of whom married into Lowland Taiwanese aborigine communities. Official statistics show that Aborigines make-up less than 2% of Taiwan's population, they are often referring to those citizens who the government identifies as Aborigines and may not reflect actual identification or hybridity. There are fragmented populations of lowland Aborigines who still acknowledge their identity and heritage throughout Taiwan. Others have assimilated to a degree where their descendants speak Taiwanese and identify with the Hoklo majority, and it is possible to find families where the older members still identify themselves as lowland aborigine, while the rest of the family may identify as Hoklo. Among the Hoklo, the common idiom, "has Tangshan father, no Tangshan mother" (有唐山公、無唐山媽) refers how the Han people crossing the Taiwan Strait were mostly male, whereas their offspring would be through marriage with female Taiwanese aborigines. It is also called Min.

Hakka

The Taiwanese Hakka communities, although arriving to Taiwan from Eastern Guangdong and the mountains of Fujian, have also likely mixed through intermarriage with lowland Aborigines as well. Hakka family trees are known for identifying the male ancestors by their ethnic Hakka heritage while leaving out information on the identity of the female ancestors. Also, during the process of intermarriage and assimilation, many of the lowland Aborigines and their families adopted Hoklo and Hakka family names. Much of this happened in Taiwan prior to the Japanese colonization of Taiwan, so that by the time of the Japanese colonization, most of the population that the Japanese classified as "Chinese" Hoklo and "Chinese" Hakka were in truth already of mixed ancestry. Physical features of both Taiwanese aborigine and Chinese can be found amongst the Taiwanese mainstream today. It is also believed by many scholars that the Hakka of Taiwan are mainly the descendants of Hakka assimilated ethnic She people from the mountainous area between Fujian and Guangdong, with linguistic relations to Min nan speakers.

Mainlander

The descendants of mainlanders settled first within the heart of large urban centers in Taiwan such as Taipei, Taichung, or Kaohsiung. High numbers of government officials and civil servants who followed the KMT to Taiwan and occupied the positions of the colonial government moved into the official dormitories and residences built by the Japanese for civil servants. The ghettoization of mainlander communities exacerbated the divisions imagined by non-mainlander groups, and stymied cultural integration and assimilation into mainstream Taiwanese culture. Nationalization campaigns undertaken by the KMT established an official "culture", which reflected the KMT government's own preference for what it considered authentic Chinese culture. This excluded many of the local Taiwanese practices and local cultures, including the diverse cultures brought to Taiwan by the mainlanders from all parts of China. Unlike, the Hoklo and Hakka of Taiwan, who felt excluded by the new government, the mainlanders and their families supported the nationalists and embraced the official "culture" as their own, with "national culture" being taught in school. The mainlanders used their embrace of Nationalist culture to identify themselves as the authentic Chinese people of Taiwan. People identifying themselves as "mainlanders" can now be found in all parts of Taiwan, and through government agriculture and construction campaigns of the 1960s, "mainlander" communities or mixed marriage communities have been established in the high mountains and along the east coast.

New Residents

This group, known as Taiwan Xinzhumin (台灣新住民), consists of mainly new residents, originally from other nations, who have either migrated to Taiwan or inter-married with a local Taiwanese. The majority of new residents originated from Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippine, Europe, America etc.

Plains Aborigines

Archaeological, linguistic and anecdotal evidence suggests that Taiwan's indigenous peoples have undergone a series of cultural shifts to meet the pressures of contact with other societies and new technologies (Liu 2002:75–98). Beginning in the early 17th century, Taiwanese aborigines faced broad cultural change as the island became incorporated into the wider global economy by a succession of competing colonial regimes from Europe and Asia (Shepherd 1993:1–10; Kang 2003:115–26). In some cases groups of aborigines resisted colonial influence, but other groups and individuals readily aligned with the colonial powers. This alignment could be leveraged to achieve personal or collective economic gain, collective power over neighboring villages or freedom from unfavorable societal customs and taboos involving marriage, age-grade and child birth (Shepherd 1995:58–63; Blusse & Everts 2000:77–8).

Particularly among the Pingpu (plains tribes, 平埔族), as the degree of the "civilizing projects" increased during each successive regime, the aborigines found themselves in greater contact with outside cultures. The process of acculturation and assimilation sometimes followed gradually in the wake of broad social currents, particularly the removal of ethnic markers (such as bound feet, dietary customs and clothing), which had formerly distinguished ethnic groups on Taiwan (Brown 2004:38–50). The removal or replacement of these brought about an incremental transformation from "Fan" (barbarian) to the dominant Confucian "Han" culture (Brown 2004:155–64). During the Japanese and KMT periods centralized modernist government policies, rooted in ideas of Social Darwinism and culturalism, directed education, genealogical customs and other traditions toward ethnic assimilation (Harrison 2001:60–7), (Duara 1995). Ethnic shift among the Gaoshan, who had less contact with outsiders due to the inaccessibility of their lands, was more the result of centralized assimilative pressures than gradual social change. Nonetheless, the cultures and languages of most of the recognized tribes remain resilient today. Multicultural policies have contributed to ethnic pride in those communities.

Many of these forms of assimilation are still at work today. For example, when a central authority nationalizes one language, that attaches economic and social advantages to the prestige language. As generations pass, use of the indigenous language often fades or disappears, and linguistic and cultural identity recede as well. However, some groups are seeking to revive their indigenous identities (Hsieh 2006). One important political aspect of this pursuit is petitioning the government for official recognition as a separate and distinct tribe.

The complexity and scope of aboriginal assimilation and acculturation on Taiwan has led to three general narratives of Taiwanese ethnic change. The oldest holds that Han migration from Fujian and Guangdong in the 17th century pushed the Plains aborigines into the mountains, where they became the Highland tribes of today (Shepherd 1993). A relatively newer view asserts that through widespread intermarriage between Han and aborigines between the 17th and 19th centuries, the aborigines were completely sinicized (Lamley 1981:282; Meskill 1979:253–55). Finally, modern ethnographical and anthropological studies have shown a pattern of cultural shift mutually experienced by both Han and Plains aborigines, resulting in a hybrid culture. Today people who comprise Taiwan's ethnic Han demonstrate major cultural differences from Han elsewhere (Brown 1996;Brown 2004).

Plains Aborigines: Makattao, Siraya, Hoanya, Babuza, Popora, Pazeh, Taokas, Basay, Ketagalan, Kavalan,

Extinct Languages: Makatao, Siraya, Hoanya, Babuza, Popora, Pazeh, Taokas, Basay, Ketagalan, Favorlang

Japanification

Japanification (日本化) is a term used to describe the process of becoming or wishing to become a member of Japanese society. It most commonly refers to ex-pats living for an extended period of time in Japan, though it may also be used to describe persons living outside Japan who have a certain affinity to some aspect of Japanese culture. Cultural assimilation could include adoption of Japanese mannerisms, style of clothing, taste in entertainment, and sometimes aspects of Japanese language.

In Taiwan, the term 哈日族 is used, which means "the tribe that adores Japan." The term is taken from 哈日杏子 (Hari Kyoko), a female Taiwanese manga author.

Due to Japanese war crimes such as the Nanking Massacre and the atrocities committed in Korea under Japanese rule, anti-Japanese sentiment is much stronger in mainland China and Korea than in Taiwan, where the Japanese colonization is not remembered as bitterly.

Taiwan Under Japanese Rule: Between 1895 and 1945, Taiwan was a dependency of the Empire of Japan. The expansion into Taiwan was a part of Imperial Japan's general policy of southward expansion during the late 19th century.

As Taiwan was Japan's first overseas colony, Japanese intentions were to turn the island into a showpiece "model colony". As a result, much effort was made to improve the island's economy, industry, public works and to change its culture.

The relative failures of immediate post–World War II rule by the Kuomintang led to a certain degree of nostalgia amongst the older generation of Taiwanese who experienced both. This has affected, to some degree, issues such as national identity, ethnic identity and the Taiwan independence movement. Partly as a result, the people of Taiwan in general feel much less antipathy towards the legacy of Japanese rule than other countries in Asia.

Kōminka: "Subjects of the Emperor": The final period of Japanese rule in Taiwan began with the eruption of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 and ended along with the Second World War in 1945. With the rise of militarism in Japan in the mid to late 1930s, the office of Governor-General was again held by military officers, and Japan sought to utilize resources and material from Taiwan for use in the war effort. To this end, the cooperation of the Taiwanese would be essential, and the Taiwanese would have to be fully assimilated as members of Japanese society. As a result, earlier social movements were banned and the Colonial Government devoted its full efforts to the "Kōminka movement" (皇民化運動), aimed at fully Japanizing Taiwanese society. Between 1936 and 1940, the Kōminka movement sought to build "Japanese spirit" (大和魂, Yamatodamashī) and Japanese identity amongst the populace, while the later years from 1941 to 1945 focused on encouraging Taiwanese to participate in the war effort.

As part of the movement, the Colonial Government began to strongly encourage locals to speak the Japanese language, wear Japanese clothing, live in Japanese-style houses, and convert to Shintoism. In 1940, laws were also passed advocating the adoption of Japanese names. With the expansion of the Pacific War, the government also began encouraging Taiwanese to volunteer for the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy in 1942, and finally ordered a full scale draft in 1945. In the meantime, laws were made to grant Taiwanese membership in the Japanese Diet, which theoretically would qualify a Taiwanese to become the premier of Japan eventually.

Sinicization

Former administrative divisions and territorial disputes of the Republic of China (map by ZanderSchubert)

Sinicization, Sinicisation or Sinification, (中國化 or 漢化) is the linguistic assimilation or cultural assimilation of terms and concepts of the language and culture of China.

In more general contexts, Sinicization refers to the process of "becoming Chinese" or "becoming Han"; the opposite process is becoming "not Chinese" (desinicization). The term has been used in social science primarily to describe the assimilation of non-Han Chinese peoples (such as the Manchus) into the Chinese identity.

After the Republic of China relocated its capital to Taipei in 1949, the intention of Chiang Kai-shek was to eventually go back to Mainland China and retake control of it. Chiang believed that to retake the mainland, it would be necessary to "resinicize" Taiwan's inhabitants. Examples of this policy included the renaming of streets, use of mandarin Chinese in schools and punishments for using other languages, and teaching students to revere Confucian ethics, develop Han Chinese nationalism, and believe Taiwan is part of China. Other reasons for the policy were to combat the Japanese influences on the culture that had occurred in the previous 50 years, and to help unite the recent immigrants from mainland China that had come to Taiwan with the KMT and among whom there was a tendency to be more loyal to one's city, county or province than to China as a nation.

Taiwan Under KMT Rule: The Second World War came to a close in 2 September 1945, with the defeat of Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany. Taiwan was placed under the control of the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) led Republic of China (ROC) with the issue of General Order No. 1 and the signing of the Instrument of Surrender by Imperial Japan on 25 October 1945.

He Yingqin, the ROC representative at the Japanese surrender ceremonies established an "Office of the Chief Executive of Taiwan Province" (台灣省行政長官公署) separate from the provincial-level executive system on the Mainland. After the establishment of the provincial executive office, Chen Yi was appointed Chief Executive.

Chen Yi's administration was marred by corruption, as well as a lack of discipline in the military police assigned to occupation duties, resulting in a severe undermining of the chain of command. With the rampant corruption in his administration, Chen Yi began to monopolize power. In addition to this, the island's post-war economy was failing and headed into a recession, causing people on the island to endure economic hardship. The government's program of "De-Japanization" also created cultural estrangement, along with tensions between the growing population of migrants from the mainland and the pre-war residents of the island. The building tensions erupted in 1947, when the arrest of a cigarette vendor by government agents led to the death of a bystander. The clashes between police and residents that followed quickly spread across the island, and grew into a general rebellion against Chen Yi and the Chief Executive's Office in what came to be known as the 228 Incident. Several weeks later, government troops were sent to Taiwan from the mainland to handle the crisis and to suppress any opposition or resistance to the government. Many prominent individuals in Taiwanese society, as well as other residents of the island, many of whom had nothing to do with the incident, were either killed, imprisoned without trial, or simply disappeared. The 228 incident was a prelude to the white terror of 1950s, resulting in ethnic tensions between pre- and post-war residents, as well as the genesis of the Taiwanese independence movement.

In 1949, the National Revolutionary Army and the Kuomintang suffered a major defeat in the Chinese Civil War, forcing the Government of the Republic of China to relocate to Taiwan. This allowed the Communist Party of China to declare the establishment of a new Chinese state: the People's Republic of China. As the Kuomintang were establishing a "provisional" base in Taiwan, the party began to plan and threaten counterattacks on the mainland; however, without the support of the United States and its armed forces, the Kuomintang was only able to coordinate and carry out small-scale military campaigns across the strait, which lasted until the Second Strait Crisis. From that point on, both sides of the strait have ceased all major hostilities against each other. The government under the Kuomintang, through its enforcement of martial law, kept a powerful hold on the state and its people throughout the Cold War. Because the Republic of China was under authoritarian rule, any perceived opposition to the government was considered illegal and dealt with harshly.

White Terror (Taiwan): In Taiwan, the White Terror describes the suppression of political dissidents, as well as public discussion of the 228 Incident in Taiwan under the martial law period from May 19, 1949 to July 15, 1987. It was the longest martial law in the world at the time, but has been since surpassed by the Syrian half a century martial law since 1963 - Taiwan's martial law lasted for 38 years, & 57 days.

During the White Terror, around 140,000 Taiwanese were imprisoned or executed for their real or perceived opposition to the Kuomintang Party (KMT, Chinese Nationalist Party) government led by Chiang Kai-shek, according to a recent report by the Executive Yuan of Taiwan.

Most of those prosecuted were labeled by the Kuomintang as "bandit spies" (匪諜), meaning spies for Chinese communists, and punished as such. Among the White Terror's victims were indeed many Taiwanese and mainland Chinese Communist agitators, but with time the White Terror permitted countless abuses. The "White Terror" left many Taiwanese with a deep-seated bitterness towards the Kuomintang, Chiang Kai-shek, and the mainland Chinese.

A large number of the White Terror's victims were mainland Chinese who usually owed their evacuation to Taiwan to the KMT, and often having come unaccompanied to Taiwan were considered more disposable than local Taiwanese. Many of the mainland Chinese who survived the White Terror in Taiwan, like Bo Yang and Li Ao moved on to promote Taiwan's democratization and the reform of the Kuomintang.

Fear of discussing the White Terror and the 228 Incident gradually decreased with the lifting of martial law in 1987, culminating in the establishment of an official public memorial and an apology by President Lee Teng-hui in 1995.

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Genetic Studies

Both Chinese and Taiwanese nationalists have often tried to validate their political claims based on biology and implied ancestry. Despite the advancement of genetic research and diaspora studies of human populations around the globe, there is no clear evidence to suggest any correlation between genetic or biological similarities or differences, and political or national identities.

The Hoklo and Hakka linguistic groups, which statistically make up the majority of Taiwan's population, can trace some of their historical cultural roots to Minnan- and Hakka-speaking peoples from what is now China, predominantly the southern provinces of Fujian and Guangdong. The original migrations from China were as male laborers under contract to the Dutch, so there was considerable intermarriage with local plains aboriginal groups. The human leukocyte antigen typing study and mitochondrial DNA analysis performed in recent years show that more than 88% of the benshengren population have some degree of aboriginal origin (Sim 2003). The lack of a definite genetic record of plains Aborigines, or conclusive understanding of their proto-Austronesian roots, further complicates the use of genetic data (Blust 1988). A study of the depletion of Asian and Pacific Islanders demonstrates a noticeable difference between Han in China and on Taiwan (Stone 2000:351–357). A Mahalanobis generalized distance survey of 29 male groups categorized Taiwanese as a separate subgroup of Northern Asian different from Mongolia, Korea, Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou, associating Taiwanese closer to groups from Hainan, Japan, Ainu and Atayal (Pietrusewsky 2000:400–409).

* 非原住民台灣人的基因結構 by 林媽利

* Most Hoklo, Hakka Have Aboriginal Genes, Study Finds by Hu Ching-hui

* 台灣人和印支半島族群的關係 by 鄭昭任

* True History of Taiwan by Sim Kiantek

* 血統獨立 by Sim Kiantek

我們流著不同的血液: 以血型、基因的科學證據揭開台灣各族群身世之謎
by 林媽利

台灣血統: 揭開台灣人身世之謎！ by Sim Kiantek

* Estimations of Allele and Haplotype Frequencies of the HLA-A, HLA-B, and HLA-DRB1 Loci Based on the Marrow Donors of TCTMDR by 林雅惠

Abstract: Until 2005, a total of 56176 unrelated healthy Taiwanese individuals from the BTCSCC (Buddhist Tzu Chi Stem Cells Center) were typed for HLA-A, -B, -DRB1 at allelic resolution. The majority of donors in the BTCSCC are Taiwanese composed of four main ethnic groups, the Minnan, Hakka, Mainlander and Aborigines. A total of 46915 (83.51%) out of 56176 donors provided paternal’s ethnic, 77 (0.16%) donors provided maternal’s ethnic, and only 61 (0.13%) donors’ parents had the same ancestry. In this study, we estimated the HLA-A, -B, -DRB1 allele and 3-locus haplotype frequencies among four ethnic groups in Taiwan. We found 51 HLA-A alleles, 121 HLA-B alleles and 53 HLA-DRB1 alleles in Taiwanese population. The top two HLA-A alleles in Minnan, Hakka and Mainlander were the same (A*1101 and A*2402). A*2402 (35.41%) is the most frequent in Aborigines, however, A*1101 (15.88%) is the second frequent allele. B*4001 and B*4601 were the most frequent HLA-B alleles in Minnan, Hakka and Mainlander. Although B*4001(25.11%) were also the most frequent allele in Aborigines, but B*4801(12.23%) was the following frequent allele. The most frequent HLA-DRB1 alleles in Minnan and Hakka were DRB1*0901 (14.94% and 15.72%) and DRB1*0301(11.37% and 11.19%). The most frequent HLA-DRB1 alleles in Mainlander were DRB1*0901(15.66%) and DRB1*1202(10.23%). The most frequent HLA-DRB1 alleles in Aborigines were DRB1*1101(11.80%) and DRB1*1454 (11.59%). 3-locus haplotype frequencies estimated by the Expectation-Maximum method revealed at most 1294 HLA A-B-DRB1 haplotypes with frequencies of more than 0.05%. For Minnan, Hakka and Mainlander, A*3303-B*5801-DRB1*0301 (>5.658%) and A*0207-B*4601-DRB1*0901(>4.282%) were most frequent. A*3401-B*5601-DRB1*1502 (5.791%) was the top one haplotype in Aborigines, but it was rare in Minnan and Mainlander and not been observed in Hakka group.These results revealed high diversity of HLA alleles and haplotypes among the four ethnic groups in Taiwan. Principal component analysis and clustering analysis based on either HLA-A and -B or HLA-A, -B and -DRB1 allele frequencies suggested that Minnan, Hakka and Mainlander were more genetic homogeneous while the Aborigines is a characteristic group.

* Study on the Genetic Polymorphisms of Y Chromosomal DNA Short Tandem Repeat Loci Applied to Analyzing the Relative Affinities Among Ethnic Groups and Identifying the Paternal Cases in Taiwan by Fang-Chin Wu

Abstract: We collected the 1,281 buccal swab samples for typing Y chromosome DNA and identifying paternity relationship with written informed consent from unrelated male volunteers of 14 ethnic groups residing in Taiwan. The donators included Holo, Hakka, Mainlander, Amis, Paiwan, Atayal, Bunun, Truku, Rukai, Puyuma, Tsou, Saisiyat, Yami and Thao. We got 923 DNA Y-STR haplotypes for identifying paternal affinity.

Allele frequencies for the 17 Y-specific short tandem repeats (Y-STRs) loci DYS19, DYS385a/b, DYS389I/II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, DYS448, DYS456, DYS458, DYS635 and Y-GATA-H4 (AmpFℓSTR® Yfiler™ PCR Amplification Kit) were determined from 1,281 samples. The genetic distance values below 0.2, which show high genetic affinity between compared groups, have four groups: (1) Holo, Hakka and Mainlander; (2) Paiwan and Rukai; (3) Paiwan and Puyuma; (4) Atayal and Truku.

From the relation of genetic blood and geographic environment, we found the Atayal, Bunun, Truku and Tsou tribes had the high frequencies over 78.6 % of allele 13 and the Amis, Paiwan, Rukai, Puyuma, Saisiyat, Yami and Thao tribes had the high frequencies over 76.1 % of allele 12.

In 60 paternity cases, we found 4 cases happening mutations on DNA STR and used DNA Y-STR to determine the blood relation for these.

* Distribution of Killer-Cell Immunoglobulin-Like Receptor Genes in Eastern Mainland Chinese Han and Taiwanese Han Populations by

Abstract: The interaction between killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecules expressed on target cells is known to modulate the cytolytic activity of natural killer (NK) cells. To date, a wide range of KIR genotypes has been observed, which varies among different ethnic populations. We report here comparison of the KIR gene content and genotypic structure of KIRs in 106 individuals from Eastern mainland Chinese Han and 97 from Taiwanese Han. All 17 KIR genes were observed in the two populations. Framework genes 2DL4, 3DL2, 3DL3 and 3DP1 were present in all individuals. The two populations had very similar frequencies in most loci, however, significant differences were noted in the frequencies of KIR3DS1 and KIR2DS4D (KIR2DS4 deletant variant). A total of 35 and 29 genotypes were identified in the individuals from the Eastern mainland Chinese and the Taiwanese Hans, respectively. Some pairs of KIRs showed significant positive and negative linkage disequilibrium (LD). Our data showed that there were minor distinctions in KIR gene frequencies, genotypes and LD between the two populations, which shed light on a possible geographic genetic demarcation among different Chinese communities.

* Thirteen X-Chromosomal Short Tandem Repeat Loci Multiplex Data from Taiwanese by HL Hwa, et al.

Abstract: Study results of variations in the X chromosome are useful tools in researching the genetic diversity of human populations and individual identification. We developed a 13 X chromosomal short tandem repeat (STR) multiplex system (DXS6807, DXS8378, DSX9902, DXS7132, DXS9898, DXS6809, DXS6789, DXS7424, DXS101, GATA172D05, HPRTB, DXS8377, DXS7423) amplified in one single polymerase chain reaction. DNA samples of 113 male and 108 female Taiwanese Han subjects were successfully analyzed using this 13 X-STR multiplex system. The distributions of allele frequencies were examined for independence. DXS8377, DXS101, DXS6789, and DXS6809 were found to be the most polymorphic markers in this study. High values of discrimination power and mean exclusion chance without significant evidence of association between these markers were obtained. In conclusion, this 13 X chromosomal STR multiplex system offers considerable forensic efficiency and may be useful in forensic identification casework.

* Distribution of HLA Gene and Haplotype Frequencies in Taiwan: A comparative study among Min-nan, Hakka, Aborigines and Mainland Chinese by CK Shaw, et al.

Abstract: A total of 8,497 blood samples were typed for HLA-A, B, DR and DQ. Of these, 7,137 Min-nan, 714 Hakka, 535 Mainland Chinese (152 from North China, 211 from Middle China, and 172 from South China) and 111 Aborigines were randomly selected from Tzu Chi Taiwan Marrow Donor Registry (TCTMDR). Differences in HLA gene and antigen frequencies have been observed between various ethnic groups of the Chinese population in Taiwan. The phylogenic tree shows Taiwan Aborigines and Javanese cluster together; Min-nan shares a common cluster with Hakka, Southern Hans and Thai; and Northern Hans shares a cluster with Middle Hans. The separation between Northern/Middle and Southern Chinese Hans support the idea that Northern and Southern Chinese have different genetic background. Aborigines appeared to be quite distinct in the distribution of a majority of the class I and class II antigens. High frequency of HLA-A24 (60.4%) and relatively restricted HLA polymorphisms are noted in Aborigines. The HLA haplotypes with high frequency in Aborigines included A24-B60-DRB1*04, A24-B60-DRB1*14, A24-B48-DRB1*04, and A24-B48-DRB1*14, which are different from the other ethnic groups. Although the phylogenic tree separates Aborigines and Han Chinese populations, 4 out of 20 most common HLA-A, -B, and -DR haplotypes presented in both Aborigines and Han Chinese may reflect an ancient common origin or intermixture between early settlers of Han Chinese and Taiwan Aborigines. The results in this study are essentially a summary of the observed gene/haplotype frequencies and differences among various ethnic groups in Taiwan.

* Human Leukocyte Antigen Polymorphisms in the Taiwanese Population by Shen SW, et al.

Abstract: Polymorphisms of human leukocyte antigens (HLA) are important in transplantation medicine, anthropologic studies, and paternity testing. We investigated the polymorphisms of HLA classes I and II in the Taiwanese population by means of serologic typing and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis with sequence-specific primers. We calculated the HLA-A, -B, and -C gene frequencies in 673 Taiwanese subjects and the HLA-DRB1, and HLA-DQB1 gene frequencies in 204 subjects with available DNA samples. Haplotype frequencies and linkage-disequilibrium were analyzed on the basis of these data. The common HLA class I antigens were A11 (gene frequency, 34.9%), A2 (29.3%), A24 (15.8%), and A33 (9.8%); B60 (21.9%), B46 (13.1%), B58 (9.7%), and B13 (8.5%); and Cw1 (18.8%), Cw7 (15.3%), and Cw10 (10.7%). The common HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DQB1 alleles were DRB1*12 (15.2%), DRB1*09 (15.2%), DRB1*08 (12.0%), and DRB1*04 (12.0%); and DQB1*0301 (23.5%), DQB1*0303 (15.2%), DQB1*0601 (14.5%), and DQB1*02 (10.8%). The common two-locus haplotypes were A2-B46 (frequency, 9. 7%), A11-B60 (9.6%), and A33-B58 (6.8%); DRB1*09-DQB1*0303 (14.9%), DRB1*12-DQB1*0301 (14.2%), and DRB1*08-DQB1*0601 (10.7%). This study is the first to report the gene frequencies of HLA-DQB1 alleles and the common HLA-DR-DQ haplotypes among Taiwanese. Comparison of our results with those from two other Chinese populations in mainland China reveals that Taiwanese are more closely related to southern Han than to northern Han Chinese.

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台灣人

台灣人一詞在使用中具有多種涵義，其範圍可能是指：

居住或出生在台灣本土及其附屬島嶼、澎湖群島的各民族或族群。

中華民國國民。係持有中華民國國籍者，並不一定專指台灣本土及其附屬島嶼、澎湖群島人，亦包含金馬地區及所有統治效力所及的中華民國國民。

祖先在台灣日治時期以前，便遷至台灣本土及其附屬島嶼、澎湖群島的古越族、漢人、原住民以及荷蘭人。以及日治時期時，由日本遷至台灣本土及其附屬島嶼、澎湖群島的日本人及其後裔。

參見：本省人及台灣原住民

除台灣以外的中華民國有效管治區域（金門、馬祖）對於台灣本土及其附屬島嶼、澎湖群島人的稱呼。

1949年前後，滯留或居住於其他地區及中華人民共和國的台灣人及其後裔，不一定持有中華民國國籍，僅祖籍為台灣，但本人不一定出生或居住在台灣。在海外一般通稱台裔或台人。

界定一個人是否為台灣人需要考慮的因素，除了以上因素以外，亦有人認為還有其本人和其他人（主要是與之關係密切的人）的認同（價值觀因素）也非常重要。

與族群人口分佈的相關統計，請參見台灣人口、台灣四大族群。

國際上英文名稱為Taiwanese。

台灣族群

台灣族群分布比例 by Bigmorr

台灣族群中，閩南人（祖籍泉州府及漳州府）約70%、客家人約15%、外省人約13%、及原住民族低於2%。若以所用母語區分，台灣人口數量排序分別是「台灣閩南人」（75%）、「外省人」（12.5%）、「客家人」（10%）及「原住民族」（< 2%）。行政院客家委員會委託研究報告97年度全國客家人口基礎資料調查研究，在各大族群（單一自我認定）的分布上，福老人佔69.2%；客家人佔13.5%，大陸客家人佔0.4%；大陸各省市人佔8.9%；原住民佔1.9%。

關於台灣人口多寡的敘述所在多有，然而除了國語（即華語）以外，台灣閩南語是台灣最具優勢的語言。根據2008年中華民國年鑑，台灣大概有73%的人使用台灣閩南語。

1993年，時任立法委員的林濁水及葉菊蘭首先提出「四大族群」之說。經過多年，台灣「四大族群」的劃分已形成相當普遍的族群想像主張。惟此一劃分尚存些許爭議，因為臺灣原住民族屬於南島語族，其他的三大族群均屬於以漢族為主體者。

關於族群融合或尊重，牽涉台灣社區總體營造政策的大方向爭議。在學界，傾向社群主義者，主張「融合」對社會生命共同體的重要性，此種主張指向未來台灣「國民民族主義」或「國族主義」之建設。傾向自由主義者則主張「尊重」，此種主張指向未來台灣「公民民族主義」或憲政自由主義之建設。兩種意見與西方1980年代後「社群主義」對比「自由主義」的辯論緊密相關。

台灣原住民族: 臺灣原住民人口約佔總數的2%，台灣日治時期依據居住地區分為高山的高砂族及平地的平埔族。國民政府來台後，統稱為山地同胞。目前中央政府所承認的台灣原住民族共有泰雅族、阿美族、布農族、卑南族、達悟族、排灣族、魯凱族、鄒族、邵族、賽夏族、噶瑪蘭族、太魯閣族、撒奇萊雅族、賽德克族等十四個民族，台南縣政府則承認西拉雅族為縣定原住民族。另有許多平埔族則因語言及文化等民族表徵因漢化而消失，目前被視為不復存在。

閩南人: 台灣的閩南人主要是從明鄭王朝至清領時期，由福建省南部移民而來。又根據原居地，有漳州人、泉州人之分。目前為台灣人數最多的族群，占人口總數的70%以上，可包含被閩南化的客家人與平埔族。

閩南人語言以台灣閩南語為主，可依據漳、泉音融合程度的多寡，粗略分為南部腔（高雄、台南、嘉義、屏東部分地區）、北部腔（台北、基隆、桃園部分地區）、宜蘭腔（宜蘭）、海口腔（沿海地區）、內埔腔（內陸地區）等，各腔差異性不大，在聲調上相當一致，溝通無礙。全台灣大概有73%的人會使用台灣閩南語。

客家人: 一般指涉範圍是，在荷治時期起，由中國粵東、閩西一帶移民而來的。德國史學家 Riess 研究荷蘭史料發現：荷蘭人來台與原住民溝通時，多由客家人居中翻譯，可知客家移民渡臺甚早。

而二次世界大戰後來台的客家人，一般視之為外省人，也有人稱之為外省客家人。（如導演侯孝賢、主持人陳建州等。）

行政院客家委員會97年度全國客家人口基礎資料調查研究指出：在臺灣2300萬人口當中，臺灣客家人口比例高達18.6%（多重自我認定），推估人口數為427.6萬人。若以廣義定義則達到25.6%，推估人口數為587.7萬人；單一自我認定的臺灣客家人口比例為13.5%，推估人口數為310.8萬人。

又根據原居地，有四縣客家人和海陸客家人之分。

目前臺灣的客家地區，以北部桃竹苗地區為主。除了桃竹苗以外，客家人集中的地方，還包括高屏的六堆地區，主要是指屏東縣的內埔、長治、麟洛、萬巒等鄉鎮，及高雄市美濃區、六龜區等。另外花東亦為客家人口集中區。2008年臺灣各縣市之客家人口比例排序：新竹縣68.4%、苗栗縣64.8%是客家人。其次桃園縣37.6%、花蓮縣31.9%、新竹市29%、屏東縣23%、台東縣22%、台北縣16.7%、台中縣16.2%、台北市15.8%、高雄縣14.3%、台中市、基隆市皆14.1%。南投縣13.9%、高雄市12.1%、嘉義市10.3%，其餘縣市比例不足10%。

語言以台灣客家語為主，又分為四縣腔（桃園中壢市、平鎮市、楊梅市、新竹關西鎮（部分地區）、苗栗部分地區、高雄美濃區、杉林區、六龜區、旗山區、屏東六堆地區）、海陸腔（多在桃園新屋鄉、觀音鄉、楊梅市富岡、新竹全縣（除了關西鄉部分地區之外）、花蓮部份地區）、大埔腔（臺中東勢、石岡區、新社區一帶）、詔安腔（雲林崙背、二崙鄉、西螺鎮、桃園八德市、大溪鎮、龍潭鄉）和饒平腔（苗栗卓蘭鎮、彰化縣永靖鄉、田尾鄉）、永定腔等散居各地。

許多客家人舉族至清朝馬關條約割讓以前，即來台灣多年，更是不少已經閩南化，成為「福佬客」。如前任中華民國總統李登輝即是「福佬客」之一例。在台灣，如「福佬客」自己的台灣四大族群自我意識認同為「閩南人」則需要加以尊重。客家委員會曾於2004年舉辦「福佬客文化節」，活動地區以全台福佬客聚集最密集的雲林、彰化兩縣為重點，並增加宜蘭、台中及南投等三個縣。

外省人: 「外省人」一詞與「本省人」意義相對。「外省人」有時被稱為新住民。主要是指二次世界大戰結束以後，遷居台灣的中國各省人民，早期多聚居於各縣市眷村，此後因公散居於台灣各地。其語言除原鄉語言外，主要使用國語。

而金門、馬祖、烏坵等地，因劃分屬於「福建省」，甲午戰爭後也未隨著台灣、澎湖被割讓與日本，故不被認為是台灣本省人。台灣日治時期結束以後，從中國來台居住的中國少數民族，也多半被認為是外省人。

馬祖: 或稱閩東人、福州人。居住在福建連江縣馬祖地區，其語言使用福州話。
烏坵: 烏坵人原居於福建莆田，國共內戰時定居於烏坵，現多數居於台灣，母語為莆仙話。
畬族: 許多源自於福建省的畬族也來到台灣，語文多逐漸客家化或閩南化，例如雲林縣崙背鄉的枋南村
國共內戰後來台的少數民族: 1949年後，中國除了漢人外，也有其他少數民族隨政府遷來臺灣，比方說蒙古族、藏族、滿族等等。1961年中緬泰邊界的部分軍隊遷往台灣時，軍人在當地的雲南各族的配偶家屬也一起來到南投、高雄、屏東，至今仍有擺夷族、傈僳族等之後裔。例如里港鄉的信國一村。
- 滿族：除了清朝即有自中國唐山遷徙到彰化的女真後裔粘姓（視同本省人）之外，國共內戰國民黨被中共打敗後，亦有不少族裔隨國民政府播遷來台。知名人士包括金溥聰、作家曹又方、演員馬景濤、胡茵夢、畫家溥心畬等，而齊豫、齊秦姊弟則有一半滿族血統。
- 蒙古族：知名人士包括女作家席慕蓉等。
- 維吾爾族：包括因曾任中國六四事件學生領袖之一而流亡來台的吾爾開希，歌手張韶涵則有四分之一的維吾爾血統。
- 回族：包括曾任國防部長的白崇禧將軍，及其子名作家白先勇等。

第五族群-新移民: 近年來台灣的東南亞移民漸多，包括外籍新娘、外籍勞工等，因此開始主張台灣出現了第五族群，一般被稱為「新移民」或「新住民」。

本省人

「本省人」本義是指籍貫為「本省」的人，是「外省人」的對義詞。

簡介: 在中華民國特指二次世界大戰結束（1945年）前就已經在台灣本島及離島、澎湖生活的族群：有中華民國國籍的福建講閩南語的閩南人、說客家語的客家人與說各族語言的原住民族（包含已漢化的平埔族）。而「外省人」主要指二次世界大戰結束後才自中國大陸遷徙至台的中國人。

台灣日治時期，並無「本省人」一詞，當時是以「本島人」一詞稱呼「台灣人」，而以「內地人」一詞稱呼日本本土的人士，「唐山人」一詞則是稱呼當時由中國大陸渡海來台活動的中國人，可推知「本省人」一詞，乃是相對於「外省人」，在二次世界大戰結束、中華民國接收台灣後才產生的。

綜上所述，「本省人」一詞除了作為指示國籍的本義之外，很多時候也表示沒有享有能住在免費又種族隔離眷村的特權之涵義。是以即使彼此的居住地或出生地皆為台灣，卻仍有本省與非本省的區別。

暱稱: 二次大戰後，台灣台灣人因嚴重通膨米價飆漲且需上繳為軍糧及軍眷糧，常以番薯果腹，且台灣本島輪廓類似番薯之形狀，故台灣本省人往往以「番薯」自稱；而以「芋仔」稱呼二次大戰結束後由中國遷居來台的中國人，如習稱老中國軍人為老芋仔。惟番薯原產於美洲，是明朝才引進於大東亞的。有些台灣與中國通婚的後代，會被戲稱為「芋仔番薯」。

族群問題: 台灣歷史上，台灣人族群為爭奪商業、土地與水源等利益，閩南人、客家人、原住民族之間發生過不少激烈血腥的械鬥。然隨著歷史的流轉以及日本人、中國人等新勢力的出現而使本省人族群之間的裂痕逐漸淡化。

1945年臺灣日治時期結束後，代之而起的是以中國國民黨為主體的中國人種族，台灣與中國人間的矛盾日深，不久便因一起國民政府官吏在台北市大稻埕查緝私菸卻接連誤殺民眾的糾紛，而激化成族群嚴重流血衝突的二二八事件，國民黨軍隊的血腥鎮壓造成無數本省人的死傷。其後又因為國民黨長期一黨專政與白色恐怖，不但諸多政策獨厚外省人族群且損害本省人族群的利益，對於本省人族群的反抗份子也有政治迫害，乃至有莫須有的冤案等情事，以致本省與外省族群產生深刻的裂痕。

半山仔

半山仔，簡稱半山，是台灣政治術語，意為「半唐山」的本省人。

半山在台灣指的是：原籍台灣，不過在台灣日治時期前往中國大陸（俗稱唐山）旅居，並在中國抗日戰爭勝利後，再度返台的國民黨人士。

因國共內戰失敗，因而喪失中國大陸國土的國民黨政府，退居台北，為了鞏固其在台灣的統治，需要提拔台灣本省世族，卻又對本省人不信任，因此起用不少半山人士擔任高級公務員。台灣歷史上，由於半山人士早年在台灣政治、經濟擁有特權，本省人有一定意見，作家吳濁流在其作品內有暗示一些半山人士的劣行，至今還有部分台灣人對「半山」人士家族仍有不良印象。

著名的半山人士有連戰之父連震東、黃朝琴、謝東閔、黃國書、林頂立、游彌堅、李萬居等人。

台灣的戶籍制度

中華民國國民身分證背面樣

台灣中華民國戶籍制度可溯及自日治時代，當時的日本政府為順利統治台灣，便利用戶籍制度蒐集台灣人民的個人資訊，以做為社會控制的工具。直到二次大戰結束，國民政府接收台灣，戶籍制度的地位仍未改變。直到終止戒嚴，恢復戶警分立的正常狀態，戶籍制度的地位才逐漸轉換成國家為遂行社會福利的工具

中華民國國民身分證: 在台灣，日治時期台灣總督府為方便管理台灣人，將人頭編碼，並配發證件。

戰後，國民政府接收臺灣，類似良民證的台灣身分證取消。

1949年，台灣省政府避免共產黨滲透台灣，宣佈台灣省戒嚴令後，立刻進行戶口普查，並正式換發身分證。因為台灣日治時期遺留戶政資料完整，換發迅速。

除此，1949年12月24日，大批外省人開始以各地良民證與居留證，換發標明「外省」字樣的身分證。來台人員換發台灣身分證較台籍人士困難，不僅須申報表和一張保證書外，也須找兩家店號作保。

至今，中華民國國民身分證是台澎金馬居民的主要身分證明文件。依據《戶籍法》第八條，人民年滿十四歲者，應請領國民身分證；未滿十四歲者，得申請發給。依據《姓名條例施行細則》第二條，「國內有戶籍國民本名之證明為國民身分證，未滿十四歲者，得用戶口名簿或戶籍謄本代替之。」

另戶籍法施行細則規定「應攜帶國民身分證」，但並未訂定相關罰則。

省籍情結

所謂的省籍情結指的是台灣本省人與外省人之間所發生的相互排斥問題，本省人指的是其祖先已在台定居且生活之民眾，外省人指的是1949年前後隨國民黨撤退之中國大陸軍民。由於生活習慣、歷史記憶社會資源分配的不同，常導致兩種族群發生排斥。

學者意見: 台灣大學歷史系教授李永熾認為，馬關條約雖然讓台灣變成了日本的殖民地，但是滿清官員對臺灣長期忽視，而在歐美日本等國注意台灣的戰略地位和天然資源後，才逼使清廷在台建省的被動政治，此都證明台灣在滿清時期也和殖民地一樣。滿族人一直都是殖民臺灣的外族，臺灣漢人被滿族殖民迫害直到馬關條約才暫告結束，而馬關條約可以說是台灣漢人和中國漢人各自追求自己幸福的分歧點。漢族經辛亥革命脫離了滿族的殖民統治，又以自我中心把滿族、蒙古、回族、藏族等民族締結為一，組成中華民族。在台灣的漢族則與中國毫無關聯地自我展開抗日的脫殖民地運動，並且逐漸形成以台灣意識為基礎的島國意識。

淡江大學公共行政學系副教授施正鋒認為，戰前的台灣人只有漢族意識，尚未有台灣意識，台灣人的自我認同來自於想像中的純正漢人原生血統。又說戰前的台灣人動輒被日本殖民者辱罵為「清國奴」，這脫不了血統主義；戰後的台灣人視外省人為「清國奴」、甚至是非人的「咬柑仔」，也是由原生的觀點著眼。一位外省支持台獨退休教授認為蔣介石家族領頭的國民黨被中國人民驅逐來台，便使用滿清八旗制度建構不同等級的滿族統治方式統治臺灣。也有人認為「外省人推廣滿清官話時，聲稱為是高尚的國語、台灣人普遍使用的語言是低俗不堪的地方方言。」台灣的滿族除了彰化粘氏之外，其餘滿人皆隨同國民政府撤退才來台灣，而中華民國滿族協會宗旨便是追求兩岸和平統一，不過這種言論在一般台灣歷史研究學界中不常見，較屬於他個人的一家之言。

隨著時代的變遷，台灣年輕一代大部分已經很少有省籍情結，取而代之的則是反中情節。

外省人對本省人的偏見: 由於老一代的外省人與本省人在對代日本人的歷史問題上，有完全不一樣的歷史經驗，造成許多外省人無法忍受部分本省人所存有的日本情結，認為這是台灣人數典忘祖，背叛民族的行為，因而以漢奸或者二鬼子等情緒用語，對本省人進行污衊。甚至直到今天，許多老一代的外省人，都還認為台獨運動的幕後支持者為日本政府，認為李登輝總統不單是要消滅與分裂中華民國的主權，而且還希望引日本人回到台灣重新建立殖民帝國。

然而這種論述其實並無法經過歷史考驗，固然台灣在日治時代確實有許多民眾接受了皇民化運動的影響，對日本文化相當熟悉，然而台灣人民對漢民族文化的認同大體上仍是堅定不移的，當時的臺灣人只是利用日文及日本文化來進行現代化及西化。這可以從國民政府光復台灣時，大批台灣民眾到港口歡迎國軍的歷史畫面加以驗證。

諷刺的是臺灣的親日派是在國民黨統治後才大幅擴大的。臺灣人在日本殖民時代對日本的反感是相當強烈的，臺灣漢人與原住民的武裝與非武裝抗日運動，也從來沒有停止過。只是過去反對日本的臺灣菁英，也受過完整的日本教育，很像日本人；至於反日意識較低甚至缺乏的族群，其實是受日本教育較少的農工族群。過去的反日族群，到現代已經走向相對親日、支持民進黨及台獨，這樣的轉變是國共兩黨及一些中國民族主義人士自造孽（如國民黨迫害了不少臺籍抗日人士，而中共及中國憤青對日本歷史教科書的指責被認為是做賊的喊抓賊）。許多本省族群認為，國民黨的統治只是中國版的殖民政策與皇民化政策，而且更令人厭惡。

即便是在大陸時期領導抗日的國民黨領導人，在抵達台灣後，為了防止日本與中共建交，也採取了許多親日的政策，而包括蔣中正、何應欽與張群等國民黨要人，在日本更享有相當高的聲望，日本首相岸信介甚至協助國民黨政權在日本逮捕與引渡主張台獨的本省異議份子回到台灣。以這種情況來看，外省人或許比本省人更為親日。

如今在台灣，許多的外省籍藝人，如大小S還有黃子佼，如今也是將日本流行文化引入台灣的仲介力量。

而實際上，「中共在道德上沒資格反日」的觀念也是許多年輕一代外省人所認同的。

本省人對外省人的偏見: 早年本省族群對外省人的反感，是起源於國民黨接收臺灣，國民黨接收日本佔領區的類似行為也引起當地居民的嚴重反感；而後國民黨的各項錯誤政策更是火上加油，例如國民黨對外省權貴的優惠政策。許多本省人雖然選擇與國民黨合作、成為國民黨本土派及地方派系，但是對外省人非常厭惡；但在另一方面，反對國民黨的外省人也不少，許多本省人只是反對國民黨，而非反對外省人。

其中最大的誤解是國民黨壓榨本省人、補貼外省人；實際上獲得過份補貼的是權貴、而非所有外省人，只是權貴外省籍比例高；另外許多外省老兵的生活與本省貧民一樣艱苦，而兩蔣給予一些本省家族相當的利益。

而這些偏見，本來應該在老一輩的本省人凋零後漸漸消失。

另一個偏見是，支持泛藍的本省人省籍情結較為輕微，但實際上常見相反的情況。

本省人本來就在擔心外省人會在基於弱勢的情況下，拉攏中共對抗本省人。在過去、就算是民進黨內部也認為這種觀點是偏激觀點；不過擔心泛藍聯共反臺已經在近來已經不被視為偏激、成為主流觀點。外省人支持泛藍比例較高的事實讓反對泛藍常常遷怒到外省人，而有識之士一再強調，反對的是獨裁政權，而非外省人。

二十一世紀以來，臺灣人的中國民族主義快速淡化，但國民黨卻走向親共，中共在人權民主自由方面的發展卻毫無進步，因而加深了許多臺灣人對國民黨的反感，同時也讓更多臺灣人對中國民族主義抱持敵意，而目前泛藍、中共、統派已經被視為（至少是抬面下的）利益共同體，因此泛藍政治人物也不敢公然表態支持統一；尤其是在馬英九上台後，其親共行為更是立刻引起了廣泛的反感，馬英九的形象也快速走向負面，就算馬英九總統多次公開表示不追求統一，但馬統、區長等綽號更是直接攻擊其統派立場。臺灣許多人對於國民黨的反感，經常擴及到了外省人，這是因為外省人對國民黨的支持度很高，而這樣的情節也因為國民黨的親共而持續發展。

但同樣的，因為國民黨的行為而遷怒外省人也被認為是偏激，因為許多外省人反對親共及偏激的中國民族主義；在經濟方面，年輕一輩的外省人也很容易成為兩岸過快經濟交流的受害者。更大的問題是，雖然民進黨能在兩岸交流中較為堅持國格，但是民進黨並非拒絕與中國往來，只是比國民黨稍微嚴格的限制兩岸經濟交流，而臺灣人在兩岸交流中受到的直接衝擊是由經濟交流造成的。

實際上兩岸交流造成的對立，其實有很多是全球化擴大輸者圈，因此加強的階級對立；不過很諷刺的是，許多原本在中間階級的本省族群的年輕男性因為兩岸交流及全球化而成為現代羅漢腳，因而能夠理解外省老兵無法結婚的痛苦。

而近來郭冠英辱台事件也造成很大的反感。郭冠英的言行，正是對於「聯共賣臺」指控的對號入座；對於郭冠英的激烈反應，代表許多臺灣人擔心馬政府高層的心理狀況都與郭冠英相近，只是懂得偽裝。雖然說多數外省人也厭惡郭冠英，但仍有人會將對郭冠英的反感遷怒於外省人，當然也有外省人會將許多批判郭冠英的言論曲解成批判外省人。

很諷刺的是，臺灣人對共產黨的厭惡有一大部分是國民黨教育出來的；國民黨早年被批判反共反過頭，而近年來則是被批判過於親共。

省籍情結事件記錄

228事件: 行政院研究二二八事件小組總主筆賴澤涵說：「民國三十六年發生的『二二八事件』是台灣史上最慘痛的人間悲劇。當時傷亡者可能數千，甚至上萬，上自社會菁英份子，下至升斗小民，蒙冤而死者不知凡幾，因此造成受難家屬及民間對此事件的不能忘懷，此由人為因素造成的不幸事件，導致後來的台獨運動、左傾思想甚至省籍情結的產生，嚴重影響到台灣社會的和諧，甚或未來的社會發展。」

吳孟德風波: 高雄市政府工務局長吳孟德在議會答覆質詢時，一句「外省人來太多了！」引起公憤，在場議員立即不分黨派同仇敵愾，譴責吳孟德意識形態偏差，竟然在議事廳挑起省籍情結。部分議員要求他下台負責，民進黨團也發表聲明要求市長謝長廷撤換吳孟德。下午，吳孟德鄭重向高雄市民道歉，承認自己失言，認為是一時口快，衝口而出，其實他要說的是「外來人口」一下子增高，導致土地負荷不了。隔日為抗議吳孟德發言失當，高市外省族群近五百餘人，今天早上包了十四輛遊覽車，在市議員楊色玉、戴德銘、梅再興、簡金城等人的帶領下，於九時許抵高市議會進行陳情，希望市議會能請市長謝長廷來議會說明。最後,謝長廷強調，他個人沒有省籍情結，像高市府廿餘位局處首長中，就有數位是外省精英都被重用，他並說，誰想在這個問題上無限上綱的大作文章，最後是討不到什麼好處，針對吳孟德事件他認為是失言，願意為此公開向社會大眾道歉。不過在偏綠知名人士的眼中,例如吳祥輝反而認為許多居住在台灣的外省人有病，病得很不輕。他將它稱之為「被強迫的移民併發症」。

郭冠英風波: 以范蘭欽為筆名，而由郭冠英發表的文章內容中，自認為「高級的外省人」，稱某些本省人為「台巴子」、「倭奴」等,最後引起許多民眾不滿以及深綠民眾的撻伐。「郭冠英風波」讓人們體會到，省籍問題在台灣看似平靜，其實卻仍然暗潮洶湧。

* 台灣歷史

* 台灣白色恐怖時期

* 二二八事件

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新住民

1990年代以來，主要以東南亞國家與中國大陸等地人民，因透過通婚方式移居台灣（大部份是女性），新住民逐漸成為外籍配偶的稱呼。

原屬國籍	人數	構成比
合計中華人民共和國香港澳門	297,237 285,158 12,079	66.91% 64.19% 2.72%
越南	84,246	18.97%
印度尼西亞	26,980	6.07%
泰國	7,970	1.79%
菲律賓	6,888	1.55%
柬埔寨	4,306	0.97%
日本	3,270	0.74%
南韓	1,037	0.23%
其他國家	12,282	2.76%
總計	444,216	100.00%
資料來源：內政部入出國及移民署與戶政司。本表數據包含已取得中華民國國籍者。 2010年12月底。

外籍配偶

外籍配偶，在台灣係泛指與本國籍人士締結婚姻的非本國籍人士，而外籍新娘即台灣民間對女性外籍配偶之稱呼，該移民族群源自1970年代末期。

因「外籍新娘」字眼容易將該族群人士標籤化，台灣部分團體希望以新移民女性來替代官方之外籍配偶名稱或民間之外籍新娘俗稱。也就是將可泛指世界上所有女性移民者的新移民女性名稱來做為嫁來台灣的東南亞及中國大陸女性的統稱。

定義: 1990年代以後，台灣外籍配偶人數漸增，台灣主流媒體往往特別對於其中的女性配偶，冠以「新娘」的稱呼，例如：印尼籍者稱呼為「印尼新娘」，越南籍者稱呼為「越南新娘」，中國大陸籍者則稱呼為「大陸新娘」，並以「外籍新娘」統稱這個群體。後來，媒體在縮短新聞標題的壓力之下，有時更會將上述名稱簡化為「印娘」、「越娘」、「陸娘」等等。事實上，台灣官方都以外籍配偶稱呼之。例如：「印尼配偶」、「越南配偶」、「大陸配偶」等。

由於外籍配偶泛指與本國籍人士締結婚姻的非本國籍人士，而此定義不惟台灣獨有，世界各地皆然，本質上亦不具貶義。但在語言使用的自然演進過程中，在台灣，有人認為該詞的定義漸漸往外籍新娘的意思靠近，生活上使用該名詞常會被認為係指涉嫁至台灣的東南亞及中國大陸的女性－即使此一解釋與實際定義不符，換句話說，根據部分台灣人的刻板印象，外籍配偶又被窄化成「東南亞或中國大陸國籍」、「女性」、「嫁至台灣而非其他地方」的一群人。

後來另有部分台灣人開始思考這些用語可能帶有歧視的意思，他們認為同樣住在台灣的人，不應因為其原國籍而被冠上如此刻版化的稱呼，因此於2003年，婦女新知基金會曾舉辦「請叫我──，讓新移民女性說自己徵文活動」，以表達這些女性希望社會能稱呼她們為「新移民女性」的訴求。

現況: 2006年，台灣結婚登記共計142669對，其中在台外籍配偶（不含中華人民共和國籍人士）為9524人，較2005年略減4284人，而中華人民共和國籍的外籍配偶人數為14406人，較2005年減少213人。據中華民國內政部2007年1月《內政統計通報》得知，該減少原因，主要是為了「杜絕利用假結婚之名來臺工作或從事不法等」而於2003年9月全面施行「大陸外籍配偶面談制度與外籍配偶境外訪談措施」所致。若以比例來看，2006年台灣總結婚對數中，配偶為外籍配偶（不包含中華人民共和國籍）者為7％，為中華人民共和國籍配偶者約一成，兩者合佔17％左右。此比例與2003年外籍配偶入境最高峰之三成一情況比較，2006年外籍配偶結婚登記人數的降幅高達15%。除此，與之前相同的，今台灣女性外籍配偶者佔總數七成以上。

截至2006年底止，台灣外籍配偶人數約達38.4萬人，已接近台灣原住民的人數（台灣原住民人口約48萬人），約佔台灣總人口百分一點六，更佔15歲以上人口的百分之二以上。其中外籍配偶（含歸化取得中華民國國籍者）佔34.9％，中華人民共和國籍配偶佔65.1％。

如果按照縣市來看，95年結婚登記之外籍配偶人數23,930人中，以臺北縣4,454人佔18.61％最多，臺北市2,845人佔11.89％次多，桃園縣2,499人佔10.44％居第三；如就所佔該縣結婚比率觀察，則以金門縣37.42％最高，連江縣34.67％次高，苗栗縣20.19％居第三。

以目前外籍配偶在各縣市來看，外籍配偶以新北市14,213人占總外籍配偶比率為18.73％最多，桃園縣7,226人佔11.09％次多，臺北市5,736人居第三。以外籍配偶的來源國家來看，不包含中華人民共和國籍，以越南佔60.97％最多，其餘依序為印尼佔11.04％、泰國佔10.27％、菲律賓佔4.07％。

而如果以台灣內部各族群男性的外籍配偶來源，可以發現外省人比較傾向娶中華人民共和國籍女性，而客家人比較傾向印尼籍（客家人是印尼華人主流）。由印尼移民至台灣的新移民女性大多來自客家人早期採礦和務農的坤甸、山口洋、邦加、勿里洞等地。

在台越南人

在台越南人（越南語：Người Việt tại Đài Loan）或越南裔台灣人（Người Đài Loan gốc Việt），是指居住在台灣的越南人，其中包括越戰後的難民，以及前往台灣工作、或是與台灣人結婚並移居台灣的越南人。除了經由合法手續前往台灣之外，有一些在台越南人是非法移民，也有一些是人口販賣的受害者。此外，在台灣的越南人有些是越南華人。

根據中華民國內政部在2006年的統計，台灣有大約104807名居留於台灣的越南籍人士；大部分的身分是勞工，到2007年10月為止，於台灣工作的越南勞工共有69464人。而2006年歸化為中華民國國籍的越南人共有10173人，佔該年歸化中華民國總人數的85%；其中多數是女性，理由大多是作為配偶。

越南女性配偶: 自從1997年以後，台灣的「外籍新娘」開始以越南人為主，到了2001年時已佔總外籍配偶人數的49%。原本台越婚姻的簽證面談是個別進行，但是從1999年以後就改成集體面談，使得每年都有超過1萬對的配偶成婚。到了2005年，才又改為每天最多20對的個別面談模式。這些越南新娘的平均年齡大約是25歲或26歲左右，其中大約54%來自胡志明市；而娶她們台灣新郎，則平均大約有36歲或38歲左右。在族裔方面，若以父系血緣來作統計，則約73%的越南新娘是京族；另有約27%為華裔。越南新娘的學歷普遍為小學畢業，調查顯示有20%左右的越南新娘學歷高過她的丈夫。

執政的越南共產黨政府並不認同台越之間跨國仲介婚姻，越南政府曾經透過立法來限制越南女性因婚姻而流向台灣，在2002年以及2005年所通過的一系列決議中，對越南女性的外籍結婚對象作出規定，其中禁止或部分禁止的對象包括有年齡差異超過20歲或30歲者，以及身心障礙者等，並且規定結婚對象必須有共同語言可相互溝通。而台灣政府雖然希望對台越婚姻多作限制，但是實際上只能透過簽證來作管制手段，因為不論是台灣或越南政府，都沒有太多權力可以阻礙他人結婚。

越南勞工: 台灣與越南在1999年訂定了雙邊協定。2000年11月15日，第一批越南籍勞工來到台灣工作，這些勞工為女性。根據2007年11月的資料，越南籍勞工主要從事製造業，共有32000多人；以及服務業，共有35000多人，其他有少數是從事農業與漁業，各有數百人。台灣各地共有近7萬的越南籍勞工，其中台灣北部的桃園縣與台北縣分別有13000多人與8000多人，是越南勞工最多的縣市。

台灣越南勞工的逃跑比例與來自其他國家的勞工相比之下偏高，自從2002年開始，越南勞工成為台灣逃跑比例最高的外籍勞工，於2003年的逃逸率為9.63%。有些逃逸勞工脫離合法僱主之後進行非法打工，有些則參與犯罪。越南勞工本身也是一些犯罪行為的受害者，例如有台灣的大學生對越南勞工毆打或搶劫，也有些勞工遭到仲介虐待、威脅，甚至性侵害。

著名人士

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臺灣裔美國人

臺灣裔美國人是指來自臺灣及其附屬地區的美國公民。在美國政府的統計資料上經常將之歸類為華裔美國人。另外，臺灣裔美國人同時也是亞裔美國人當中的一個群體。

歷史: 1949年，中國共產黨成立了中華人民共和國，效忠中華民國的軍隊和難民則撤退到了臺灣。由於冷戰的緣故，美國繼續承認中國國民黨所領導的中華民國政府為中國的合法政府，這樣的情況一直持續到1979年。由於美國直到1977年才解除共產國家向美國的移民限制，所以在此之前留予「中國」的移民配額絕大多數都給了臺灣。在1952年及1965年美國對外國移民的限制逐步解除後，許多臺灣人移民美國，這是第一波移民，這時來自臺灣的移民多數為所謂的外省人。《1965年移民法案》給予有專業技術和有親屬是美國公民者優先移民的待遇。

中華民國於1971年退出聯合國以及於1979年與美國斷交時，皆造成一定規模的移民潮。不過，1979年通過的《臺灣關係法》給予臺灣人和中國人分開的移民配額。另外在臺灣的白色恐怖時期，一些留學生由於所謂的黑名單而無法返國，形同被流放海外，被迫入美國國籍，這些屬於「離散的臺灣人」（Taiwanese diaspora）。1980年代開始，由於臺灣的經濟和政治情況逐漸改善，臺灣往美國的移民數量開始漸減。不過，往後還是有一定數量的臺灣人基於求學、經商或追求更好生活環境品質而移民美國，這些移民多半被稱為「新僑」（相對於幾十年前來美的臺裔「老僑」）。

人口: 美國大多數調查將臺灣、新加坡等移民歸類為「華裔美國人」。美國台灣人公共事務會（FAPA）粗估從臺灣赴美的臺裔美國人及其後代的數量約有50萬人。其中有多少是所謂的「臺美人」，目前並沒有完整的統計數據。

由於「臺灣裔美國人」的分類是出自於政治因素，特別是要和「受中國共產黨統治的中國」進行區隔；然而，華裔美國人並不是基於政治而是出於民族的分類。如同新加坡或甚至東南亞其他地區的華人移民美國，也是華裔美國人。加上臺灣人口之中還有一定比例是屬於二戰後從中國來的所謂外省人，因此分類臺灣裔美國人在民族以及文化的角度上確實有其實際困難。

聚居地: 由於在經濟上相對富裕以及教育程度高，許多臺灣移民並沒有居住在傳統華埠（唐人街，主要說粵語）；相對地，大部分臺灣移民直接到美國房屋和土地較昂貴的城市郊區定居，並且開發出新的臺灣人社區，這些區域通常被稱為「小臺北」，例如：1980年代的洛杉磯郡蒙特利公園市（Monterey Park），以及晚近的洛杉磯羅蘭崗（Rowland Heights）。

紐約市的法拉盛（Flushing）、北加州舊金山灣區的矽谷（Silicon Valley）地區、南加州橘郡（Orange County）的爾灣市（Irvine）和洛杉磯郡（Los Angeles County）的喜瑞都（Cerritos）及其鄰近地區均有相當多的臺灣移民（值得一提的是，爾灣市和喜瑞都皆入圍「全美城市聯盟」評選的「2010年卓越城市獎」總決賽，與全美另外幾個城市爭奪該項殊榮）。

擁有最多臺裔人口的區域當屬「洛杉磯聖蓋博谷（San Gabriel Valley）地區」（城市或社區如：蒙特利公園、阿罕布拉、聖蓋博、柔似蜜、天普市、亞凱迪亞、聖瑪利諾、南巴沙迪那、核桃市、鑽石吧、哈仙達崗和羅蘭崗）。

此外，紐澤西州、華盛頓州、德克薩斯州、伊利諾州和喬治亞州等地也有許多頗具規模的臺灣人社區。

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