Taiwan’s estimated population in 2001 was 22,370,461, yielding an average population density of 621 persons per sq km (1,609 per sq mi). The population is unevenly distributed, however, as most people live on the plains and basins west of the Chungyang Range. Taipei, Kaohsiung, and T’aichung are the three largest cities. Metropolitan Taipei is the political, economic, cultural, and transportation center of Taiwan. Kaohsiung is the major industrial center in the south and Taiwan’s largest commercial port. T’aichung is the major industrial center of central Taiwan.

The original inhabitants of Taiwan were Malayo-Polynesian aborigines, who are now organized into quite diverse ethnolinguistic groups. The largest of these groups are the Ami, Atayal, and Paiwan. Chinese immigrants largely displaced or assimilated the plains aborigines and carried on a protracted conflict with the mountain aborigines, who were subdued only by the Japanese. The aborigines, nearly all of whom now live in the foothills and highlands, constitute about 2 percent of the population. Although several aboriginal dialects and many tribal customs have been retained, the aborigines have increasingly become assimilated, linguistically and culturally, into modern Taiwanese society.