ABSTRACT
The area of Taiwan (36,006 square km) is slightly less than one-sixth that of the United Kingdom (at 244,820 square km). It is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. On the basis of statistics, it had a population of about 22.87 million at the end of 2007, with a gross population density of approximately 635 per square km and with 7.48 million households (Urban and Housing Development Department 2009). However, this is not equally distributed over the whole island. In the Northern Region, 10.1 million people (44 per cent of the total population) occupy an area of 7,350 square km (20 per cent of the total area), with a population density of 1,375 per square km; in the Central area 5.7 million people (257 per cent of the total) occupy an area of 10,510 square km (29 per cent of the total), at a population density of 546 per square km; whilst in the Southern area 6.5 million people (28 per cent of the total) occupy 10,000 square km (28 per cent of the total area), with a population density of 644 per square km; and the inhabitants of the Eastern region occupy an area of 8,145 square km (23 per cent of the total area) at a population density of only seventy-one persons per square km.1 Table 2.1 shows the population distribution.
