Taiwan is a country in East Asia. Its capital city is Taipei. Area of this country is 35,981 sq kms. It is presently in the Republic of China. This country was formerly knows as Formosa. It is situated off southeast coast of China that includes the island of Taiwan, two off-shore islands Quemoy and Matsu, and the nearby islets of the Pescadores chain. It may be mentioned here that originally Taiwan and the adjoining areas were Chinese territory. In 1950, Chiang Kai Shek made Taiwan the headquarters of the Nationalist Republic of China. Although Taiwan still claims to be the legal government of all China, it lost its membership in the United Nations and its permanent seat in the UN Security Council to Communist China in 1971.