The Republic of China (traditional Chinese: 中華民國, pinyin: Zhōnghuá Minguó, Wade-Giles: Chung-hua Min-kuo), commonly known as Taiwan (traditional Chinese: 臺灣, pinyin: Táiwān), is a partially recognized sovereign state located in the Far East of Asia.

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The regime of the Republic of China succeeded the last imperial dynasty, the Qing, as a political system in China in 1912. After the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the winning side (the communist party of Mao Zedong) proclaimed the People's Republic of China in Beijing, and the defeated regime of the Republic of China, dominated by the Chinese Nationalist Party or Kuomintang of Chang Kai Chek found refuge on the island of Taiwan, only part of the Chinese territory that would not come under control of the new Chinese regime, and where the Republic of China has remained to this day.

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Since 1949, the Republic of China only manages several islands, mainly the island of Taiwan, along with several small archipelagos such as the Pescadores, Kinmen (or Quemoy), Matsu, Pratas and Taiping islands.