An unusual view of an agrarian region in the process of development by a colonial power. Taiwan (or Formosa), when it reverted to Chinese control in 1945, had been for fifty years the Japanese empire's most cherished foreign possession. Using the remarkable statistical data that the Japanese compiled to aid their administration-one of the most complete and creditable records for a population of this size that has ever been at the disposal of demographers-this book is able to present an authoritative picture of the social economic agricultural and demographic development of the island.

Originally published in 1966.

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