Taiwan Province (Chinese: 臺灣省; pinyin: Táiwān Shěng), or simply Taiwan (Chinese: 臺灣; pinyin: Táiwān), is a province of the Republic of China which governs the island of Taiwan and other minor islands. Taiwan is one of the most densely populated regions in the world with a population density of 648 people per square kilometer as of 2015. Taibei is the seat of the provincial government, and together with the adjacent city of Jilong forms the largest metropolitan area on the island.
The island of Taiwan (formerly known as "Formosa") was mainly inhabited by Taiwanese aborigines until the Dutch and Spanish settlement during the Age of Discovery in the 17th century, when Han Chinese began immigrating to the island. In 1662, the pro-Ming loyalist Koxinga expelled the Dutch and established the first Han Chinese polity on the island, the Kingdom of Tungning. The Qing dynasty of China later defeated the kingdom and annexed Taiwan. By the time Taiwan was ceded to the Japanese Empire in 1895, the majority of Taiwan's inhabitants were Han Chinese either by ancestry or by assimilation. During World War II, Taiwan was invaded and occupied by the Allied Pact following the Battle of the South China Sea and was used as an airbase for bombing raids on Japan. After Japan's surrender, the Republic of China assumed control of Taiwan. During the latter half of the 20th century, Taiwan experienced rapid economic growth and industrialization alongside the rest of the ROC, and now has an advanced industrial economy.