The national mapping agency in Taiwan, the Republic of China, was established as the China Map Service (CMS) in the Ministry of Interior, which began to compile mapping in 1949 after the relocation of the Republic’s map making activities from the mainland following the establishment of the People’s Republic. Responsibility now falls to the Department of Land Administration in the Ministry of Interior (Nei-cheng-pu (NCP)). Complete topographic coverage of Taiwan is maintained in five-color 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 scale series, based on the Transverse Mercator projection, International ellipsoid and with a UTM grid. The 1:25,000 scale map shows relief with 5 m or 10 m contours and is complete in 261 7.5′ quads. The 1:50,000 scale series needs 79 15′ sheets to cover Taiwan, with relief shown by 10 or 20 m contours. Other mapping at 1:500,000 and 1:1,000,000 scale is also issued. All these topographic series use Chinese characters.

Soviet military topographic mapping of Taiwan exists at the following scales: 1:1,000,000 (4 sheets, complete coverage, published 1971-1984); 1:500,000 (5 sheets, complete coverage, published 1971-1983); 1:200,000 (15 sheets, complete coverage, published 1970-1981); 1:100,000 (46 sheets, complete coverage, published 1957-1968) and city (1:10,000) topographic mapping of Chiai (Chiayi City), Kaohsiung (Gaoxiung), Taichung, Tainan and Taipei published between 1972 and 1978. These products are available in print, digital raster and digital vector GIS formats from East View Geospatial.

In the last decade digital mapping systems have been extensively developed in Taiwan. Urban mapping of Taipei for example, is maintained in an AUTOCAD-based GIS and captured from 1:1,000 scale urban coverage by the City Planning Commission of the Taipei government.

Geological mapping of Taiwan is carried out by the Central Geological Survey (CGS) in Taipei. A number of earth science themes are available at 1:500,000 scale or in two-sheet or four-sheet 1:250,000 scale maps, with accompanying English and Chinese language sheet explanations. A 1:50,000 scale geological map is in progress on topographic sheet lines, but with different and sequential numbering; coverage is best in the north of the island.

The Council of Agriculture was an active map publisher in the 1970s and 1980s, including many different thematic coverages of the island.

Nun Hua is a long established commercial map publisher, maintaining a range of over 80 maps of Taiwan, mostly published in Chinese and depicting administrative units, but also including town maps and a few bilingual maps of the country. A recent entrant into the commercial market is International Travel Press in Taipei, who publish useful single sheet maps of the island for the tourist market, as well as a range of town maps. Overseas agencies producing maps of Taiwan include the German commercial publishers Nelles and Karto+Grafik, and the Chinese People’s Republic Cartographic Publishing House (CCPH).

The Bureau of Statistics, Taipei carries out census mapping to support the 10-yearly population censuses.

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