Republic of China (mainland)

Republic of China
中華民國 Chunghwa Minkuo
1912–1949
Top: Flag (1912–28) Bottom: Flag (1928–49) Top: National Emblem (1912–28) Bottom: National Emblem (1928–49)
Anthem 《卿雲歌》 "Song to the Auspicious Cloud" (1913–15, 1921–28) 《中華雄立宇宙間》 "China Heroically Stands in the Universe" (1915–21) 《中華民國國歌》 "National Anthem of the Republic of China" (1937–49) Flag anthem 《中華民國國旗歌》 "National Flag Anthem of the Republic of China" (1937-49)
Location and maximum extent of the territory claimed by the Republic of China.
Capital		Nankinga · Pekingb Chungkingc
Languages		Chinese Tibetan Chagatai/Uighur Manchu Mongolian and other languages
Demonym		Chinese
Government		Federal semi-presidential republic under Beiyang rule (1912–15, 1916–28) One-party state under a military dictatorship (1928–49)
President
•	1912	Sun Yat-sen (first) (provisional)
•	1949	Li Zongren (last) (acting)
Premier
•	1912	Tang Shaoyi (first)
•	1949	He Yingqin (last)
Historical era		20th century
•	Republic proclaimed	1 January 1912
•	Monarchy abolished	12 February 1912
•	Beiyang rule from Peking	10 October 1912
•	Nationalist rule from Nanking	18 April 1927
•	Second Sino-Japanese War	7 July 1937–2 September 1945
•	United Nations admission	25 October 1945
•	People's Republic of China proclaimed	1 October 1949
•	Kuomintang Government flee to Taipei, Taiwan	7 December 1949
Area
•	1912	11,077,380 km2 (4,277,000 sq mi)
•	1946	9,676,204 km2 (3,736,003 sq mi)
Population
•	1912 est.	432,375,000
Density		39/km2 (101/sq mi)
•	1920 est.	472,000,000
Density		43/km2 (110/sq mi)
•	1930 est.	489,000,000
Density		44/km2 (114/sq mi)
•	1946 est.	535,418,000
Density		55/km2 (143/sq mi)
•	1949 est.	541,670,000
Density		56/km2 (145/sq mi)
Currency		Chinese yuan Old Taiwan dollar
Preceded by Succeeded by Qing dynasty China Taiwan Mongolia
a.	1912 and 1927–49 (although see footnote c immediately below).
b.	1912–28.
c.	Chongqing served as capital during the Second Sino-Japanese and Pacific Wars (1937–46).
Populations from http://www.populstat.info/Asia/chinac.htm

Republic of China
"Republic of China" in Traditional (top) and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Postal	Chunghwa Minkuo
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōnghuá mínguó Wade–Giles Chung1-hua2 min2-kuo2 IPA [ʈʂʊ́ŋxwǎ mǐn.kwǒ] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Jūng-wàah màhn-gwok Southern Min Hokkien POJ Tiong-hoâ Bîn-kok Tâi-lô Tiong-huâ bîn-kok
China
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Literal meaning	Middle or Central State
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōngguó Bopomofo ㄓㄨㄥ ㄍㄨㄛˊ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Jong'gwo Wade–Giles Chung1-kuo2 Tongyong Pinyin Jhongguó MPS2 Jūng-guó IPA [ʈʂʊ́ŋ.kwǒ] other Mandarin Xiao'erjing ﺟْﻮﻗُﻮَع‎ Sichuanese Pinyin Zong1 gwe2 Wu Romanization Tson平-koh入 Gan Romanization Tung-koe̍t Xiang IPA Tan33-kwɛ24/ Hakka Romanization Dung24-gued2 Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Jūnggwok Jyutping Zung1-gwok3 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Tiong-kok Eastern Min Fuzhou BUC Dṳ̆ng-guók Pu-Xian Min Hinghwa BUC De̤ng-go̤h Northern Min Jian'ou Romanized Dô̤ng-gŏ
Tibetan name
Tibetan	ཀྲུང་ཧྭ་དམངས་གཙོའི། ་རྒྱལ་ཁབ
Transcriptions Wylie krung hwa dmangs gtso'i rgyal khab
Zhuang name
Zhuang	Cunghvaz Minzgoz
Mongolian name
Mongolian Cyrillic	Дундад иргэн улс
Mongolian script	ᠳᠤᠮᠳᠠᠳᠤ ᠢᠷᠭᠡᠨ ᠤᠯᠤᠰ
Transcriptions SASM/GNC Dumdadu irgen ulus
Uyghur name
Uyghur	جۇڭخۇا مىنگو
Transcriptions Latin Yëziqi Jungxua Mingo Yengi Yeziⱪ Junghua Mingo Siril Yëziqi Җуңхуа Минго
Manchu name
Manchu script	ᡩᡠᠯᡳᠮᠪᠠᡳ ᡳᡵᡤᡝᠨ ᡤᡠᡵᡠᠨ
Romanization	Dulimbai irgen' gurun

The Republic of China was a sovereign state in East Asia, that occupied the territories of modern China, and for part of its history Mongolia and Taiwan. It was founded in 1912, after the Qing dynasty, the last imperial dynasty, was overthrown in the Xinhai Revolution. The Republic's first president, Sun Yat-sen, served only briefly before handing over the position to Yuan Shikai, former leader of the Beiyang Army. His party, then led by Song Jiaoren, won the parliamentary election held in December 1912. Song was assassinated shortly after, and the Beiyang Army led by Yuan Shikai maintained full control of the government in Beijing. Between late 1915 and early 1916, Yuan tried to reinstate the monarchy, before resigning after popular unrest. After Yuan's death in 1916, members of cliques in the former Beiyang Army claimed their autonomy and clashed with each other. During this period, the authority of the republican government was weakened by a restoration of the Qing government.

In 1925, Sun's Kuomintang established a rival government in the southern city of Guangzhou together with the fledgling Communist Party of China. The economy of the north, overtaxed to support warlord adventurism, collapsed in 1927–28. General Chiang Kai-shek, who became KMT leader after Sun's death, started his military Northern Expedition campaign in order to overthrow the government in Beijing. The government was overthrown in 1928 and Chiang established a new nationalist government in Nanjing. In April 1927, he massacred the communists in Shanghai, which forced the communists into armed rebellion, marking the beginning of the Chinese Civil War.