Taiwan

=== Pre-colonial period ===
{{Main|Prehistory of Taiwan|Taiwanese indigenous peoples}}
Taiwan was joined to the Asian mainland in the [[Late Pleistocene]], until sea levels rose about 10,000 years ago.<ref name="GillespieGillespie20092">{{cite book |author1=Rosemary Gillespie |url={{GBurl|id=g9ZogGs_fz8C|p=904}} |title=Encyclopedia of Islands |author2=Rosemary G. Gillespie |author3=D. A. Clague |publisher=University of California Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-520-25649-1 |page=904}}</ref> Human remains and [[Paleolithic]] artifacts dated 20,000 to 30,000 years ago have been found.<ref name="PrasetyoNastiti20212">{{cite book |author1=Bagyo Prasetyo |url={{GBurl|id=zFwXEAAAQBAJ|p=125}} |title=AUSTRONESIAN DIASPORA: A New Perspective |author2=Titi Surti Nastiti |author3=Truman Simanjuntak |publisher=UGM PRESS |year=2021 |isbn=978-602-386-202-3 |page=125}}</ref><ref name="palaeolithic2">{{cite journal |last1=Olsen |first1=John W. |last2=Miller-Antonio |first2=Sari |year=1992 |title=The Palaeolithic in Southern China |url=http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/17011 |journal=Asian Perspectives |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=129–160 |hdl=10125/17011}}</ref> These peoples were similar to the [[Negrito|Negrito peoples]] of the Philippines.<ref>{{cite book |surname=Bellwood |given=Peter |title=First Islanders: Prehistory and Human Migration in Island Southeast Asia |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-119-25154-5 |pages=232–240 |contribution=Neolithic Cultures in Southeast China, Taiwan, and Luzon |contributor-surname=Hung |contributor-given=Hsiao-chun}} pp. 234–235.</ref> Paleolithic Taiwanese likely settled the [[Ryukyu Islands]] 30,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite book |surname1=Kaifu |given1=Yousuke |title=Emergence and Diversity of Modern Human Behavior in Paleolithic Asia |surname2=Fujita |given2=Masaki |surname3=Yoneda |given3=Minoru |surname4=Yamasaki |given4=Shinji |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-62349-276-2 |editor1-surname=Kaifu |editor1-given=Yousuke |pages=345–361 |chapter=Pleistocene Seafaring and Colonization of the Ryukyu Islands, Southwestern Japan |editor2-surname=Izuho |editor2-given=Masami |editor3-surname=Goebel |editor3-given=Ted |editor4-surname=Sato |editor4-given=Hiroyuki |editor5-surname=Ono |editor5-given=Akira}}</ref> [[Slash-and-burn]] agriculture practices started at least 11,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite book |surname=Li |given=Paul Jen-kuei |publisher={{lang|zh-tw|前衛出版社}} [Avanguard Publishing House] |year=2011 |isbn=978-957-801-660-6 |edition=Revised |pages=46, 48 |script-title=zh:台灣南島民族的族群與遷徙 |trans-title=The Ethnic Groups and Dispersal of the Austronesian in Taiwan |author-link=Li Jen-kuei |script-quote=zh:根據張光直(1969)...9,000BC起...大量種植稻米的遺跡 |trans-quote=[[Kwang-chih Chang|Chang, Kwang-chih]] (1969): ...traces of slash-and-burn agriculture since 9,000 BC... remains of rice cultivation}}</ref>

Stone tools of the [[Changbin culture]] have been found in [[Taitung County|Taitung]] and [[Eluanbi]]. Archaeological remains suggest they were initially hunter-gatherers that slowly shifted to intensive fishing.{{sfn|Jiao|2007|pp=89–90}}<ref>{{cite book |surname=Liu |given=Yichang |url=http://taiwanpedia.culture.tw/en/content?ID=1170 |title=Encyclopedia of Taiwan |year=2009 |chapter=Changbin Culture |chapter-url=http://taiwanpedia.culture.tw/en/content?ID=1170 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503154631/http://taiwanpedia.culture.tw/en/content?ID=1170 |archivedate=3 May 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The distinct [[Wangxing culture]], found in [[Miaoli County]], were initially gatherers who shifted to hunting.<ref>{{cite book |surname=Liu |given=Yichang |title=Encyclopedia of Taiwan |year=2009 |chapter=Wangxing Culture |accessdate=6 May 2012 |chapter-url=http://taiwanpedia.culture.tw/en/content?ID=1171 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130418214339/http://taiwanpedia.culture.tw/en/content?ID=1171 |archivedate=18 April 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Around 6,000 years ago, Taiwan was settled by farmers of the [[Dapenkeng culture]], most likely from what is now southeast China.{{sfnp|Jiao|2007|pp=91–94}} These cultures are the ancestors of modern [[Taiwanese indigenous peoples|Taiwanese Indigenous peoples]] and the [[Linguistic homeland|originators]] of the [[Austronesian language family]].<ref name="ref122">{{cite journal |last=Diamond |first=Jared M |author-link=Jared Diamond |year=2000 |title=Taiwan's gift to the world |url=http://faculty.washington.edu/plape/pacificarchwin06/readings/Diamond%20nature%202000.pdf |journal=Nature |volume=403 |issue=6771 |pages=709–710 |bibcode=2000Natur.403..709D |doi=10.1038/35001685 |pmid=10693781 |s2cid=4379227 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060916193454/http://faculty.washington.edu/plape/pacificarchwin06/readings/Diamond%20nature%202000.pdf |archive-date=16 September 2006 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |last=Fox |first=James J |year=2004 |title=Current Developments in Comparative Austronesian Studies |url=https://digitalcollections.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/43158/2/Comparative_Austronesian_Studies.pdf |publisher=Universitas Udayana, Bali |book-title=Symposium Austronesia}}</ref> Trade with the [[Philippines]] persisted from the early 2nd millennium BCE, including the use of Taiwanese [[jade]] in the [[Philippine jade culture]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bellwood |first1=Peter |url=http://hdl.handle.net/1885/32545 |title=Paths of Origins: The Austronesian Heritage in the Collections of the National Museum of the Philippines,the Museum Nasional Indonesia,and the Netherlands Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde |last2=Hung |first2=Hsiao-chun |last3=Iizuka |first3=Yoshiyuki |date=2011 |publisher=ArtPostAsia |isbn=978-971-94292-0-3 |editor-last=Benitez-Johannot |editor-first=Purissima |pages=35–37, 41 |chapter=Taiwan Jade in the Philippines: 3,000 Years of Trade and Long-distance Interaction |hdl=1885/32545}}</ref><ref>Iizuka, Yoshiyuki, H. C. Hung, and Peter Bellwood. "A Noninvasive Mineralogical Study of Nephrite Artifacts from the Philippines and Surroundings: The Distribution of Taiwan Nephrite and the Implications for the Island Southeast Asian Archaeology." Scientific Research on the Sculptural Arts of Asia (2007): 12–19.</ref>

The Dapenkeng culture was succeeded by a variety of cultures throughout the island, including the [[Tahu culture|Tahu]] and [[Yingpu culture|Yingpu]]; the Yuanshan were characterized by rice harvesting. Iron appeared in such cultures as the [[Niaosung culture]], influenced by trade with China and [[Maritime Southeast Asia]].{{sfnp|Jiao|2007|pp=94–103}}{{sfn|Li|2019|pp=26&ndash;27}} The [[Plains Indigenous peoples]] mainly lived in permanent walled villages, with a lifestyle based on [[agriculture]], [[fishing]], and [[hunting]].<ref name="InstEthno">{{cite web |date=2012 |script-title=zh:認識平埔族 |url=http://www.ianthro.tw/p/39 |access-date=15 September 2012 |publisher=Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica |language=zh}}</ref> They had traditionally [[Matriarchal society|matriarchal societies]].<ref name="InstEthno"/>