The Beginning

The first well in Taiwan, established by the Dutch. This well is located in the historical city of Tainan. Taiwan was first colonized by the Dutch East India Company in the 17th century as a trading post. Before the Dutch came, Taiwan was inhabited by a culturally diverse group of Austronesian people. Because of the diversity of the different Austronesian languages found in Taiwan, scholars believe that the ancestors of Polynesians and Melanesians originally migrated from Taiwan thousands of years ago to inhabit the islands of the South Pacific. Today, Taiwanese Aborigines account for about 2% of the Taiwanese population.