Taiwan is a beautiful island located in the Asian Pacific Ocean, inhabited by various ethnic groups, of which the Indigenous Peoples is about 567,000 accounting for 2% of the total population. At present, the 16 nationalities identified by the government include: Amis, Atayal, Paiwan, Bunun, Puyuma, Rukai, Tsou, Saisiyat, Yami, Thao, Kavalan, Truku, Sakizaya, Seediq, Hla'alua, Kanakanavu and so on. Each ethnic group has its own culture, language, customs and social structure. For Taiwan, the Indigenous Peoples is an important source of history and culture as well as a unique treasure of beauty.
Amis: The Amis people are living in the east side of the Central Range, the south of Liwu Creek, along the East Rift Valley along Pacific coast and the East Coast Plain. Most of the Amis people live in plains, but only a few live in the valleys.
Atayal: The Atayal are living in the mountainous areas of north-central Taiwan, including the north of the Puli-Hualien line.
Paiwan: The Paiwan are mostly active in southern Taiwan, starting from Dawu Mountains in the north, reaches Hengchun in the south, Ailiao in the west, and the southern coast of Tamari in the east.
Bunun: The Bunun are living in the mountainous area of the Central Range with an elevation of 1000-2000m. It extends to Namaxia Township of Kaohsiung County and Haiduan Township of Taitung County. Most Bunun people live in the borders of Nantou County.
Pinuyumayan: The Pinuyumayan are living in the south of East Rift Valley.
Rukai: The Rukai are living in Maolin Township of Kaohsiung County, Wutai Township of Pingtung County and Dongxing Village of Taitung County.
Tsou: The Tsou mainly live in Alishan Township of Chiayi County and Xinyi Township of Nantou County.
Saisiyat: The Saisiyat live in the mountainous area between Hsinchu County and Miaoli County. It is also divided into two major ethnic groups: the Southern Tribes and the Northern Tribes. The Northern ones live in Wufeng Township, Hsinchu County, and the South ones live in Nanzhuang Township and Shitan Township, Miaoli County.
Yami: The Yami are scattered around the six villages on Lanyu Island in Taitung. It is the only marine nation in Taiwan.
Thao: The Thao are living in Yuchi Township and Shuili Township of Nantou County. Most Thao people live in Riyuetan Village near Sun-moon Lake. A small number of Thao people originally belong to the Toushe system live in Dapinglin, Dingkan Village of Shuili Township.
Kavalan: The Kavalan, who used to live in Ilan, has now moved to Hualien and Taitung.
Truku: The Truku are mainly living in the areas from Hualien County to Heping River in the north and from Hongye and Taiping River in the south, namely Xiulin Township, Wanrong Township in Hualien County under the current administrative system as well as a few in Lishan and Lunshan in Zhuoxi Village.
Sakizaya: the settlements of Sakizaya are mainly distributed in the east of Taiwan, roughly within the territory of today’s Hualien County.
Seediq: The origin of Seediq is Truwan. It is located in Chunyang Hot Spring, Ren Ai Township. It is mainly located in the central and eastern parts of Taiwan, which is somewhere between Atayal in the north and Bunun in the south.
Hla’alua: They are living in Gaozhong Li, Taoyuan Li, Taoyuan District, Kaohsiung City and Maya Li, Namasia District.
Kanakanavu: They are living on both banks of Nanzixianxi River Basin in Namaxia District of Kaohsiung City; most of them now live in Dakanouwa Li and May Li.