The Republic of Formosa (literally Democratic State of Taiwan; also known informally in English as the Republic of Taiwan) was a short-lived republic that existed on the island of Taiwan in 1895 between the formal cession of Taiwan by the Qing Dynasty of China to the Empire of Japan by the Treaty of Shimonoseki and its invasion and occupation by Japanese troops.

The Republic was proclaimed on 23 May 1895 and extinguished on 21 October; when the Republican capital Tainan was occupied by the Japanese. Though sometimes claimed as the first Asian republic to have been proclaimed; it was predated by the Lanfang Republic; established in 1777; as well as by the Republic of Ezo established in 1869. Pictures From History