By the end of 1949, most of mainland China was under Communist control.

Official Communist figures counted some 1.5 million dead and wounded among the People’s Liberation Army.

~600,000 Nationalists troops were killed in combat, while roughly three times that many defected to the Communists.

Nearly 7 million Nationalist troops were captured during four years of combat.

Approximately 5 million civilians died as a result of combat, famine, and disease.

As they steadily lost ground to the Communist forces, Chinese Nationalist leaders left mainland China for the island of Taiwan, where they established their new capital.

In 1542 Portuguese sailors named the uncharted island (福爾摩沙) Ilha Formosa (beautiful island). With the establishment of Taiwan Prefecture in 1684, the current Chinese name Taiwan (臺灣) became official.