Taiwan - has been populated for approximately 50,000 years. Little is known about the original inhabitants, but distinctive jadeware, and corded pottery of the Beinan, Changpin and Tapenkeng cultures show a marked diversity in the island's early inhabitants. Today's Taiwan's aboriginal peoples, are classified as belonging to the Austronesian ethno-linguistic group of people, a linguistic group that stretches as far west as Madagascar, to Easter Island in the east and to New Zealand in the south with Taiwan as the northern most point.