Geography of Taiwan

Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, is an island country in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, known historically in Portuguese and English as Formosa, makes up 99% of the area controlled by the ROC, measuring 35,808 square kilometres and lying some 180 kilometres across the Taiwan Strait from the southeastern coast of mainland China. The East China Sea lies to the north of the island, the Philippine Sea to its east, the Luzon Strait directly to its south and the South China Sea to its southwest. The ROC also controls a number of smaller islands: some in the Taiwan Strait, and some of the South China Sea Islands.

Geologically, the main island comprises a tilted fault block, characterized by the contrast between the eastern two-thirds, consisting mostly of five rugged mountain ranges running parallel to the east coast, and the flat to gently rolling plains of the western third, where the majority of Taiwan's population resides.