Geography of Taiwan

Geography of Taiwan

Taiwan is mostly mountainous in the east, with gently sloping plains in the west. The Penghu Islands appear in the Taiwan Strait to the west of the main island.
Region	East Asia
Area	Ranked 138
• Total	36,197 km2 (13,976 sq mi)
• Land	89.7%
• Water	10.3%
Coastline	1,566.3 km (973.3 mi)
Highest point	Yu Shan, 3,952 m (12,966 ft)
Climate	Tropical marine[1]
Natural resources	Small deposits of coal, natural gas, limestone, marble, asbestos, arable land[1]
Environmental issues	Air pollution, water pollution from industrial emissions and raw sewage, contamination of drinking water, trade in endangered species, low-level radioactive waste disposal[1]
Exclusive economic zone	83,231 km2 (32,136 sq mi)

Taiwan
Traditional Chinese	臺灣 or 台灣
Simplified Chinese	台湾
Postal	Taiwan
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Táiwān Bopomofo ㄊㄞˊ ㄨㄢ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Tair'uan Wade–Giles T'ai2-wan1 Tongyong Pinyin Táiwan MPS2 Táiwān IPA [tʰǎɪ.wán] Wu Romanization Wu Chinese pronunciation: [d̥e uɛ] Hakka Romanization Thòi-vàn Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Toi4 Waan1 IPA [tʰɔːi˩ waːn˥] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Tâi-oân Tâi-lô Tâi-uân Eastern Min Fuzhou BUC Dài-uăng

Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country in East Asia. The island of Taiwan, formerly known as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territories under ROC control. The main island is 35,808 square kilometres (13,826 sq mi) and lies some 180 kilometres (112 mi) across the Taiwan Strait from the southeastern coast of the People's Republic of China (PRC). 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, including the Penghu archipelago in the Taiwan Strait, the Kinmen and Matsu Islands in Fuchien near the PRC's coast, 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 the population resides. Several peaks exceed 3,500 m in height - the highest, Yu Shan at 3,952 m (12,966 ft), makes Taiwan the world's fourth-highest island. The tectonic boundary that formed these ranges remains active, and the island experiences many earthquakes, some of them highly destructive. There are also many^[quantify] active submarine volcanoes in the Taiwan Straits.

The climate ranges from tropical in the south to subtropical in the north, and is governed by the East Asian Monsoon. On average, four typhoons strike the main island each year. The heavily forested eastern mountains provide a habitat for a diverse range of wildlife, while human land use in the western and northern lowlands is intensive.