Overview

Taiwan is also called Nationalist China or the Republic of China, and is located 100 miles from the mainland of China. An island country about twice the size of New Jersey, it measures 13,892 square miles (35,990 square kilometers). The Taiwan Strait, formerly known as the Straits of Formosa, separates Taiwan from the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian. A mountainous country, especially in the eastern two-thirds of the island, Taiwan also has jurisdiction over 22 islands in the Taiwan group and a another 64 in the Pescadores Archipelago to the west. To the north of Taiwan is the East China Sea with the Ryukyu Islands, Okinawa, and Japan; to the south is the Baishi Channel in the South China Sea separating Taiwan from the Philippines; to the east is the Pacific Ocean. The Japanese Current helps give Taiwan a moderate year-round climate, and because the island is situated in the...