Destination Guide To Taiwan

GEOGRAPHY & BACKGROUND

Taiwan (Traditional Chinese: or Simplified Chinese: Hanyu Pinyin: Táiwan; Wade-Giles: T'ai-wan; Taiwanese: Tâi-oân) is an island in East Asia, but the term "Taiwan" is also commonly used to collectively refer to the territories governed by the state officially known as the Republic of China (ROC), which include the island of Taiwan, Lanyu (Orchid Island) and Green Island in the Pacific off the Taiwan coast, the Pescadores in the Taiwan Strait, and Kinmen and Matsu off the southeastern coast of the People's Republic of China.

The main island of Taiwan, sometimes also referred to as Formosa (from Portuguese, meaning "beautiful"), is located at 22°57'N 120°12'E, off the coast of mainland China, south of Japan and north of the Philippines. It is bounded to the east by the Pacific Ocean, to the south by the South China Sea and the Luzon Strait, to the west by the Taiwan Strait and to the north by the East China Sea. The island is 394 kilometers (245 miles) long and 144 kilometers (89 miles) wide and consists of steep mountains covered by tropical and subtropical vegetation.

In an ongoing dispute, the People's Republic of China (PRC) denies the legitimacy of the Republic of China (ROC), claiming Taiwan as part of its own territory which should eventually be unified with the PRC under the "one country, two systems" scheme currently used for the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao. This claim is rejected by the ROC, which is de facto independent of and distinct from the PRC.

The island of Taiwan lies some 200 kilometers off the southeastern coast of China, across the Taiwan Strait, and has an area of 35,801 square kilometers (13,823 square miles), with the East China Sea to the north, the Philippine Sea to the east, the Luzon Strait directly to the south and the South China Sea to the southwest. The island is characterized by the contrast between the eastern two-thirds, consisting mostly of rugged mountains running in five ranges from the northern to the southern tip of the island, and the flat to gently rolling plains in the west that are also home to most of Taiwan's population. Taiwan's highest point is the Yu Shan at 3,997 meters, and there are five other peaks over 3,500 meters. This makes it the world's 7th highest island

The shape of the main island of Taiwan is similar to a sweet potato seen in a south-to-north direction, and therefore, Taiwanese people, especially the Min-nan division, often call themselves 'children of the Sweet Potato'. There are also other interpretations of the island shape, one of which is a whale in the ocean (the Pacific Ocean) if viewed in a west-to-east direction, which is a common orientation in ancient maps, plotted either by Western explorers or the Ching Dynasty.

Taiwan's climate is marine tropical.[13] The Northern part of the island has a rainy season that lasts from January to late March during the southwest monsoon, and also experiences meiyu in May.[14] The entire island succumbs to hot humid weather from June until September, while October to December are arguably the most pleasant times of year. The middle and southern parts of the island do not have an extended monsoon season during the winter months, but can experience several weeks of rain, especially during and after Lunar New Year. Natural hazards such as typhoons and earthquakes[15] are common in the region.

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