Taiwan is an island in East Asia. "Taiwan" is also commonly used to refer to
the territories administered by the Republic of China (ROC) and to ROC itself,
which governs 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 the Matsu Islands off the coast of mainland Fujian.
The main island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa (from Portuguese (Ilha)
Formosa, meaning "beautiful (island)"), is located in East Asia off the coast of
mainland China, southwest of the main islands of Japan but directly west of the
end of Japan's Ryukyu Islands, and north-northwest of the Philippines. It is
bound 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.
