Geographical Location

Lying off the southeastern coast of the Chinese mainland, Taiwan is an island province composed of two big islands, Taiwan Island and Penghu Island, and more than 80 islets, covering 36 thousand square kilometers.

To the north of Taiwan is the East China Sea and the Liuqiu archipelago is to its northeast. The Pacific Ocean laps Taiwan's eastern shores and the Bashi Straits in the south. Taiwan is located north of the Philippines, and faces Fujian Province across the Taiwan Straits, with the closest distance between the two provinces being just 130 kilometers. The Taiwan Province is of great strategic importance, since it stays at the center point of the western Pacific sea-route.

Taiwan Straits

The Taiwan Strait is about 380 kilometers long south to north and 190 kilometers wide at their widest point. It's only 130 kilometers from Taiwan's Xinchu city to Pingtan in Fujian Province. On a clear day you can catch a glimpse of Jilong Mountain, in the north of Taiwan Province, from the high mountains in Fujian Province.

Topography

Taiwan Island is China's biggest island and constitutes 97 percent of the area of the province. Two-thirds of Taiwan Island is rugged mountains and the rest Island of the island is covered by gently rolling plains. The five major mountains on the island are Zhongyang Mountain, Yushan Mountain, Xueshan Mountain, Ali Mountain and Taidong Mountain. Zhongyang Mountain is the center point of the island, and the highest peak, Yushan Mountain, is 3997 meters above sea level.

Taiwan Climate and Local Products

The climate in Taiwan is sub-tropical, so relatively warm all year around. Annual average temperatures are 22 degrees C, except in the island's mountainous areas. Sudden rain showers frequently occur all over the province, which is adversely affected by typhoons, and the snow line is 3000 meters above sea level.

More than half of the total land area in Taiwan is covered by forest, twice the amount of Switzerland, a country with a reputation as the 'Kingdom of Forests', in Europe. The forests support over 4000 plant species from different climatic zones, such as tropical plants, sub-tropical plants, temperate plants and frigid plants. Well known as Asia's botanic garden, Taiwan devotes four fifths of its forests to developing forests for commercial use.

One of Taiwan's best-known products is camphor oil, which is extracted from camphor trees that thrive in Taiwan; the Island's output of this product constitutes about 70 percent of the world total.

Taiwan is also a place where warm and cold currents meet. The waters around the island are home to an abundant supply seafood and more than 500 types of fish. Cities, like Kaohsiung, Jilong, Su'ao, Hualian, Xingang and Penghu are all famous fishing grounds. In addition, locally-made sea salt has also long enjoyed a good reputation.