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:''For other parts forming the Free Area of the Republic of China, see Kinmen, Matsu Islands, Wuqiu Island, Pratas Islands and Taiping Island.'' Taiwan (historically called Formosa, from Portuguese: ''Ilha Formosa'', "Beautiful Island", (:ˌiʎɐ fuɾˈmɔzɐ)) is an island in East Asia; it is located some off the southeastern coast of China across the Taiwan Strait. It has an area of and spans the Tropic of Cancer. The East China Sea lies to the north, the Philippine Sea to the east, the Luzon Strait directly to the south and the South China Sea to the southwest. Taiwan proper makes up 99% of the territory of the Free Area of Republic of China, after the ROC lost its mainland China territory in the Chinese Civil War and fled to the island in 1949, and the country itself is commonly referred to as simply "Taiwan". Taiwan is a tilted fault block, characterized by the contrast between the eastern two-thirds, consisting mostly of five rugged mountain ranges parallel to the east coast, and the flat to gently rolling plains of the western third, where most of Taiwan's population reside. There are several peaks over 3,500 m, the highest being Yu Shan at , making Taiwan the world's fourth-highest island. The tectonic boundary that formed these ranges is still active, and the island experiences many earthquakes, a few of them highly destructive. There are also many 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. The island is struck by an average of four typhoons in each year. The eastern mountains are heavily forested and home to a diverse range of wildlife, while land use in the western and northern lowlands is intensive. == Physical boundaries == The total area of the current jurisdiction of the Republic of China is ,〔 making it slightly smaller than the combined area of Maryland and Delaware, or slightly larger than the territory of Belgium. It has a coastline of . The ROC claims an exclusive economic zone of and a territorial sea of .〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Law on the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf of the Republic of China (中華民國專屬經濟海域及大陸礁層法) )〕 The main island of the archipelago, comprising over 99% of ROC territory, is the island of Taiwan, which is long, wide and has an area of .〔 The shape of the main island is similar to a sweet potato oriented in a south-to-north direction, and therefore Taiwanese, especially the Min Nan speakers, often call themselves "children of the Sweet Potato".〔Chao, Kang; Johnson, Marshall (2000). "Nationalist Social Sciences and the Fabrication of Subimperial Subjects in Taiwan." ''Positions'' 8(1) p. 167.〕 The island of Taiwan is separated from the southeast coast of mainland China by the Taiwan Strait, which ranges from at its widest point to at its narrowest. Part of the continental shelf, the Strait is no more than deep, and has become a land bridge during glacial periods. To the south, the island of Taiwan is separated from the Philippine island of Luzon by the -wide Luzon Strait. The South China Sea lies to the southwest, the East China Sea to the north, and the Philippine Sea to the east.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Geography of Taiwan: A Summary )〕 Smaller islands of the archipelago include the Penghu islands in the Taiwan Strait west of the main island, with an area of , the tiny islet of Hsiao Liuchiu off the southwest coast, and Orchid Island and Green Island to the southeast, separated from the northernmost islands of the Philippines by the Bashi Channel. The islands of Quemoy, Matsu and Wuchiu near the coast of Fujian across the Taiwan Strait have a total area of ; the Pratas and Taiping islets in the South China Sea are also administered by Taiwan but are not part of the Taiwanese archipelago. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Geography of Taiwan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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