Taiwan and larger than Belgium. The island of Taiwan has an area of , and lies some from the southeastern coast of mainland China across the Taiwan Strait. The East China Sea lies to the north, the Philippine Sea to the east, the Bashi Channel of the Luzon Strait directly to the south, and the South China Sea to the southwest. Its shape is similar to a sweet potato, giving rise to the slang term "hanji" ("sweet potato" in Hokkien) used by Taiwanese Hokkien speakers to refer to people of native Taiwanese descent. The island is characterized by the contrast between
Taiwan Province, People's Republic of China the PRC claims Taiwan to be its rightful territory, it recognises that Taiwan is outside its actual territory and does not maintain a shadow government or government-in-exile of Taiwan Province. However, its parliament includes legislators to represent Taiwan, most of whom are mainland people of Taiwanese descent. However, one member of the National CPC's Congress (Lu Li'an) was born and grew up in Taiwan (in response the Taiwanese government revoked her citizenship). In deference to the PRC's claim, the United Nations for official purposes calls the Taiwan Area "Taiwan, Province of China". The People's Republic of China was founded in