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
Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) bank in 1961, the Bank of Taiwan acted as the "de facto" central bank in Taiwan. On 8 November 1979, the newly revised Central Bank of China Act was promulgated. The Bank of Taiwan issued the New Taiwan dollar until 2000, when the Central Bank of China finally took over the task. In 2000 the English name of the Central Bank of China was renamed Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) along with a host of other renamings under the Chen Shui-bian administration of state-owned corporations with "China" in their name, such as the Chunghwa Post. The headquarters