Geography of Taiwan Geography of Taiwan Taiwan, formerly known as Formosa, is an island in East Asia; located some off the southeastern coast of mainland China across the Taiwan Strait. It has an area of , which includes other nearby islands such as Penghu (). 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. The island makes up 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China, which is also known as "Taiwan". Taiwan is a tilted fault block, characterized by the
The Conflict Over the Sovereignty of the Diaoyu Islands -- between Taiwan (ROC), China (PRC), & Japan Jiajing Period of the Ming Dynasty, Japanese pirates invaded China’s southeast coast of China frequently. China was forced to implement effective jurisdiction over the Diaoyu Islands and other islands and patrolled the sea. In the 40th year of Ming Jiajing (1561), Zheng Ruozeng’s "Wanli Coastal Defense Map" included the Diaoyu Islands and eventually recognized these islands as a part of their coastal defense system. In the Qing Dynasty’s royal history inspection report of Taiwan and local compilation of the Fujian Province, they claimed Taiwan was officially ruled under the jurisdiction of the Qing Dynasty in the 22nd year of Kangxi