Where Is Taiwan?

Although it is located in Asia, many people wonder where is Taiwan? Taiwan is a part of the Republic of China and is located off the southeastern coast of China. Its location makes it very convenient to many of the major political and cultural powerhouses of Asia such as Japan and China.

Taiwan is a part of the Republic of China (ROC). China obtained Taiwan after Japan released the islands after World War II. Taiwan’s location makes it somewhat separate from the rest of Asia. The Taiwan Strait causes the separation of the island from the rest of the continent.

The geography of this island is quite interesting. The island is said to resemble a sweet potato when viewed from south to north. The layout of the island consists of both mountains for at least two-thirds of the land with the remaining third being flat land and plains. The flat portion of Taiwan is where the majority of its population resides.

There are numerous peaks on the island also. In fact, Yu Shan is actually Taiwan’s highest point at 3,952 meters high. There are also a number of plates on this island which are very active and this caused portions of the island to vary in levels of elevation and surface.

There are also a number of faults on the island that are known to cause a number of significant earthquakes in Taiwan when they move. In fact, Taiwan is considered to be a location that is very susceptible to large, dangerous earthquakes.

Resources of Taiwan

When considering where is Taiwan, people often think of the natural resources that are available on the island. As of 2010, this island specializes in exporting exotic fruits such as guava, lychee, wax apple and bananas. Taiwan also exports high mountain tea.

Over the years, many of the different resources available on the island such as coal, marble and gold were excessively mined and used to the point of extreme depletion. There was also a significant deer presence in Taiwan that was also heavily used and is now depleted.

When Taiwan was under Japanese control, much of the timber -which is in the form of firs- was also heavily harvested is order to build shrines in Japan. The fir tree population has not fully revived since that period and as of 2010 the Taiwanese are not using fir trees as a resource to make money because of concerns about the costs to do so.

At one point in Taiwan’s history, the island refined sugarcane and camphor. The refining of these products has decreased as a result of lack of demand internationally.

As far as energy resources are concerned, Taiwan still has large coal deposits. However, this is basically the main energy resource, and this has a tremendous effect on the energy costs for the country. In an effort to make Taiwan less dependent on imported energy resources the government is investing in wind and solar resources. By investing in these alternative energy resources Taiwan hopes to become less dependent on other countries for energy and to also use these alternative energy options as a way to create income.

Taiwan: One of the “Four Asian Tigers”

Taiwan has become one of the fastest growing countries in the region which has secured its status as one of the Four Asian Tigers along with the countries of Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore.

The Japanese can be credited with assisting the rise of the Taiwanese status as they helped to improve transportation methods and make transportation much more efficient.

Also, the assistance of other groups such as the Kuomintang government and United States economic aid helped to provide financial stability to the island while also introducing new domestic policies such as the creation of goods to export.

Taiwan is steadily building its GDP and many in the country are investing throughout Asia specifically in China, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand, helping to increase the worth of Taiwan. Also, there are a number of industries that are choosing to make Taiwan a place to develop their products such as the making of laptops from such companies as Acer and smartphones.

Thus, when people ask where is Taiwan, there is much to learn not only about the location of this island but also about its growth.