ABSTRACT
Taiwan is an island surrounded by the Pacific Ocean to the east, and the Taiwan Strait to the west, in which lie the Pescadores islands, the East China Sea lies to the north, the Bashi Channel to the south and the South China Sea to the southwest. It comprises the island of Taiwan and some smaller islands, including Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu. The main island is 394 km long and 144 km at its widest point; it has a total area of 35,873 square kilometres with a population of 23.39 million people (CIA 2015).
