Geography of Taiwan


Terrain shapes and bedrock

According to COUNTRYAAH, the island of Taiwan has, due to major faults, gained a north-south extent and a general slope to the west. The east coast is steep and straight. Inside it rise the high Zhongyang Mountains, which consist of three parallel chains and have an uneven relief. At its highest is Yu Shan, 3 952 meters above sea level. To the west, a wide strip of land with cool relief takes place and then the coastal zone towards the Taiwan Strait. The fertile coastal plain has lagoons and beach lakes, sinks and dunes. The shallow and sometimes dehydrated rivers originate in the central highlands. The biggest are Danshui Qi and Zhuoshui Qi. The river deposits are fertile, but the highland soils are leached and acidic.


According to BRIDGAT, Taiwan has a subtropical climate in the north, tropical in the south. The warm current of Kuroshio from the south affects, and the summer becomes long with an average temperature of 28 ° C. In January, the average temperature is 15 ° C in the north, 20 ° C in the south. The annual rainfall is 2,600 mm in the mountains, but on the east coast it can amount to 5,000 mm. Typhoons occur in July – September.

Plant-and animal life

The vascular plant flora comprises 3,500 species, of which 1/4 are endemic. Of the lowland and monsoon forests that originally covered the lower parts of the island, only debris remains, rainforest only within the Kending National Park in the south. Otherwise, the lowland is cultivated or covered by, among other things. secondary forest and bamboo shoots. At a high altitude, some coniferous forest grows. Along the coast there are mangroves and coral reefs.

The fauna comprises 63 species of mammals, of which 10 are endemic. monkey formosamakak (Macaʹca cycloʹpis) and the predator taiwanserov (Capricoʹrnis swinhoei [-he: ʹi]). Furthermore, there are wild boar, collar bear and tree leopard, the latter probably extinct. Approximately 160 bird species nest (of which 14 are endemic), but significantly more rest on the island during the move; a total of 450 species have been observed. Furthermore, 80 species of reptiles and 31 species of amphibians are known from Taiwan.

Nature conservation

There were seven national parks in 2010, one of which was a marine (Dongsha), as well as some smaller nature reserves along the coast to protect, among other things. mangrove forests.


Taipei, (South China. ‘The northern terrace’), Taibei, Taipei, Taiwan’s capital; 2.7 million inbd (2016, 6.9 million in the metropolitan area). The city is located near the northern tip of the island on the Tan-shui River 27 km SW of Keelung, Taipei’s port city. Taipei was cured. in the early 1700’s. of immigrants from Fujian Province. The city was the provincial capital of 1886 and maintained its status during the Japanese colonization. Following the Communist takeover of China in 1949, the National Government established its headquarters and administration in Taipei. Most of the approximately people who came to the island settled here.

Today, Taipei is a growing, modern metropolis and many of the old districts have been torn down and replaced by high-rise buildings. The oldest part of town with museums and many government buildings lies towards SV, while new business areas are found towards the lake. The urban area extends over 18 km from north to south. In the outer regions, especially to the south and west, there is a considerable and varied manufacturing industry, including electronics, textile and plastics industry. The city has many educational institutions, and the Palace Museum houses more than 100,000 ancient Chinese art treasures and antiques, especially paintings, calligraphy and porcelain. Taipei is a growing, modern metropolis. The city’s metro has since 1996 been expanded into a large network (78 km). A driverless subway in the city center is built to reduce the notorious traffic chaos there.

The skyscraper Taipei 101, built 1999-2004 as the city’s financial center, was at its height of 509 meters the tallest building in the world, until it was surpassed in 2007 by Burj Khalifa in Dubai.