Taiwan, which is formally known as the Republic of China, is an East Asian nation [27]. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast, and the Philippines to the south occupy the main island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa, which is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean between the East and South China Seas. It is 35,808 square kilometers (13,826 square miles) in size, with plains in the western third, home to the majority of the country’s heavily urbanized population, and mountain ranges dominating the eastern two thirds. The entire area of the 168 islands[p] that make up the combined areas under ROC administration is 36,193 square kilometers, or 13,974 square miles.[17][39] The capital Taipei, New Taipei City, and Keelung make up the largest metropolitan region. With about 23.9 million people living there,