Orchid Island, also known by other names, is a 45 km2 (17 sq mi) volcanic island off the southeastern coast of Taiwan, which Orchid Island is part of. It is separated from the Batanes of the Philippines by the Bashi Channel of the Luzon Strait. The island and the nearby Lesser Orchid Island are governed as Lanyu Township in Taitung County, which is one of the county's two insular townships.
Orchid Island
The shore of Orchid Island from an imperial Japanese publication (c. 1931)
Lesser Orchid Island
Satellite view of Orchid Island and Lesser Orchid Island
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country in East Asia. The island of Taiwan, formerly known as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territories under ROC control. The main island is 35,808 square kilometres (13,826 sq mi) and lies some 180 kilometres (112 mi) across the Taiwan Strait from the southeastern coast of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The East China Sea lies to the north of the island, the Philippine Sea to its east, the Luzon Strait directly to its south and the South China Sea to its southwest. The ROC also controls a number of smaller islands, including the Penghu archipelago in the Taiwan Strait, the Kinmen and Matsu Islands in Fuchien near the PRC's coast, and some of the South China Sea Islands.
Taiwan is mostly mountainous in the east, with gently sloping plains in the west. The Penghu Islands appear in the Taiwan Strait to the west of the main island.
Taiwan lies on the western edge of the Philippine Plate.
The Sanguang River in northwestern Taiwan
Formosan serow