Taiwani

Regional Level Types
Taiwan	Disputed Territory

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Taiwan (officially the Republic of China) is an island nation in East Asia, located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, separated by the Taiwan Strait. It covers approximately 36,200 km² and includes the main island of Taiwan along with several smaller island groups, such as the Penghu (Pescadores), Kinmen, and Matsu islands. The capital and largest metropolitan area is Taipei. Despite its relatively small size, Taiwan is one of the most geologically dynamic regions in the world.

Geographically, Taiwan is dominated by rugged mountain terrain, with more than two-thirds of the island consisting of hills and mountains. A central north–south mountain belt includes the Central Mountain Range, with peaks exceeding 3,900 m, including Yushan (Jade Mountain), the highest point in East Asia outside the Himalaya. Narrow coastal plains occur mainly along the western side of the island, where most of the population, agriculture, and industry are concentrated. The eastern coast is steep and cliffed, dropping rapidly into deep ocean basins. Taiwan’s rivers are short, steep, and prone to flooding, reflecting rapid uplift and high rainfall. The climate ranges from subtropical in the north to tropical in the south.

Geologically, Taiwan lies at a complex plate boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate. The island represents an active arc–continent collision zone, where the Luzon volcanic arc is colliding with the Eurasian continental margin. This ongoing convergence produces intense tectonic uplift, frequent earthquakes, rapid erosion, and widespread faulting and folding. Taiwan’s geology includes metamorphic rocks (schists, marbles, gneisses) in the core of the mountain belt, Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary sequences, accreted oceanic fragments, and younger volcanic rocks in the north. The island is one of the fastest-rising mountain belts on Earth in geological terms.

Taiwan has a limited but locally important mineral and extractive heritage. Historically, the island produced gold, copper, coal, and sulfur, particularly during the Japanese colonial period (1895–1945). Notable gold mining districts include Jinguashi in northern Taiwan. Coal was mined from Tertiary sedimentary basins, mainly in the north. Today, large-scale metal mining has largely ceased, and extraction focuses on construction materials, such as limestone, marble, sand, and gravel. Taiwan is also significant for geothermal resources, related to its active tectonic and volcanic setting.

Historically, Taiwan has been influenced by successive waves of Austronesian settlement, Chinese migration, European colonial powers, Qing dynasty rule, Japanese administration, and the post–Second World War political division between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China. Since 1949, Taiwan has developed as a separate political entity with a distinct identity, while remaining a subject of geopolitical tension.

Administratively, Taiwan is divided into special municipalities, counties, and cities. Its exceptional combination of active tectonics, rapid mountain building, and diverse rock assemblages makes Taiwan one of the world’s most important natural laboratories for studying plate collision, orogenic processes, seismic hazards, and the interaction between geology, landscape evolution, and densely populated human environments.

Commodity List

This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded from this region.

Mineral List

Mineral list contains entries from the region specified including sub-localities

157 valid minerals.

Rock Types Recorded

Rock list contains entries from the region specified including sub-localities