Taiwan was returned to Nationalist Chinese control in 1945 following Japan’s defeat in . However, in 1949 Chinese communist armies defeated Nationalist forces on the mainland and established the People’s Republic of China there. The Nationalist government and armies fled to Taiwan, again resulting in the separation of Taiwan from China. In the ensuing years the ROC claimed jurisdiction over the Chinese mainland as well as Taiwan, although in the early 1990s Taiwan’s government dropped this claim to China. The Chinese government in has maintained that it has jurisdiction over Taiwan and has continued to propound a one-China policy—a position that few countries in the world dispute. There has been no agreement, however, on how or when, if ever, the two entities will be reunified. Land Physical features of Taiwan(more)Shih-t'i-p'ing, TaiwanEastern coastline of Taiwan at Shih-t'i-p'ing (Shitiping).(more)Taiwan, roughly oval in shape, is approximate in area to the or to the U.S. states of , , and combined. It is part of a string of islands off the coast of East and extending from south through the to . Taiwan is bounded to the north and northeast by the , with the (the southernmost part of Japan) to the northeast. To the east is found the great expanse of the , and to the south is the Bashi Channel, which separates Taiwan from the Philippines. To the west is the , which separates Taiwan from the Chinese mainland. Relief Chung-yang RangePortion of the Chung-yang (Zhongyang) Range in eastern Taiwan.(more)Taiwan’s volcanic soil and the frequency of earthquakes on the island indicate a common origin with the other nearby archipelagoes. However, the configuration of its coastlines and the age and formations of rocks on Taiwan’s west coast suggest to some geologists that Taiwan was once part of the Asian mainland. In general, the relief of the island consists of an uplifted crustal block that trends north-northeast to south-southwest. The interior of the island is mountainous and slopes sharply downward on the east side to the Pacific and more gently in the west to the Taiwan Strait., Taiwan, [II] [i] officially the Republic of China (ROC), [I] is a country [27] in East Asia. [l] The main island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa, lies between the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast, and the Philippines to the south., Taiwan is an island in the western Pacific Ocean that lies roughly 100 miles (160 km) off the coast of southeastern China. Taipei, in the north, is the seat of government of the Republic of China (ROC; Nationalist China)..