What is the largest island in China?

The largest island in China is Taiwan Province Island (35,800 square kilometers).

Taiwan Province Island is the largest island in China, which has important strategic significance. Located in the south of the East China Sea, west of the Taiwan Province Strait (belonging to the East China Sea), 75 ~ 220 nautical miles away from the coast of Fujian Province; East of the Pacific Ocean; Northeast China is adjacent to the Ryukyu Islands, about 335 nautical miles from Okinawa Island; Bashi channel faces the Philippines across the sea to the south, about 195 nautical miles from Luzon Island.

The island is long and narrow, about 394 kilometers long, from Fuguijiao in the northernmost part to Luanbi in the southernmost part. The widest place is near the Tropic of Cancer, about 144 km. With an area of 35,800 square kilometers, accounting for more than 99% of the province's area, it is the main island of Taiwan Province Province and ranks 38th among the largest islands in the world. The population is about 23 million (2006). Among them, the Han nationality accounts for about 98% and the Gaoshan nationality accounts for about 2%.

Extended data:

Taiwan Province Island is a mainland island. Located on the southern edge of the continental shelf in the East China Sea. In the Late Paleozoic more than 200 million years ago, the crustal movement laid the geological foundation of Taiwan Province Island. The Himalayan movement, which began 40 million years ago, caused the crust to be squeezed and folded, forming the original mountains in Taiwan Province Province. About 2.5 million years ago, the crust continued to fold and uplift, forming the modern topography of Taiwan Province Island. During the Quaternary Glacial Period, the sea level fell and connected with the mainland, and during the Interglacial Period, the sea level rose and became an island.

The island is mountainous, with mountains and hills accounting for 2/3 of the total island area. It is distributed in the east and the middle. From east to west, there are five parallel mountains: Taitung, Central Mountain, Yushan Mountain, Snow Mountain and Alishan Mountain, which are NNE-SE-SW, with Central Mountain as the main watershed. Among them, the peaks above 1000 meters account for about half of all peaks, and there are more than 30 peaks above 3500 meters. Mount Yushan, the highest peak, is 3997 meters above sea level, which is the highest peak in southeast China.

The hills are mostly around the foothills of Wuyue Mountain, with Keelung and Zhunan Mountain in the north, Fengyuan and Chiayi Mountain in the middle and Hengchun Mountain in the south, with an altitude of about 600 meters. There is Datun volcano in the north, mostly below 1000 meters above sea level, which is an important barrier in the north.

Most of the plains are in the west. Tainan Plain is the largest, stretching from Changhua in the north to Kaohsiung in the south, covering an area of 4,550 square kilometers. It is an area with prosperous agriculture, dense population and numerous towns on the island. Pingtung Plain in the south and Yilan Plain in the northeast are also important agricultural areas. The long and narrow Taitung longitudinal valley plain is between Taitung Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range, which is a natural communication tunnel between the north and south in the east.

References:

Baidu Encyclopedia-Taiwan Province Island