page_title: Fujian–Taiwan relationship
section_title: Taiwan strait
hierarchical_section_title: Fujian–Taiwan relationship / Geography / Taiwan strait
caption_attribution_description: English: This hand colored map is a lithographic transfer, dating to 1863, by London cartographer Edward Weller. Depicts the coast of China, including the Strait of Formosa and most of Taiwan or Formosa Island. Depth soundings indicated in fathoms along major shipping routes and throughout the map. Originally part of the Weekly Dispatch Atlas. Publisher: Edward Weller (18??–1884) was a cartographer and engraver based in London. His best known work appears in Cassell’s Weekly Dispatch Atlas, published in monthly segments for subscribers of the “Weekly Dispatch” newspaper. This collection of maps eventually grew to include much of the known world. Published in various editions from 1855 through the early 1880s.
context_page_description: The Fujian-Taiwan relationship, also known as the Minnan-Taiwan relationship, refers to the relationship between Fujian, which is located in mainland China, and Taiwan, which is across the Taiwan Strait. Since the average width of the Taiwan Strait is 180 kilometers, Fujian and Taiwan are adjacent, similar in both climate and environment. Although the relationship between Taiwan and Fujian has changed with the development of history, the two places have maintained close relations in terms of personnel, economy, military, culture and other aspects. At present, Taiwan residents are mostly descendants of immigrants from mainland China, of which the southern Fujian ethnic group is the main group, accounting for 73.5% of Taiwan's total population. In terms of culture, language, religion, and customs, Fujian and Taiwan also share similarities.
  On the other hand, after the Government of the Republic of China relocated to Taiwan in 1949, the Voice of Free China and the Radio Taiwan International mainland broadcasting group were set up to broadcast to the mainland.
context_section_description: Fujian and Taiwan are separated by the narrow Taiwan Strait, about 300 kilometers long from north to south, with an average width of 180 kilometers, an average water depth of 50 meters, and an area of about 80,000 square kilometers. The narrowest point of the Taiwan Strait is between Pingtan Island in Fujian and the Hsinchu Commercial Port in Taiwan, with a distance of 130 kilometers; the widest point is from Taiwan's Kenting National Park to Fujian's Dongshan Island, with a distance of 410 kilometers. When visibility is high, Taiwan can be directly seen from Fuzhou.
  About 54 million years ago, the central part of the Taiwan Strait began to be flooded. Its middle became a shallow sea and it began to become a strait. During the glacial period of the late Pleistocene, the sea water receded and the surface of the Taiwan Strait dropped by 130 to 180 meters, turning into land, and Taiwan was connected to the mainland. A large number of ancient humans and animals moved from the mainland to Taiwan through the dry Taiwan Strait. Since the Quaternary glacial period (between 18 million and 6000 years ago), the sea has entered the transgressive period, and the sea level has risen about 100 to 130 meters, forming today's sea level. Since then, the exchanges between the two shores have changed from land to sea.
  The Penghu Islands are located in the Taiwan Strait, with the Pescadores Channel between it and Taiwan. Early Taiwanese immigrants used the idiom "of ten people going there, six died, three stranded and only one could return" (Chinese: 十去，六死，三留，一回頭) to describe the difficulty of travel.
caption: A map of southeastern China drawn in 1863, showing the Taiwan strait at the lower-right corner.
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