Taipei is on an island.
Taipei ( [ ˌtaɪˈpeɪ ] ) , officially known as Taipei City , is the capital city and a special municipality of Taiwan . Taiwan . The island of Taiwan , also known as Formosa , was mainly inhabited by Taiwanese aborigines before the 17th century , when Dutch and Spanish colonies opened the island to Han Chinese immigration . Although the ROC continued to claim to be the legitimate government of China , its effective jurisdiction since 1949 has been limited to Taiwan and its surrounding islands , with the main island making up 99 % of its de facto territory .