List of islands of Taiwan

The islands comprising the Taiwan Area under the jurisdiction of the Republic of China (ROC) are classified into various island groups. The island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa, is the largest island and the main component of the ROC-controlled territories. Islands that are claimed by the ROC but not administered, including those under the control of the People's Republic of China, and those disputed with other countries such as Senkaku Islands and most of South China Sea Islands, are excluded from this list.
At the adoption of Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China in the 1990s, these islands collectively form the "Free area of the Republic of China"/ "Taiwan Area", which legally defines the area effectively under the ROC government's control.
Some Taiwanese islands have various translations in English due to different systems of romanization in Chinese language or linguistic origins from Mandarin, Hokkien, indigenous languages or other foreign languages. Some islands also have different names derived from particular historical periods which remain in use to this day.
Archipelagos of Taiwan.
There are in total of 166 islands, these islands can be classified into the following geographical units:
List of major islands by area.
List of Taiwanese islands with over 5 km2 of area.
Disputed islands.
The highly controversial sovereignty disputes over both the Japan-controlled Senkaku Islands and the South China Sea Islands (which are disputed and controlled by several countries) are complicated by the disputed political status of both Taiwan (the territories outlined in the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco) and the Republic of China (ROC) which controls Taiwan. This makes these disputes multi-layered and therefore virtually impossible to solve by following the guidelines of international law.
As both the ROC and the People's Republic of China (PRC) maintain their "de jure" claim as the sole legitimate government of the entire China, the ROC and the PRC effectively lay claim to the same islands, including the South China Sea Islands and the Senkaku Islands, among others.
The ROC has maintained its historical claims to all of the South China Sea Islands. The islands within the Pratas and Spratly Islands which remain under the control of the ROC have been designated as belonging to Cijin District, Kaohsiung City. Technically, this means that the ROC considers these islands to be part of the "Taiwan Area" (though not the province of the same name). These islands are currently claimed by six states, those being the ROC, the PRC, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei; both the ROC and the PRC lay claim to the same territories, with the PRC having based its claim on the ROC's. The United Nations considers the South China Sea to be "international waters" and doesn't recognise any of the South China Sea Islands as "true islands". The recognition of these islands as "true islands" is significant because it can justify the creation of an exclusive economic zone around the islands, which can be used to cut off international shipping lanes and to acquire natural resources such as oil which lie beneath the ocean.
Meanwhile, the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands are claimed by the ROC as "Diaoyutai Islands" within Toucheng Township, Yilan County and are considered to be part of geographic and provincial Taiwan by the ROC. However, certain factions within the ROC (for example, former ROC president Lee Teng-hui) have occasionally expressed disinterest in laying claim to the Senkaku Islands, in order to maintain good relations between Japan and the ROC. The Senkaku Islands lie about 186 kilometres from the northeast of Taiwan Island, and also lie a similar distance from the east of the PRC. They form the westernmost extremity of the "Ryukyu Islands", which Japan administers as Okinawa Prefecture. The PRC also claims the Senkaku Islands as "Diaoyu Islands" as part of its claimed "Taiwan Province". Therefore, a big obstacle to the PRC claim to the Senkaku Islands is the Taiwan independence movement, since the PRC cannot really continue to claim the islands if it loses its claim to Taiwan.
The PRC claims the islands of Taiwan and Penghu as part of its 23rd Taiwan Province, together with the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands (claimed as "Diaoyudao Islands"), which are also claimed by the ROC as part of its own Taiwan Province. The PRC claims Kinmen (Quemoy) as a county of the prefecture-level city Quanzhou, in Fujian Province. Matsu is claimed as part of Lianjiang County, part of Fuzhou, in Fujian Province. The Wuqiu islands are claimed as part of Xiuyu District, a district of the prefecture-level city Putian, in Fujian Province. Pratas Island is claimed as part of Chengqu in Shanwei (Swabue) Guangdong Province. The Nansha Islands controlled by the ROC, i.e. Taiping Island and Zhongzhou Reef, are claimed as part of Sansha, in Hainan Province. The PRC thus claims the ROC-controlled islands as part of its own Taiwan Province (Taiwan and Penghu), Fujian Province (Kinmen, Matsu and Wuqiu), Guangdong Province (Dongsha) and Hainan Province (Nansha).