Located at the northern end of the island, Taipei (light colored area) is Taiwan’s capital and largest city (estimated 1997 population more than 2.6 million people). The Tanshui River (dark curving feature) flows through Taipei, eventually emptying into the Formosa Strait. Parallel runways (light-colored linear feature) of Chiang Kai Shek International Airport are visible west of Taipei near the coast. The Chungyang Mountains can be identified by the darker landscape, particularly in the lower right corner of the image. This mountain range extends northeast/southwest for the entire length of the island. The mountains tend to have steep slopes and are densely forested. The darker terrain along the west coast is vegetated hills, while the lighter colored terrain shows the distribution of urban areas and farmland.