Spratly Islands
The Spratly Islands are 100 small uninhabited islands in the South China Sea.[1] Fish are an abundant resource around the islands. The countries of Brunei Darussalam, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam have a commercial interest in them. These countries share control of the islands but have varying claims of territory.
The islands are named after the British whaling captain Richard Spratly who saw Spratly Island in 1843.
The islands have less than 2 km2 (490 acres) of land area. This is spread over an area of more than 425,000 km2 (164,000 sq mi).The biggest island is Taiping Dao. The island is also known as It Aba. It is about 1.4 kilometres (0.87 mi) long and about 350 metres (1,150 ft) wide at its widest point.
Spratly Islands Media
Map of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea by Department of State (2015), showing occupation by Vietnam, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Philippines
- Mapspratly.jpg
A geographic map of Spratly Islands[a]
- 1947 Nanhai Zhudao.png
China's (now ROC and PRC) nine-dash line illustrated in a 1947 map of the South China Sea
- Bia VNCH Truong Sa - Republic of Vietnam Spratly Islands Territorial Marker.JPG
Territorial monument of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) on Southwest Cay, Spratly Islands, defining the cay as part of Vietnamese territory (Phước Tuy Province). Used from 22 August 1956 until 1975, when replaced by another one from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (successor state after the Fall of Saigon)
- MAO KUN MAP-19.jpg
In the Mao Kun map, Spratly Islands are suggested to be the islands at the bottom right (Chinese: 石星石塘; pinyin: shíxīng shítáng).
- Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas Dedicada al Rey Nuestro Señor por el Mariscal d. Campo D. Fernando Valdes Tamon Cavallº del Orden de Santiago de Govor. Y Capn.jpg
The Velarde map shows Galit, Pancot, and Lumbay, which the Philippines identifies as the Scarborough Shoal and islands off of Palawan. It was used in the South China Sea Arbitration.
- Bajos de Paragua, detail in Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas.jpg
The Spratlys labeled as "Los Bajos de Paragua" off the coast of Palawan (Paragua) on the Velarde map
- 1801 Cary Map of the East Indies and Southeast Asia ( Singapore, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Philippines) - Geographicus - EastIndies-cary-1801.jpg
An 1801 Cary Map of the East Indies and Southeast Asia showing Panacot, the Scarborough Shoal, Amphitrite, the Paracels, and what is now known as the Spratlys
- DaiNamNhatThongToanDo 1834-1838.jpg
An 1838 Unified Dai Nam map marking Trường Sa and Hoàng Sa, which are considered as Spratly and Paracel Islands by some Vietnamese scholars
- China Sea - Southern Portion - Eastern Sheet.png
A British chart of the sea in northern Borneo, first issued in 1881 and corrected in 1935
References
- ↑ "Spratly Islands" at CIA World Factbook Archived 2009-06-10 at the Wayback Machine; excerpt, "no indigenous inhabitants"; retrieved 2013-4-19.
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