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Islands in theSouth China Sea includes theSouth China Sea Islands (Pratas Island, Paracel Islands and Macclesfield Bank), islands on the China coast, on the Vietnam coast, on theBorneo coast, and the peripheral islands ofTaiwan, thePhilippines, etc.
Administered as part ofCijin District,Kaohsiung City,Taiwan,Republic of China
The Paracel Islands are occupied by the People's Republic of China (PRC), and claimed by the PRC, the ROC (Taiwan), and Vietnam.
| Amphitrite Group | Crescent Group | Ungrouped |
|---|---|---|
The Spratly Islands were, in 1939, fourteen coral islets mostly inhabited by countless seabirds.[1] According to a Chinese 1986 source, the Spratly Islands consist of 14 islands or islets, 6 banks, 113 submerged reefs, 35 underwater banks, 21 underwater shoals.[2] For some reason, neither of these mention the 11th largest naturally occurring island located on the Swallow Reef atoll, occupied by Malaysia. The islands are all of a similar nature; they arecays (or keys) – sand islands formed on old degraded and submerged coral reefs.[1]
| Taiwan (ROC) | Philippines | Vietnam | Malaysia |
|---|---|---|---|
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Note that, according PRC, in the Spratly Islands area, the definition of "island" is applied very liberally to reefs and artificial islands. There are in fact only about a dozen islands with an area greater than 1 hectare.[3]
| Taiwan (ROC) | China (PRC) | Philippines | Vietnam | Malaysia | Brunei |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
There are no islands, nor any land above sea-level, in the Macclesfield Bank.
In conjunction with theScarborough Shoal, which also contains no islands, the PRC refer to the combined area as theZhongsha Islands, even though it contains no islands.
Ilha Verde is connected to the Macao Peninsula as a result ofland reclamation. Ilha de Coloane and Ilha da Taipa are connected to each other also as a result of land reclamation.
SeeIslands and Peninsulas of Hong Kong for a full list.
