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Sand Cay

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Coordinates:10°22′30″N114°28′48″E / 10.375°N 114.480°E /10.375; 114.480

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Island in the South China Sea

Sand Cay
Disputed island

Sand Cay
Other names	Đảo Sơn Ca(Vietnamese) Bailan Island(Philippine English) Pulo ng Bailan(Filipino) 敦謙沙洲 / 敦谦沙洲 Dūnqiān Shāzhōu(Chinese)
Geography
Location	South China Sea
Coordinates	10°22′30″N114°28′48″E / 10.375°N 114.480°E /10.375; 114.480
Archipelago	Spratly Islands
Administration
Vietnam
District	Trường Sa District
Commune	Sinh Tồn Commune
Claimed by
China
Philippines
Taiwan
Vietnam

From right to left: Sand Cay,Zhongzhou/Ban Than Reef andTaiping Island

Sand Cay, also known asBailan Island (Filipino:Pulo ng Bailan) andSon Ca Island (Vietnamese:Đảo Sơn Ca;Mandarin Chinese:敦謙沙洲/敦谦沙洲;pinyin:Dūnqiān Shāzhōu), is acay on the north edge of theTizard Bank of theSpratly Islands in theSouth China Sea. With an area of 7 hectares (17 acres), it is theninth largest, and the fourth largest Vietnamese-administered, of the Spratly Islands. The island has been occupied byVietnam since 1974, (first bySouth Vietnam, then by theSocialist Republic of Vietnam after 1975). It is also claimed byChina (PRC), thePhilippines, Vietnam, andTaiwan (ROC).

Sovereignty

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The island has been occupied byVietnam since 1974, (first bySouth Vietnam, then by theSocialist Republic of Vietnam after 1975). However, no Vietnamese stations have been built. By the later half of the 20th century, no nation had complete sovereignty on the islands.

Geography

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Part of theTizard Bank,^[1] Sand Cay lies 6.2 nautical miles (11.5 km; 7.1 mi) east ofItu Aba Island, which is occupied by Taiwan. It is 450 metres (1,480 ft) long, 102 metres (335 ft) wide, and has an elevation of 3.5 metres (11 ft) to 3.8 metres (12 ft) atlow tide.^[2] There is a 41 metres (135 ft) high light house on the islet.^[3] Sand Cay is commonly confused with Sandy Cay which is a sandyshoal (coral reef) nearThitu Island.

In 2022, news reports indicated that the Vietnamese government was engaged in dredging and landfill operations to expand the size of Sand Cay,Namyit Island, andPearson Reef. The total area of the land reclaimed in these operations was estimated to be 170 hectares (420 acres).^[4]

Ecology

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Sand Cay has no source of naturalfresh water, but the islet'scoral sand is covered with a thin layer of fertilehumus mixing withguano. The vegetation mainly composes ofBarringtonia asiatica,Ipomoea pes-caprae andCasuarinaceae's species as well as some kinds of grass.^[2] In recent years, islanders have cultivatedfruit trees such aspomelo,jackfruit,dragonfruit,sugar-apple andguava.^[5] Sand Cay is usually visited byseabirds, and its surrounding water is rich with fish,sea snails andsea cucumbers.^[2]

References

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^"Digital Gazetter of Spratly Islands". Archived fromthe original on 2010-08-27. Retrieved2008-03-22.
^^a ^b ^c(in Vietnamese)Những điều cần biết về hai quần đảo Hoàng Sa, Trường Sa và khu vực thềm lục địa phía nam [What you need to know about Paracel Islands, Spratly Islands and southern continental shelf]. Political Department, Naval Command (Vietnam). 2011.
^(in Vietnamese)Phạm Thanh Hà; Lưu Phương Mai (May 9, 2011)."Kí sự Trường Sa - kì 3: Nơi anh đến là biển xa..." Nhân dân online. RetrievedMarch 22, 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^"Vietnam carries out 'substantial' expansion in South China Sea, US thinktank finds".The Guardian. December 14, 2022. RetrievedJuly 3, 2023.
^(in Vietnamese)Nguyễn Đình Quân (December 27, 2011)."Sơn Ca Xanh". Tiền phong online. RetrievedMarch 22, 2013.

External links

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Maritime Transparency Initiative Island Tracker

Spratly Islands

Confrontations

Regions

Occupied features

Brunei	Louisa Reef
China	Cuarteron Reef Fiery Cross Reef Gaven Reefs Hughes Reef Johnson South Reef Mischief Reef Subi Reef
Malaysia	Ardasier Reef Dallas Reef Erica Reef Investigator Shoal Mariveles Reef Swallow Reef
Philippines	Commodore Reef Flat Island Irving Reef Lankiam Cay Loaita Cay Loaita Island Nanshan Island Northeast Cay Second Thomas Shoal Thitu Island West York Island
Taiwan	Taiping Island Zhongzhou Reef
Vietnam	Alison Reef Amboyna Cay Barque Canada Reef Bombay Castle Central London Reef Collins Reef Cornwallis South Reef Discovery Great Reef East London Reef Grierson Reef Ladd Reef Lansdowne Reef Namyit Island Pearson Reef Petley Reef Sand Cay Sin Cowe Island South Reef Southwest Cay Spratly Island Tennent Reef West London Reef

Unoccupied features

South China Sea

Pratas Island

Paracel Islands

Amphitrite Group	Rocky Island Tree Island West Sand Woody Island Qilian Yu
Crescent Group	Money Island Robert Island Yagong Island
Other features	Bombay Reef Triton Island

Northeastern SCS

Spratly Islands

Dangerous
Ground

NW	North Danger Reef Northeast Cay Southwest Cay Thitu Reefs Thitu Island Subi Reef Loaita Bank Lankiam Cay Loaita Cay Loaita Island Tizard Bank Gaven Reefs Namyit Island Sand Cay Taiping Island Zhongzhou Reef NNW Irving Reef West York Island WNW Western Reef
NE	Flat Island Nanshan Island Reed Tablemount Third Thomas Shoal
SE	Commodore Reef First Thomas Shoal Mischief Reef Sabina Shoal Second Thomas Shoal
SW	Union Banks Collins Reef Hughes Reef Johnson South Reef Sin Cowe Island Ardasier Reef Cornwallis South Reef Dallas Reef Erica Reef Investigator Shoal Mariveles Reef