Spratly Islands
Located in the central regions of the South China Sea, west of the Philippine island
of Palawan and 500 km east of southern Vietnam are a host of reefs, shoals and submerged banks that form the
Spratly Islands. The islands are generally known as the "Spratly Islands" only in the West; in Vietnam
they are referred to as the Truong Sa Islands, in the Philippines as the Kalaya'an Island
Group and in China as the Nansha Archipelago. Ownership of the islands is hotly disputed,
with China, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei each claiming all or some of the islands
— China and Vietnam are the main protagonists in the dispute.
The reefs of the Spratly Islands are spread over an area of some 200,000 km² covering a region measuring around 800 km from north to south and 900 km from east to west. There are usually assumed to be 8 low sandy islands, 26 reefs, 21 shoals, and 10 submerged banks that comprise the group — with a total land area of less than 5 km². Most reefs of the Spratly Islands are submerged at high tide, with only a quarter or so remaining above water at all times. The largest island of the group is Itu Aba (Taiping) at around 0.5 km². The Reed Tablemount (Reed Bank) is the largest feature of the Spratly islands region; at some 8800 km² in area the bank extends 140 km from northeast to southwest, averaging 65 km across and represents a sunken atoll formation with a pronounced rim and an interior basin that is studded with many small reefs.
The northwestern regions of the Spratly Islands contains the most important members of the group, namely: the North Danger Reef, Thitu Reefs, Tizard Bank, Union Reefs and Loaita Bank formations. The major landmasses of the Spratly Islands are found on these reefs: Northwest Cay and Southwest Cay on the North Danger Reefs; Thitu Island on the Thitu Reefs; Loaita Island and Lankiam Cay on the reefs of the Loaita Bank; Itu Aba Island, Namyit Island and Sand Cay on the Tizard Bank; Sin Cowe Island and Sin Cowe East Island on the Union Reefs. Other islands of note include Flat Island and Nanshan Island — both located upon a common bank formation to the east of Loaita Bank.