This page features a series of lists of maritime features in the Spratly Islands.
Features by area
Of the hundreds of maritime features in the Spratly Islands, relatively few have land permanently above sea-level that is larger than protruding rocks. There are only 13 islands and cays with a natural area above sea-level larger than one hectare.[note 1] With the exception of Swallow Reef, prior to 2014 there had been no large-scale land reclamation beyond building breakwaters and piers, and extending runways.
This changed dramatically in 2014 with the PRC embarking on large-scale reclamations of the lagoons of Johnson South Reef (~10ha) and Fiery Cross Reef (~230ha), and other reclamations of then unknown extent at the Gaven Reefs and Cuarteron Reef.[1] Reports of the extent of land reclaimed on Swallow Reef vary. The PRC land reclamations have continued on a total of seven sites. In 2015, Subi Reef, Hughes Reef and Mischief Reef were added.[2] Refer to the table below for the most recently available data. In summary, there have been reclamations of very large areas (>640 acres = 1 sq mile) at three sites by the PRC, reclamations of large areas (10-100 acres) at eight sites (four by PRC, three by Vietnam, and one by Malaysia) and reclamations of lesser areas at a number of sites. There does not appear to have been any reclamation of Philippine occupied areas. There have been small Taiwanese reclamations at Itu Aba, very small but functionally significant reclamations at six Malaysian sites, and a number small but significant reclamations at Vietnamese sites in 2016, most particularly at Spratly Island where the runway has been extended and a sheltered harbour added.
The following table contains the 16 largest "natural" features, (i.e. not including reclaimed land),[3] plus the features with significant amounts of reclaimed land:
Features by major reef/bank, etc.
Map of the South China Sea area showing the location of Dangerous Ground
The boundaries of the Spratly Islands are not firmly defined. West-to-east, the islands range from the coastal waters of Vietnam to the east of Dangerous Ground and the Palawan Passage (approx. 106-117°E), and south-to-north from the coastal waters of Borneo and the southern South China Sea to the north of Dangerous Ground and the Reed Bank (approx. 3-12°N).
The major feature of the area is Dangerous Ground, an oblong area approximately 340 nautical miles (630 km; 390 mi) SW-NE, 175 nautical miles (324 km; 201 mi) at its widest, with an area of about 52,000 nm² (178,000 km²).[23] It lies approximately between 7.5–12°N, 113–117°E, and US NGA literature[23][24][25]etc. seems to consider its centre as 10°N 115°E / 10°N 115°E / 10; 115. The remainder of the Spratly Islands are mainly to the west and south of Dangerous Ground, with some features to the east.
The Spratly Islands can be roughly divided into seven sub-areas relative to Dangerous Ground:[23]
NW of Dangerous Ground (approx. 10-12°N, 113-115°E)[24]
NE Dangerous Ground (approx. 10-12°N, 115-117°E)[25]
SE Dangerous Ground (approx. 7-10°N, 115-117°E)[26][27][28]
A feature is occupied by a country if one of the following is true:
Soldiers and/or civilian citizens of a country are present in the feature, either by building structures over the feature to house the citizens (most features are of this type) or by manning a ship anchored over the feature (Philippine-occupied Irving Reef is of this type).
Regularly visited by soldiers of a country, not necessarily having soldiers present in it 24 hours. These features must lie near (within 9 miles (14 km)) a feature occupied by the country in the way of the first condition. Presence of structures is not necessary. This is the case of Philippine-occupied Flat Island and Lankiam Cay where soldiers stationed at Nanshan Island and Loaita Island respectively, regularly visit on a daily basis.[citation needed]
The effective visible distance of horizon from a 15-meter (typical large structure) height above sea-level is 9 miles (14 km). This makes features occupied by the second condition to be also labeled as "occupied" since they can be guarded far away. However, not all features within the 9-mile (14 km) radius can be considered as absolutely occupied. This is especially true for features that lie between and within 9 miles (14 km) of two or more features occupied by different countries.[citation needed] (See Virtually Occupied or Controlled table)
Unoccupied but largely controlled by the Philippines
Unoccupied but largely controlled by Vietnam
Unoccupied features
Claimed features by country but occupied by other country
Others
Notes
^At one time Lankiam Cay (Panata) had an area of more than 5 hectares, but a severe typhoon and accompanying strong waves washed away the sand on the cay leaving behind the underlying coral base with an area of less than half a hectare.[citation needed]
^Note that the sea in the area 10-12°N, west of 113°E is mostly at least 1000m deep until approaching the Vietnam coast, and hence contains no maritime features of interest. Refer to charts: 93020, 93022, 93030, and 93044. Areas south of 10°N and west of 113°E are covered by charts 93020, 93022, 93030 and 93049.
^ a bErica Reef and Investigator shoal were occupied by Malaysia in 1999. A web search can confirm the occupation of these two features.
^Possible airstrip on Northeast Cay at 11°27'12.79"N 114°21'21.61"E
^No comprehensive list of Philippine-occupied Spratly islands is easily available. A web search can confirm that Ayungin Reef is occupied by the Philippines.
^In January 2014, the PRC entered James Shoal unopposed.[53]
References
^ a b c d e fChan, Minnie (22–23 Nov 2014). "US asks China to stop building Spratlys island which could host airfield". AFP. Retrieved 22 Nov 2014.
^ a b"South China Sea: China reclaims land on yet another reef, to show disregard to US, Vietnam and Philippines". China Daily Mail. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi"Digital Gazetteer of Spratly Islands". southchinasea.org. Archived from the original on 2007-07-17. Retrieved 2008-02-08. - Version dated 19 August 2011 is available at: "Digital Gazetteer of Spratly Islands". southchinasea.org. 19 August 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2014. This list includes the names of all Spratly features known to be occupied and/or above water at low tide.
^"Penjejak Itu Aba".
^"Spratly Island".
^"Southwest Cay".
^"Sin Cowe Island".
^ a b"Sandcastles of their own: Vietnamese Expansion in the Spratly Islands".
^"Sand Cay".
^ a b c d"Vietnam's Island Building: Double-Standard or Drop in the Bucket?".
^ a b c d"China isn't the only one building islands in the South China Sea". Business Insider.
^"West Reef".
^ a b c d e fVictor Robert Lee (25 April 2015). "South China Sea: China's Unprecedented Spratlys Building Program". The Diplomat. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
^"Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative | Mischief Reef Tracker". Archived from the original on 2015-05-28. Retrieved 2016-10-16.
^"Subi Reef Tracker | Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative". Archived from the original on 2016-05-15. Retrieved 2016-10-16.
^"Fiery Cross Reef".
^"Cuarteron Reef".
^"Gaven Reefs".
^"Johnson Reef Tracker | Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-10-16.
^"China builds fortress on disputed reef". The Times. 20 Feb 2015.
^ a bhttp://www.oceangrafix.com/chart/zoom?chart=93044 NW of Dangerous Ground
^ a b chttp://www.oceangrafix.com/chart/zoom?chart=93045 NE Dangerous Ground
^ a bhttp://www.oceangrafix.com/chart/zoom?chart=93046 Most of the SE of Dangerous Ground. The missing portion of the SE is covered by chart 93048 and the top corner of chart 92006.
^Chart 93048 (not easily available on-line)
^ a b chttp://www.oceangrafix.com/chart/zoom?chart=92006 SE Spratlys, Brunei, North Borneo and Southern Philippines
^"China's James Shoal Claim: Malaysia the Undisputed Owner". RSIS (Rajaratnam School of International Studies), Nanyang Technology University, Singapore. 1 July 2014.
^ a b c d eRowlett, Russ (15 November 2013). "Lighthouses of the Spratly Islands". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
^"Royal Malaysian Navy - Offshore EEZ Stations". 9 May 2009. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am"Territorial claims in the Spratly and Paracel Islands". GlobalSecurity.org. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae"Place Keywords by Country/Territory– Pacific Ocean (without Great Barrier Reef)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2003-07-06. Retrieved 2008-02-08.
^ a b c d e fDJ Sta. Ana, China builds more Spratly outposts, May 24, 2011, The Philippine Star.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l mAsia Maritime Transparency Initiative - Island Tracker. Retrieved 2015-07-03.
^Ethan Rosen (22 Feb 2015). "What is China Building in the South China Sea?". www.bellingcat.com. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
^"Photo : Hughes reef outpost and lighthouse". Panoromio. 24 May 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
^Imagery shows progress of Chinese land building across Spratlys. Retrieved 06 April 2015.
^China starts work on Mischief Reef land reclamation. Retrieved 06 April 2015.
^ a bVictor Robert Lee (19 June 2015). "South China Sea: Satellite Images Show Pace of China's Subi Reef Reclamation". The Diplomat. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
^"Taiwan completes military airstrip on Spratly Islands". Taiwan News. CNA (Central News Agency). 29 January 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
^"No Spratlys agreement between ASEAN, PRC", FBIS-EAS-95-065, 5 Apr 1995, p. 41.
^http://arcg.is/1J3VUfc redirects to "Aerial photo [114.4814E, 9.8461N], [114.5019E, 9.8573N] (Sin Cowe East Island)". nlc.maps.arcgis.com.
^ a bHancox, David; Prescott, Victor (1995). A geographical description of the Spratly Islands and an account of hydrographic surveys amongst those islands (Maritime briefing). University of Durham, International Boundaries Research Unit. p. 21. ISBN 978-1897643181.
^Chinese ships patrol area contested by Malaysia. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
^China takes another fishing ground near Palawan Archived 2016-03-06 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
External links
Department of Land Administration (2005). "2005-19. 海南諸島礁名稱 Location of Islands on South China Sea" (in Chinese and English). Department of Social Affairs, Ministry of the Interior (Republic of China). Archived from the original (MS Excel) on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2014. An MS Excel file containing a list of 170 maritime features in the South China Sea, including their latitudes and longitudes.
.pdf/page1-1280px-Spratly_Islands_in_the_South_China_Sea_Department_of_State_map_2016587286_(2015).pdf.jpg)
Philippines: 10: Flat Island 11: Lankiam Cay 12: Loaita Cay 13: Loaita Island 14: Nanshan Island 15: Northeast Cay 16: Thitu Island 17: West York Island 18: Commodore Reef 19: Irving Reef 20: Second Thomas Reef
Vietnam: 21: Southwest Cay 22: Sand Cay 23: Namyit Island 24: Sin Cowe Island 25: Spratly Island 26: Amboyna Cay 27: Grierson Reef 28: Central London Reef 29: Pearson Reef 30: Barque Canada Reef 31: West London Reef 32: Ladd Reef 33: Discovery Great Reef 34: Pigeon Reef 35: East London Reef 36: Alison Reef 37: Cornwallis South Reef 38: Petley Reef 39: South Reef 40: Collins Reef 41: Lansdowne Reef 42: Bombay Castle 43: Prince of Wales Bank 44: Vanguard Bank 45: Prince Consort Bank 46: Grainger Bank 47: Alexandra Bank 48: Orleana Shoal 49: Kingston Shoal
Malaysia: 50: Swallow Reef 51: Ardasier Reef 52: Dallas Reef 53: Erica Reef 54: Investigator Shoal 55: Mariveles Reef
