South China Sea Geography Islands Non insular Structures

A number of nations, particularly the Philippines, object to the name "South China Sea", in that it implies Chinese sovereignty over the sea, which they dispute.

1 Geography

States with borders on the sea (clockwise from north) include: the People's Republic of ChinaThe People's Republic of China PRC comprises most of the cultural, historic, and geographic area known as China. Since its founding in 1949, it has been led by the Communist Party of China (CPC). It is the world's most populous country, with a population, Republic of ChinaThe Republic of China ( Traditional Chinese: , Simplified Chinese: ; Wade-Giles: Chung-hua Min-kuo, Tongyong Pinyin: JhongHua MinGuo, Hanyu Pinyin: Zhonghua Minguo) is a de facto sovereign state that currently administers the island groups of Taiwan, Peng ( Taiwan), the Philippines, MalaysiaThe Federation of Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. It consists of two geographical regions divided by the South China Sea: Peninsular Malaysia on the Malay Peninsula is bordered to the north by Thailand and to the south by Singapore; East Malaysia, BruneiThe Sultanate of Brunei more commonly referred to as Brunei Darussalam or simply Brunei is an oil-rich country located on the island of Borneo, in southeast Asia. Apart from its coastline with the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by Malaysia., IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia the world's largest archipelago, is located between the Southeast Asian peninsula and Australia, between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Indonesia borders Malaysia on the island of Borneo ( Kalimantan in Bahasa Indonesia), Papua N, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

1.1 Islands

Within the sea, there are over 200 identified islands and reefs, most of them within the Spratly Islands. The Spratly Islands spread over a 810 by 900 km area covering some 175 identified insular features, the largest being Taiping Island at just over 1.3 km long and with its highest elevation at 3.8 metres.

1.2 Non-insular structures

There is a 100- km wide seamount called Reed Tablemount in NE Spratlys, separated from Palawan Island of the Philippines by the Palawan Trench. Now about 20m under the sea level it was an island until it sunk about 7,000 years ago due to the increasing sea level after the last ice age.

2 Resources

It is a extremely significant body of water in a geopolitical sense. It is the second most used sea lane in the world, while in terms of world annual merchant fleet tonnage, over 50% passes through the straits of Malacca, the Sunda Strait, and the Lombok Strait. Over 1.6 million m³ (10 million barrels) of crude oil a day are shipped through the Strait of Malacca, where there are regular reports of piracy, but much less frequently than before the mid- 20th century.

The region has proven oil reserves of around 1.2 km³ (7.7 billion barrels), with an estimate of 4.5 km³ (28 billion barrels) in total. Natural gas reserves are estimated to total around 7,500 km³ (266 trillion cubic feet).

3 Politics

Competing territorial claims over the South China Sea and its resources are numerous. Because the 1982 United Nations Law of the Sea allows for a country's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) to extend 200 nm (370.6 km) beyond territorial waters, all the nations surrounding the sea can lay claim to great portions of it. The People's Republic of China (PRC) has stated its claim to almost the entire body. Areas with potential problems include:

Indonesia and the PRC over waters NE of the Natuna Islands.
The Philippines and the PRC over the Malampaya and Camago gas fields.
Vietnam and the PRC over waters west of the Spratly Islands. The islands themselves are also disputed between Vietnam, the PRC, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
The Paracel Islands are disputed between the PRC and Vietnam.
Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam over areas in the Gulf of Thailand.

The PRC and Vietnam have both been vigorous in prosecuting their claims. The Paracel Islands was seized by China in 1974 and 18 soldiers were killed. The Spratly Islands have been the site of a naval clash, in which over seventy Vietnamese sailors were killed just south of Chigua Reef in March 1988. Disputing claimants regularly report clashes between naval vessels.

4 External links

Seas

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