Spratly Islands

group of reefs, islets, atolls, cays and islands

The Spratly Islands are 100 small uninhabited islands in the South China Sea.[1] Fish are an abundant resource around the islands, and as the countries of Brunei Darussalam, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam have a commercial interest in them.. These countries share control of the islands but have varying claims of territory.

The Spratly Islands

The islands are named after the British whaling captain Richard Spratly who saw Spratly Island in 1843.

The islands have less than 2 km2 (490 acres) of land area. This is spread over an area of more than 425,000 km2 (164,000 sq mi).

References

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  1. "Spratly Islands" at CIA World Factbook Archived 2009-06-10 at the Wayback Machine; excerpt, "no indigenous inhabitants"; retrieved 2013-4-19.