斯普拉特利 群岛
The Spratly Islands
(Chinese: Nánshā Qúndǎo (南沙群岛),
The Spratly Islands
(Chinese: Nánshā Qúndǎo (南沙群岛),
Filipino: Kapuluan ng Kalayaan,[
Malay: Kepulauan Spratly and
Vietnamese: Qu?n ??o Tr??ng Sa)
are a disputed group of more than 750 reefs, islets, atolls, cays and islands in the South China Sea.
The archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines, Malaysia, and southern Vietnam.
Named after the 19th-century British whaling captain Richard Spratly who sighted Spratly Island in 1843,
the islands contain approximately 4 km2 (1.5 mi2) of land area spread over a vast area of more than
425,000 km2 (164,000 mi2).
The Spratlys are one of the major archipelagos in the South China Sea which comprise
more than 30,000 islands and reefs, and which complicate
governance and economics in this part of Southeast Asia.
The small and remote islands have massive economic value and are important to the
claimants in their attempts to establish international boundaries. The islands also have
no indigenous inhabitants, but offer rich fishing grounds and may contain significant oil
and natural gas reserves.The northeast of Spratlys is known to mariners as
Dangerous Ground and is characterized by its many low islands, sunken reefs, and
atolls with coral often rising abruptly from ocean depths greater than 1,000 metres (3,300 ft)
- all of which makes the area dangerous for navigation.
.
