South China Sea Islands,Spratly Islands,Paracel Islands,Pratas Islands,Macclesfield Bank,Scarborough Shoal

The South China Sea Islands (or Nanhai Islands, simplified: 南海诸岛, traditional: 南海諸島, pinyin: Nánhǎi Zhūdǎo) consist of over 250 around 1-km² islands, atolls, cays, shoals, reefs, and sandbars in the South China Sea, most of which have no indigenous people, many of which are naturally under water at high tide, some of which are permanently submerged. The features are grouped into three archipelagos (listed by area size), Macclesfield Bank and Scarborough Shoal:

* The Spratly Islands, disputed between the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China, and Vietnam, with Malaysia and the Philippines claiming part of the archipelago
* The Paracel Islands, disputed between the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China, and Vietnam
* The Pratas Islands, disputed between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China
* The Macclesfield Bank, disputed between the People's Republic of China, the Philippines, and the Republic of China
* The Scarborough Shoal, disputed between the People's Republic of China, the Philippines, and the Republic of China

There are minerals, natural gas, and oil deposits on the islands and their nearby seafloor. Because of the economic, military, and transportational importance, the control, especially of the Spratlys, has been in dispute by China and several Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam from the mid-20th century onwards. True occupation and control are shared between the claimants.

History

The countries with the most extensive participation on the South China Sea Islands are China and Vietnam.

The South China Sea Islands were collectively named the Tough Heads of the Surging Sea (漲海崎頭 Zhànghǎi Qítóu) and Coral Cays (珊瑚洲 Shanhu Zhou) since their discovery by the Chinese in the Qin Dynasty. But seafaring did not occur until the next dynasty, the Han Dynasty. After the Song Dynasty, the Islands had been called The Thousand-Mile Long Sands (千里長沙) and Myriad-Mile Stony Embankment (萬里石塘).

There are houses dated back to the Tang or Song Dynasty on Ganquan Island (甘泉島), which nowadays is under dispute with Vietnam. In 1045, during the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song China, imperial troops (王師) were sent to the Paracel Islands. The fishermen of Hainan composed various "Notebooks on Paths and Timing" (更路簿) that recorded over 200 routes, the time needed for sailing among the different isles, and the names of over 100 islands commonly used by the fishermen.

Some of the voyages of Zheng He passed by the Islands, though they probably did not dock on them. There is an atoll in the Spratly Islands named after Zheng He though.

Vietnamese fishermen and merchants also have been exploring the South Sea Islands, with a well-known presence, due to the historically unofficial capacity and shorter records. Vietnamese official documents cite Vietnamese ancient historical records of control and exploitation of the island, and dispute Chinese claims and records.

In the 19th century, as a part of the occupation of Indochina, France claimed control of the Spratlys until the 1930s, exchanging a few with the British. During World War II, the Islands were annexed by Japan.

The People's Republic of China founded in 1949 claimed the islands as part of the province of Canton (Guangdong), and later of the Hainan special administrative region.