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Spratly Islands
The Spratly Islands ( fil, Kapuluan ng Kalayaan; zh, c=南沙群島/南沙群岛, s=, t=, p=Nánshā Qúndǎo; Malay, id, Kepulauan Spratly; vi, Quần đảo Trường Sa) are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. Composed of islands, islets, cays, and more than 100 reefs, sometimes grouped in submerged old atolls, 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 less than of naturally occurring land area, which is spread over an area of more than . The Spratly Islands are one of the major archipelagos in the South China Sea which complicate governance and economics in this part of Southeast Asia due to their location in strategic shipping lanes. The islands are largely uninhabited, but offer rich fishing grounds and may contain significant oil and natural gas reserves,Owen, N. A. and C. H. Sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spratly Islands In The South China Sea Department Of State Map 2016587286 (2015)
The Spratly Islands ( fil, Kapuluan ng Kalayaan; zh, c=南沙群島/南沙群岛, s=, t=, p=Nánshā Qúndǎo; Malay, id, Kepulauan Spratly; vi, Quần đảo Trường Sa) are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. Composed of islands, islets, cays, and more than 100 reefs, sometimes grouped in submerged old atolls, 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 less than of naturally occurring land area, which is spread over an area of more than . The Spratly Islands are one of the major archipelagos in the South China Sea which complicate governance and economics in this part of Southeast Asia due to their location in strategic shipping lanes. The islands are largely uninhabited, but offer rich fishing grounds and may contain significant oil and natural gas reserves,Owen, N. A. and C. H. Sch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thitu Island
Thitu Island, also known as Pag-asa Island ( tl, Pulo ng Pag-asa, lit=Island of Hope; pag, Ilalo, having an area of , is the second largest of the naturally occurringNote that in 2014 the PRC embarked on a number of reclamation projects in the Spratly Islands. It appears that the largest of these, at Fiery Cross Reef, is of at least 60 hectares, and according to some unverifiable sources, possibly as large as 150 hectares. Spratly Islands and the largest of the Philippine-administered islands. It lies about west of Puerto Princesa. Its neighbors are the North Danger Reef to the north, Subi Reef to the west, and the Loaita and Tizard Banks to the south. As the poblacion (administrative center) of the Kalayaan municipality of Palawan province in the Philippines, it also administers nearly a dozen other islets, cays and reefs in the Spratly Islands. Vietnam also claims the island. In 2019–20, the island's naval port and civilian-military airstrip were upgraded despite bei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Itu Aba Island
Taiping Island, also known as Itu Aba, and also known by various other names, is the largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. The island is elliptical in shape being in length and in width, with an area of . It is located on the northern edge of the Tizard Bank (Zheng He Reefs; 鄭和群礁). The runway of the Taiping Island Airport is easily the most prominent feature on the island, running its entire length. The island is administered by the Republic of China (Taiwan), as part of Cijin, Kaohsiung. It is also claimed by the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Philippines and Vietnam. In 2016, in the ruling by an arbitral tribunal in the intergovernmental Permanent Court of Arbitration, in the case brought by the Philippines against China, the tribunal classified Itu Aba as a "rock" under United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) (and therefore not entitled to a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and contine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malay Language
Malay (; ms, Bahasa Melayu, links=no, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , Rejang script, Rencong: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and that is also spoken in East Timor and parts of the Philippines and Thailand. Altogether, it is spoken by 290 million people (around 260 million in Indonesia alone in its own literary standard named "Indonesian language, Indonesian") across Maritime Southeast Asia. As the or ("national language") of several states, Standard Malay has various official names. In Malaysia, it is designated as either ("Malaysian Malay") or also ("Malay language"). In Singapore and Brunei, it is called ("Malay language"). In Indonesia, an autonomous normative variety called ("Indonesian language") is designated the ("unifying language" or lingua franca). However, in areas of Central to Southern Sumatra, where vernacular varieties of Malay are indigenous, Indonesians refe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louisa Reef
Louisa Reef ( Brunei ms, Terumbu Semarang Barat Kecil, lit=; Mandarin ) is a coral atoll in the southern reaches of the Spratly Islands. The reef is oval in shape, approximately 1.5 km (1 mile) east to west and 0.5 km (500 yards) north to south. While most of Louisa Reef is submerged, some portions emerge at low tide and a few small rocks remain above water even at high tide. The atoll rises as deeply undercut walls and steep slopes from very deep water with extensive stony and soft corals. A navigation beacon built by Malaysia is at its southwest point and the highest visible rock is at the southeast end. Safe anchorage is difficult to find, depending on the wind and currents, but there are sandy areas at the northwest and southwest ends. The nearest reliable shelter for boats is the lagoon at Swallow Reef Swallow Reef, also known as ms, Pulau Layang-Layang, lit=; vi, Đá Hoa Lau; Mandarin ; Celerio Reef ( tl, Bahura ng Celerio, lit=), is an oceanic atoll of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southwest Cay
Southwest Cay, also known as vi, Đảo Song Tử Tây; Pugad Island ( fil, Pulo ng Pugad, lit=Island of Nest); Mandarin , is an islet on the northwestern edge of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. It is part of the atoll North Danger Reef, and just southwest of Northeast Cay. With an area of , it is the sixth largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands, and the second largest of the Vietnamese-occupied islands. Southwest Cay has the archipelago's highest point, at 4 meters above sea level. It was once a breeding place for birds, and was covered with trees and guano; export of guano had been carried out "on a considerable scale". The island is also claimed by China (PRC), Taiwan (ROC), and the Philippines. History 1933 – French possession In 1933, the French Government took possession of the Spratly Islands including Southwest Cay and Northeast Cay. Three ships, the ''Alerte'', the ''Astrolabe'' and the ''De Lanessan'' took part in the expedition. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northeast Cay
Northeast Cay, also known as Parola Island ( fil, Pulo ng Parola, lit=Island of heLighthouse; Mandarin ; vi, Đảo Song Tử Đông), with a land area of , is the fifth largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands and the third largest of the Philippine-occupied islands. It is part of the North Danger Reef and is located to the northwest of Dangerous Ground. It is north of Vietnamese-occupied Southwest Cay ( tl, Pugad), and they are visible from each other. It is located northwest of Philippine-occupied Thitu Island (Pag-asa), and is administered by the Philippines as part of Kalayaan, Palawan. The island is also claimed by the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Vietnam. Environment Some of the cay's outcrops are visible on its western side. It has high salinity groundwater and vegetation is limited to beach type of plants. The corals around the island were mostly destroyed by dynamite and cyanide fishing methods. It is covered with gra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West York Island
West York Island, also known as Likas Island ( fil, Pulo ng Likas, lit=Island of Naturality; Mandarin ; ), and several other names. With an area of , it is the third largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands, and the second largest (after Thitu Island) of the Philippine-occupied islands. It is wide, long, and its highest elevation is . The island is administered by the Philippines as part of Kalayaan, Palawan; it is located 47 miles (76 km) northeast of Pagasa Island (Thitu Island), the location of the Philippine defined major town of Kalayaan. Filipino soldiers are stationed on the island. The island is also claimed by the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Vietnam. Structures and environment West York Island is covered with low vegetation and scrub. Outcrops are visible on the southern and eastern portion of the island during low tides. It is a sanctuary for giant sea turtles that lay their eggs on the island all year round. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tizard Bank
The Tizard Bank, is a partially sunken atoll and one of the significant maritime features of the north-western part of the Spratly Islands. It is claimed by the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China, and Vietnam, and various parts of it are occupied by these states. It was named after Thomas Henry Tizard (1839 – 17 February 1924), a British oceanographer and surveyor who surveyed the bank from aboard HMS ''Rifleman'' in the 1860s. In 1947 the Republic of China government gave the bank the name Zheng He Archipelago after the famous Ming-era admiral, although there is no evidence that he ever visited Tizard Bank. From before the 1870s the islands were used by fishermen from Hainan with Itu Aba Island having a semi-permanent settlement of Chinese fishermen. The bank rises steeply from surrounding depths ranging from 500 to 700 meters. It is in length, and extends west from the Gaven Reefs to the NW of Dangerous Ground. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commercial Fishing
Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often pursue fish far into the ocean under adverse conditions. Large-scale commercial fishing is also known as industrial fishing. The major fishing industries are not only owned by major corporations but by small families as well. In order to adapt to declining fish populations and increased demand, many commercial fishing operations have reduced the sustainability of their harvest by fishing further down the food chain. This raises concern for fishery managers and researchers, who highlight how further they say that for those reasons, the sustainability of the marine ecosystems could be in danger of collapsing. Commercial fishermen harvest a wide variety of animals. However, a very small number of species support the majority of the world ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Petroleum
Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude oil and petroleum products that consist of refined crude oil. A fossil fuel, petroleum is formed when large quantities of dead organisms, mostly zooplankton and algae, are buried underneath sedimentary rock and subjected to both prolonged heat and pressure. Petroleum is primarily recovered by oil drilling. Drilling is carried out after studies of structural geology, sedimentary basin analysis, and reservoir characterisation. Recent developments in technologies have also led to exploitation of other unconventional reserves such as oil sands and oil shale. Once extracted, oil is refined and separated, most easily by distillation, into innumerable products for direct use or use in manufacturing. Products include fuels such as gasol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guano
Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. Guano was also, to a lesser extent, sought for the production of gunpowder and other explosive materials. The 19th-century seabird guano trade played a pivotal role in the development of modern input-intensive farming. The demand for guano spurred the human colonization of remote bird islands in many parts of the world. Unsustainable seabird guano mining processes can result in permanent habitat destruction and the loss of millions of seabirds. Bat guano is found in caves throughout the world. Many cave ecosystems are wholly dependent on bats to provide nutrients via their guano which supports bacteria, fungi, invertebrates, and vertebrates. The loss of bats from a cave can result in the extinction of species that rely on their guano. U ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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