Spratly Islands

Spratly Islands
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	南沙群島
Simplified Chinese	南沙群岛
Transcriptions
Staundart Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Nánshā Qúndǎo
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanisation	Nàhmsaa Kwùhndóu
Jyutping	nam4 saa1 kwun4 dou2
Soothren Min
Hokkien POJ	Lâm-soa Kûn-tó
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	Quần Đảo Trường Sa
Malay name
Malay	Kepulauan Spratly
Filipino name
Tagalog	Kapuluan ng Kalayaan

Spratly Islands
Disputit islands
	Spratly Islands
Geography
Location	Sooth Cheenae Sea
Coordinates	10°N 114°E / 10°N 114°ECoordinates: 10°N 114°E / 10°N 114°E
Total islands	over 750
Major islands	Taiping Island; Namyit Island; Northeast Cay; Sin Cowe Island; Soothwast Cay; Spratly Island; Swallow Reef; Thitu Island; West York Island
less than 5 square kilometre (1.9 sq mi)
Coastline	926 kilometre (575 mi)
Heichest point	on Soothwast Cay; 4 metre (13 ft)
Admeenistered bi
Claimit bi
	Brunei
EEZ	Brunei zone
	Malaysie
State	Sabah
	Philippines
Municipality	Kalayaan
	Cheenae
Coonty	Administration Office for Xisha Islands, Zhongsha Islands and Nansha Islands
	Taiwan
Municipality	Kaohsiung
	Vietnam
Province	Khanh Hoa
Demographics
Population	nae indigenous population
Ethnic groups	various

The Spratly Islands are a group o mair nor 750 reefs,^[1] islets, atolls, cays an islands in the Sooth Cheenae Sea. The archipelago lies aff the coasts o the Philippines an Malaysie (Sabah), aboot ane third o the wa frae thare tae soothren Vietnam. Thay contain less nor fower square kilometres o land aurie spread ower mair nor 425,000 square kilometres o sea. The Spratlys are ane o three archipelagos o the Sooth Cheenae Sea which comprise mair nor 30,000 islands an reefs an which complicate govrenance an economics in that region o Sootheast Asie. Such sma an remote islands hae little economic value in thairsels, but are important in establishin internaitional bundaries. Thare are nae native islanders but thare are, at least for nou, rich fishin grunds; an ineetial surveys indicate the islands mey contain signeeficant reserves o ile an naitural gas.

Aboot 45 islands are occupee'd bi relatively smaa nummers o militar forces frae Vietnam, the Fowkrepublic o Cheenae, the Republic o Cheenae (Taiwan), Malaysie an the Philippines. Brunei haes claimit an EEZ in the sootheastren pairt o the Spratlys an aw encompassin juist ane aurie o smaw islands abuin mean heich watter (on Louisa Reef).