Nansha Islands (also known as Spratly Islands), known as "Wanli Shitang", "Wanli Causeway", "Wansheng Shitang Island", etc., are located in the southern sea of the South China Sea, from Xiongnan Reef in the north, to Lidi Dark Sand in the south, to Wan'an Beach in the west, and to Haima Beach in the east, which is the southernmost group of archipelagos in the South China Sea, with the largest number of island beaches and reefs and the most widely dispersed group of archipelagos.
The Vietnamese side of the Spratly Islands call them the Sparties (Vietnamese: Quần đảo Trường Sa / Islands Of Changsha). Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines all use the name Spratly Islands to refer to the entire island group (Malay, Indonesian: Kepulauan Spratly; Tagalog: Kapuluang Spratly), but Malaysia refers to the occupied part as the Sammarang Observation Reef (Malay: Gugusan Semarang Peninjau), and the Philippines refers to the occupation as the Karayan Islands.
The Nansha Islands are located at latitude 3°35′~11°55′N, longitude 109°30′~117°50′E, with an east-west length of about 905 km, a north-south width of about 887 km, and a sea area of 886,000 square kilometers.
The Nansha Islands are located between the two major naval bases of Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam and Subic Bay in the Philippines, and are the main points of maritime traffic from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean, which are an important international waterway for East Asia to South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe, an important passage for China's opening up to the outside world and an important barrier for the security of southern Xinjiang.
Major islands and reefs
overview
Spratly Islands
The Nansha Islands are the southernmost of the four major archipelagos in the South China Sea, with the most islands and reefs and the most widely dispersed archipelagos. The main islands are Taiping Island, Nanwei Island, Zhongye Island, Zhenghe Reefs, Wan'an Beach and so on. Standing Di Di Is the southernmost point of Chinese territory.
The spratly islands are bordered by Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines from the west, south and east. The Nansha Islands are composed of more than 230 islands, continents, reefs, sand and beaches, but about 20% of them are exposed to the sea, of which 11 islands, 5 sandbars, and 20 reefs are exposed.
There are a total of 54 islands, reefs and sandbars exposed in the Nansha Islands all year round, as well as low-tide highlands that expose reefs or reefs at low tide (including 44 water surface atolls, 8 water platform reefs and 2 water tower reefs). Because water surface atolls are often composed of multiple separate reefs, there are a total of 86 geographical monomers exposed in the Spratly Islands at low tide, including 23 gray sand islands (marked with "*"), 11 reefs exposed all year round (marked with "#") and 52 reefs exposed at low tide. (Under the Convention on the Sea, both Ash Sand Island and perennial reefs can enjoy 12 nautical miles of territorial waters and 12 nautical miles of adjacent areas. ）
Six large groups of reefs
The six reefs are twin reefs, Zhongye reefs, TD reefs, Zhenghe reefs, Jiuzhang reefs and Yinqing reefs.
Water surface atolls
1. Twin Reefs: * Beizi Island, * Nanzi Island, * Beiwai Sandbar, Gongshi Reef (at low tide, part of the reef is dry out), Nairo Reef (partially dry out), Yongdeng Dark Sand 2, Zhongye Group Reef West Group: * Zhongye Island, Tiexian West Reef (dry out of the reef), Iron Line Middle Reef (dry out of the reef)
3. East Group of Zhongye Reefs: Meijiu Reef (exposed at low tide), Tiezhi Reef (partially dry out at low tide)
4. Mengzi Reef - Long Beach
5. Subi Reef (can be dried out at low tide)
6. TD Reefs: * South Key Island, * ShuanghuangShazhou (dry out reef that is becoming a land), * Yangxin Sandbank (dry out of the reef soon after becoming a land), Kugui Reef
7. Zhenghe Reefs: *Taiping Island, *Hongyu Island, *Dunqian Sandbank, Portland Reef (low tide out), Anda Reef (dry out of the reef), South Kaoru Reef, Little South Kaoru Reef (low tide out of the reef)
8. Jiuzhang Reefs: * Jinghong Island, * Dyeing Qingshazhou, #东门礁, Anle Reef (dry out of the reef), Long Line Reef (3 dry reefs), Sovereign Reef (dry out of the reef), Oxbow Reef (dry out of the reef), Chigua Reef (dry out of the reef), Qiong Reef (with white sand dunes), Quyuan Reef (with reefs exposed in the north and west), Zhangxi Reef (with reefs exposed at low tide), Flat Ginseng Reef (low tide exposed), Lobster Reef (3 reefs exposed from the water on the reef plate), Dye qing East Reef (low tide exposed).
9. Big Spot Reef (low tide outcrops)
10. Small reef (partially dry out at low tide)
11. Huo Ai Reef
12. Mahuan Island - Feixin Island: *Feixin Island, * Mahuan Island
13. Wufang Reef (dry out of the reef)
14. Triangle Reef
15. Lusha Reef (dry out of the reef)
16. Mischief Reef (Dry Out Reef)
17. Xian'e Reef (Dry Out Reef)
18. Xinyi Reef (sandbar)
19. Haikou Reef (dry out of the atoll)
20. Half Moon Reef (dry out of the atolls)
21. Captain's Reef (dry out of the atoll)
22. Ren'ai Reef: (Dry out of the reef)
23. Xianbin Reef (dry out of the atoll)
24. Vigorous dark sand (including ethyl xin stone)
25. Commander Reef (sandbar)
26. No reef (dry out of the atoll, several pieces of flooded reef)
27. South China Reef (dry out of the atoll)
28. Liumen Reef (dry out of the atoll)
29. Lifelong Reef (sandbar)
30. Yuya Sand (dry out of the atoll): #浪口礁; erangular reef; line head reef
31. Light Star Reef (dry out of the atoll)
32. Dustpan Reef (dry out of the atoll)
33. South China Sea Reef (Sandbar)
34. Cypress Reef (dry out of the atoll, birdfish ingot stone, single pillar stone)
35. East Reef
36. Middle Reef (Sandbar)
37. West Reef (Sandbar)
38. Daily reef
39. Projectile Reef
40. Huanglu Reef
41. Nantong Reef
42. Light Star Boy Reef
43. Yongju Reef
44. Antang Beach: Gongzhen Reef, Scorpion Reef
Surface reef
1. Xiyue Island Reef Plain
2. Nanwei Island Reef Plain
3. Ampo Sandbar Reef (Dry Out Reef)
4. Halfway Reef (dry out at low tide)
5. Oxwheel Reef (Dry Out Reef)
6. Huayang Reef (Dry Out Reef)
7. Nanping Reef (Dry Out Reef)
8. Small Huo Ai Reef (including southwest reef body)