   west york island is also known as likas island , , ) and several other names. having an area of 18.6 hectares, it is the third largest island of the spratly islands chain in the south china sea, and is the second largest island among the philippine-occupied islands. it is up to  wide, and  long. its highest elevation is . the island is administered by the philippines as part of kalayaan, palawan; it is located 47 miles (76&nbsp;km) northeast of pagasa island (thitu island), the town proper of kalayaan. likas is the tagalog rootword of kalikasan which means nature. several 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. the high salinity of the ground water in the island retards the growth of introduced trees like coconuts, ipil-ipil, and other types. only those plants indigenous to the area, (mostly beach types of plants), thrive and survive the hot and humid condition, especially during the dry season. there are no buildings on the island, except for the ruins of houses built by japanese soldiers during world war ii, and a small philippine observation post where filipino soldiers are stationed. ==plans== west york island (likas) is part of the municipality of kalayaan, palawan. however, because there is no civilian population on the island, it cannot qualify for any political subdivision that the philippines has. kalayaan, palawan is the only municipality in the philippines to have a single barangay. barangays are political subdivis
Spratly_Islands