page_title: Spratly Islands
hierarchical_section_title: Spratly Islands
caption_attribution_description: English: Spratly Islands military settlements Français&#160;: Etablissements militaires dans l'archipel des Spratly Tagalog: Sakop na lupa ng militar sa Pulo ng Kalayaan 中文（简体）‎: 南沙群岛的军事区 中文（繁體）‎: 南沙群島的軍事區
context_page_description: The Spratly Islands are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. Composed of islands, islets and 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 2 km² of naturally occurring land area, which is spread over an area of more than 425,000 km².
  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 have no indigenous inhabitants, but offer rich fishing grounds and may contain significant oil and natural gas reserves, and as such are important to the claimants in their attempts to establish international boundaries. Some of the islands have civilian settlements, but of the approximately 45 islands, cays, reefs and shoals that are occupied, all contain structures that are occupied by military forces from Malaysia, Taiwan, China, the Philippines or Vietnam.
context_section_description: The Spratly Islands (Vietnamese: Quần đảo Trường Sa, Tagalog: Kapuluan ng Kalayaan, Malay: Kepulauan Spratly, Chinese: 南沙群岛 (Nánshā Qúndǎo), Dusun: Kopulohon Dibut) are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea.  Composed of islands, islets and 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 2 km² (490 acres) of naturally occurring land area, which is spread over an area of more than 425,000 km² (164,000 sq mi).
  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 have no indigenous inhabitants, but offer rich fishing grounds and may contain significant oil and natural gas reserves, and as such are important to the claimants in their attempts to establish international boundaries. Some of the islands have civilian settlements, but of the approximately 45 islands, cays, reefs and shoals that are occupied, all contain structures that are occupied by military forces from Malaysia, Taiwan (ROC), China (PRC), the Philippines or Vietnam. Additionally, Brunei has claimed an exclusive economic zone in the southeastern part of the Spratly Islands, which includes the uninhabited Louisa Reef.
caption: Spratly Islands military occupations map
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