Background: This archipelago is surrounded by productive fishing grounds and potentially large oil reserves. In 1932 French Indochina annexed the islands and set up a weather station on Prattle Island; maintenance was continued by its successor Vietnam. China has occupied the Paracel Islands since 1974 when its troops captured a South Vietnamese garrison occupying the western islands. However the islands are still claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.
Location: Southeastern Asia, group of small islands and reefs in the South China Sea, about one-third of the way from central Vietnam to the northern Philippines