Background: The Spratly Islands consist of more than 100 small islands or reefs surrounded by rich fishing grounds - and potentially by gas and oil deposits. They are claimed in their entirety by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam, while portions are claimed by Malaysia and the Philippines. About 45 islands are occupied by relatively small numbers of military forces from China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Since 1985 Brunei has claimed a continental shelf that overlaps a southern reef but has not made any formal claim to the reef. Brunei claims an exclusive economic zone over this area.

Geographic coordinates: 8 38 N, 111 55 E

Map reference: Southeast Asia

Area
Total: 5 km² less than
Land: 5 km² less than
Water: 0 km²
Note: includes 100 or so islets, coral reefs, and sea mounts scattered over an area of nearly 410,000 km² (158,000 sq mi) of the central South China Sea
Comparative: land area is about seven times the size of the National Mall in Washington, DC

Land boundaries
Total: 0 km

Coastline: 926 km

Maritime claims: NA

Climate: tropical

Terrain: small, flat islands, islets, cays, and reefs

Elevation
Highest point: unnamed location on Southwest Cay 6 m
Lowest point: South China Sea 0 m

Natural resources: fish, guano, undetermined oil and natural gas potential

Land use
Other: 100% (2018 est.)

Natural hazards: typhoons; numerous reefs and shoals pose a serious maritime hazard

Geography
Note: strategically located near several primary shipping lanes in the central South China Sea; includes numerous small islands, atolls, shoals, and coral reefs

Population: no indigenous inhabitants (July 2021 est.)
Note: there are scattered garrisons occupied by military personnel of several claimant states

Age structure
0-14 years: NA
15-24 years: NA
25-54 years: NA
55-64 years: NA
65 years and over: NA

Dependency ratios
Total dependency ratio: NA
Youth dependency ratio: NA
Elderly dependency ratio: NA
Potential support ratio: NA

Birth rate: NA

Death rate: NA (2021 est.)

Environment
Current issues: China's use of dredged sand and coral to build artificial islands harms reef systems; illegal fishing practices indiscriminately harvest endangered species, including sea turtles and giant clams

Contraceptive prevalence rate: NA

Drinking water source
Improved urban: NA
Improved rural: NA
Improved total: NA
Unimproved urban: NA
Unimproved rural: NA
Unimproved total: NA

Current health expenditure: NA

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: NA
People living with hivaids: NA
Deaths: NA

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: NA

Education expenditures: NA

Country name
Conventional long form: none
Conventional short form: Spratly Islands
Etymology: named after a British whaling captain Richard SPRATLY, who sighted Spratly Island in 1843; the name of the island eventually passed to the entire archipelago

Airports
Total: 8 (2020)
With paved runways total: 6
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 3
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2
With paved runways under 914 m: 1 (2020)
With unpaved runways total: 2
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2 (2020)

Heliports: 5 (2020)

Ports and terminals: none; offshore anchorage only

Disputes international: all of the Spratly Islands are claimed by China (including Taiwan) and Vietnam; parts of them are claimed by Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines; despite no public territorial claim to Louisa Reef, Brunei implicitly lays claim by including it within the natural prolongation of its continental shelf and basis for a seabed median with Vietnam; claimants in November 2002 signed the 'Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea,' which has eased tensions but falls short of a legally binding 'code of conduct'; in March 2005, the national oil companies of China, the Philippines, and Vietnam signed a joint accord to conduct marine seismic activities in the Spratly Islands