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The Paracel Islands, also known as Xisha in Chinese and Hoàng Sa in Vietnamese, is a group of islands, reefs, banks and other maritime features in the South China Sea. It is controlled (and occupied) by the People's Republic of China, and also claimed by Taiwan (Republic of China) and Vietnam. The archipelago includes about 130 small coral islands and reefs, most grouped into the northeast Amphitrite Group or the western Crescent Group. They are distributed over a maritime area of around , with a land area of approximately . The archipelago is approximately equidistant from the coastlines of China (PRC) and Vietnam; and approximately about one-third of the way from central Vietnam to the northern Philippines. Forces of the Republic of China (RoC) landed on Woody Island in the Amphitrite Group in November 1946 and abandoned it in May 1950. The Amphitrite islands were then unoccupied until forces of the People's Republic of China landed there in late 1955. French and 'Annamite' forces landed on Pattle Island in the Crescent Group in January 1947. After independence forces from South Vietnam took over the positions until the Battle of the Paracel Islands in January 1974. South Vietnam's claim to the islands was inherited by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which has ruled all of Vietnam since 1976. In July 2012, China (PRC) established the city of Sansha, under Hainan Province, to administer the area. Turtles and seabirds are native to the islands, which have a hot and humid climate, abundant rainfall and frequent typhoons. The archipelago is surrounded by productive fishing grounds and a seabed with potential, but as yet unexplored, oil and gas reserves. == Geography == * Geographic coordinates: 〔''Sailing Directions'', Publication 161, Sector 1, pg. 5, section 1.7〕 * Coastline: 518 km * Climate: tropical * Elevation extremes: * * ''lowest point:'' South China Sea 0 m * * ''highest point:'' unnamed location on Rocky Island 14 m * Natural resources: fish, coral reefs, possible reserves of oil and gas of unknown size * Natural hazards: typhoons 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Paracel Islands」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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