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The South China Sea Islands consist of over 250 islands, atolls, cays, shoals, reefs, and sandbars in the South China Sea, none of which have indigenous people, few of which have any natural water supply, many of which are naturally under water at high tide, and many of which are permanently submerged. The features are grouped into three archipelagos, plus the Macclesfield Bank and Scarborough Shoal. Collectively they have a total land surface area of less than 15 km2 at low tide: * The Spratly Islands, disputed between the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China, and Vietnam, with Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines claiming parts of the archipelago〔(Global Security )〕 * The Paracel Islands, disputed between the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China, and Vietnam, occupied by the PRC〔 https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pf.html CIA World Factbook〕 * The Pratas Islands, disputed between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China, occupied by the ROC * The Macclesfield Bank, disputed between the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China, the Philippines, and Vietnam, with no land above sea-level * The Scarborough Shoal, disputed between the People's Republic of China, the Philippines, and the Republic of China, with only rocks above sea-level. There are minerals, natural gas, and oil deposits on the islands and under their nearby seafloor, also an abundance of sealife, such as fish, animals and vegetation, traditionally exploited as food by all the claimant nations for thousands of years—mostly without disputes that could risk war. In the 20th century, since the WW2 settlements failed to resolve ownership of such lesser areas of land, seas and islands—and because of the economic, military, and transportational importance—their control, especially that of the Spratlys, has been in dispute between China and several Southeast Asian countries, such as Vietnam, from the mid-20th century onwards. True occupation and control are shared between the claimants. (See Claims and control below) == Names == The South China Sea Islands were discussed from the 4th century BC in the Chinese texts ''Yizhoushu'', ''Classic of Poetry'', ''Zuo Zhuan'', and ''Guoyu'', but only implicitly as part of the "Southern Territories" () or "South Sea" (, ''Nán Hǎi''). During the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BC), government administrators called the South China Sea Islands the "Three Mysterious Groups of Islands" (, ''Sān Shén Shān''). But during the Eastern Han dynasty (23-220), the South China Sea was renamed "Rising Sea" (, ''Zhǎng Hǎi''), so the islands were called the "Rising Sea Islands" (, ''Zhǎnghǎi Qítóu''). During the Jin Dynasty (265–420), they were known as the "Coral Islands" (, ''Shānhú Zhōu''). From the Tang Dynasty (618–907) to the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912), various names were used for the islands, but in general ''Changsha'' and permutations referred to the Paracel Islands, while ''Shitang'' referred to the Spratly Islands. These variations included, for the Paracels: ''Jiǔrǔ Luózhōu'' (), ''Qīzhōu Yáng'' (), ''Chángshā'' (), ''Qiānlǐ Chángshā'' (), and ''Qiānlǐ Shítáng'' (); for the Spratlys: ''Shítáng'' (), ''Shíchuáng'' (), ''Wànlǐ Shítáng'' (), and ''Wànlǐ Chángshā'' (). During the Qing, the names ''Qianli Changsha'' and ''Wanli Shitang'' were in vogue, and Chinese fishermen from Hainan named specific islands from within the groups, although the Qing officially named 15 large islands in 1909. During China's Republican era (1912-1949), the government named the Spratlys ''Tuánshā Qúndǎo'' () and then ''Nánshā Qúndǎo'' (); the Paracels were ''Xīshā Qúndǎo'' (); Republican authorities mapped over 291 islands, reefs, and banks in surveys in 1932, 1935, and 1947. The People's Republic of China has retained the Republican-era names for the island groups, supplementing them with a list of 287 names for islands, reefs, banks, and shoals in 1983.〔 From 2011-2012, China's State Oceanic Administration named 1,660 nameless islands and islets under its claimed jurisdiction; in 2012, China announced plans to name a further 1,664 nameless features by August 2013. The naming campaign is intended to consolidate China's sovereignty claim over Sansha (), a city which includes islands from the ''Xisha'' (Paracel), ''Nansha'' (Spratly) and ''Zhongsha'' (, ''Zhōngshā''; Macclesfield Bank, Scarborough Shoal, and others) groups. 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「South China Sea Islands」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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