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The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around . The area's importance largely results from one-third of the world's shipping sailing through its waters and that it is believed to hold huge oil and gas reserves beneath its seabed.〔(A look at the top issues at Asian security meeting ) ''Associated Press'', ROBIN McDOWELL, July 21, 2011.〕 It is located〔 * south of mainland China, including the island of Taiwan, in the east; * east of Vietnam and Cambodia; * west of the Philippines; * east of the Malay peninsula and Sumatra, up to the Strait of Malacca in the west and * north of the Bangka–Belitung Islands and Borneo The minute South China Sea Islands, collectively an archipelago, number in the hundreds. The sea and its mostly uninhabited islands are subject to competing claims of sovereignty by several countries. These claims are also reflected in the variety of names used for the islands and the sea. ==Names== ''South China Sea'' is the dominant term used in English for the sea, and the name in most European languages is equivalent, but it is sometimes called by different names in China's neighboring countries, often reflecting historical claims to hegemony over the sea. The English name is a result of early European interest in the sea as a route from Europe and South Asia to the trading opportunities of China. In the sixteenth century Portuguese sailors called it the China Sea (''Mar da China''); later needs to differentiate it from nearby bodies of water led to calling it the South China Sea.〔Tønnesson, Stein (2005). Locating the South China Sea. In Kratoska, Paul et al., eds. ''Locating Southeast Asia: geographies of knowledge and politics of space''. Singapore: Singapore University Press. p. 203-233.〕 The International Hydrographic Organization refers to the sea as "South China Sea (Nan Hai)". The ''Yizhoushu'', which was a chronicle of the Western Zhou dynasty (1046–771 BCE) gives the first Chinese name for the South China Sea as ''Nanfang Hai'' (), claiming that barbarians from that sea gave tributes of hawksbill sea turtles to the Zhou rulers. The ''Classic of Poetry'', ''Zuo Zhuan'', and ''Guoyu'' classics of the Spring and Autumn period (771–476 BCE) also referred to the sea, but by the name ''Nan Hai'' () in reference to the State of Chu's expeditions there.〔 Nan Hai, the South Sea, was one of the Four Seas of Chinese literature. There are three other seas, one for each of the four cardinal directions. During the Eastern Han dynasty (23–220 CE), China's rulers called the Sea ''Zhang Hai'' ().〔 ''Fei Hai'' () became popular during the Southern and Northern Dynasties period. Usage of the current Chinese name, ''Nan Hai'' (South Sea), became gradually widespread during the Qing Dynasty.〔华林甫 (Hua Linfu), 2006. 插图本中国地名史话 (An illustrated history of Chinese place names). 齊鲁書社 (Qilu Publishing), page 197. ISBN 7533315464〕 In Southeast Asia it was once called the ''Champa Sea'' or ''Sea of Cham'', after the maritime kingdom of Champa that flourished there before the sixteenth century. The majority of the sea came under Japanese naval control during World War II following the military acquisition of many surrounding South East Asian territories in 1941. Japan calls the sea ''Minami Shina Kai'' "South China Sea". This was written 南支那海 until 2004, when the Japanese Foreign Ministry and other departments switched the spelling 南シナ海, which has become the standard usage in Japan. In China, it is called the "South Sea", 南海 ''Nánhǎi'', and in Vietnam the "East Sea", ''Biển Đông''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=VN and China pledge to maintain peace and stability in East Sea )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title= FM Spokesperson on FIR control over East Sea )〕 In Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, it was long called the "South China Sea" (''Dagat Timog Tsina'' in Tagalog, ''Laut China Selatan'' in Malay), with the part within Philippine territorial waters often called the "Luzon Sea", ''Dagat Luzon'', by the Philippines. However, following an escalation of the Spratly Islands dispute in 2011, various Philippine government agencies started using the name "West Philippine Sea". A PAGASA spokesperson said that the sea to the east of the Philippines will continue to be called the Philippine Sea. In September 2012, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III signed Administrative Order No. 29, mandating that all government agencies use the name "West Philippine Sea" to refer to the parts of the South China Sea within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, and tasked the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) to use the name in official maps.〔(West Philippine Sea Limited To Exclusive Economic Zone ), September 14, 2012, ''International Business Times''〕 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」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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