Paracel Islands

Uncommon card · No. 108565

The Paracel Islands, also known as the Xisha Islands (simplified Chinese: 西沙群岛; traditional Chinese: 西沙群島; pinyin: xīshā qúndǎo; lit. 'West Sand Archipelago') and the Hoàng Sa Archipelago (Vietnamese: Quần đảo Hoàng Sa; Chữ Hán: 羣島黃沙, lit. 'Yellow Sand Archipelago'), are an archipelago in the South China Sea. It is under the control of the People's Republic of China, but its sovereignty in whole or in part is disputed by Taiwan and Vietnam. The word paracel is of Portuguese origin, meaning placer (a submerged bank or reef), and appears on 16th-century Portuguese maps. The archipelago includes about 130 small coral islands and reefs, most grouped into the northeastern Amphitrite Group or the western Crescent Group. They are distributed over a maritime area of around 15,000 square kilometers (5,800 sq mi), with a land area of approximately 7.75 square kilometers (2.99 sq mi). The archipelago is located about 220 miles (350 km) southeast of Hainan Island, equidistant from the coastlines of...

Read on Wikipedia · Image United States Naval Oceanographic Office, Public domain