Zhongsha Islands

Zhongsha Islands
County-level division
Zhongsha District
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Hainan
Prefecture-level city	Sansha
Government
• Type	County-level division
Area
• Total	0 km^2 (0 sq mi)
Population
• Total	0
Time zone	China (UTC+8)

Zhongsha Archipelago
Traditional Chinese	中沙群島
Simplified Chinese	中沙群岛
Literal meaning	Central Sands Archipelago
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōngshā Qúndǎo
Zhongsha District
Traditional Chinese	中沙群島的島礁及其海域
Simplified Chinese	中沙群岛的岛礁及其海域
Literal meaning	Islands, Reefs, and Waters of the Zhongsha Archipelago
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōngshā Qúndǎo de Dǎo Jiāo jíqí Hǎiyù

The Zhongsha Islands are a collection of entirely submerged banks, seamounts, and shoals in the South China Sea. The two major features of the area are the Macclesfield Bank (Chinese: Zhōngshā) and the Scarborough Shoal. The whole of the region is claimed by the PRC and the ROC, and various bits of the western parts are claimed by the Philippines. No country has control of the region, and there are constant disputes - for example, see Scarborough Shoal standoff.

The PRC claim to administer the area as Zhongsha District, a county-level area of the Sansha prefecture-level city in Hainan. It has one township-level division, Zhongsha Dao and Jiao Neighborhood Committee. However, the seat of this committee is not within the Zhongsha District.

Aquaculture research has been conducted on Walker Shoal.^[1]

Geography

The Zhongsha "Islands" include:

To the west, near the Paracel Islands:

• Macclesfield Bank (Zhongsha Dao)
  • Walker Shoal

To the east, near the Philippines:

• Scarborough Shoal (Nanyan Dao 南巖島 or Huangyan Dao 黃岩島; 15°11′N 117°46′E / 15.183°N 117.767°E)
• Truro Shoal (Sianfa Ansha or Shianfa Ansha 特魯暗沙; 16°20′N 116°44′E / 16.333°N 116.733°E)

To the north:

• Helen Shoal (Itung Ansha or Yitong Ansha 一統暗沙; 19°12′N 113°53′E / 19.200°N 113.883°E) - It is a few kilometers south of Hong Kong.
• Stewart Shoal (Ssu-ti-wa-erh-t'e Ansha 管事暗灘; 17°20′N 118°50′E / 17.333°N 118.833°E)
• Huangyan Seamount (黃岩海山)
• Shixing Seamount (石星海山)
• Xianbei Seamount (憲北海山)
• Xiannan Seamount (憲南海山)
• Zhangzhong Seamount (漲中海山)
• Zhenbei Seamount (珍貝海山)

To the south, near the Spratly Islands:

• Dreyer Shoal (Zhongnan Ansha, 中南暗沙)
• Zhongnan Seamount (中南海山)
• Longnan Seamount (龍南海山)
• Changlong Seamount (長龍海山)

References

1. "China Focus: South China islands see green transformation". news.xinhuanet.com. 30 July 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
   Interesting article, but it makes NO mention of either Aquaculture research or Walker Shoal ...