Paracel Islands : Ask Biography

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The Paracel Islands, also called Xisha Islands (西沙群岛) in Chinese and Hoàng Sa Islands in Vietnamese, is a group of islands under the administration of Hainan Province, The People's Republic of China. Vietnam and the Republic of China (Taiwan) also claim sovereignty of these islands. The People's Republic of China and South Vietnam each controlled part of the Paracel Islands before 1974. A brief conflict in 1974 resulted in 71 soldiers being killed, and China has controlled the whole of Paracel since then, though this control is still disputed by Vietnam.

The Paracel Islands consist of over 30 islets, sandbanks or reefs, occupy about 15,000 km2 of the ocean surface, and are located in the South China Sea. Turtles live on the islands, and seabirds have left nests and guano deposits, but there are no permanent human residents except for a small number of troops. The archipelago is approximately equidistant from the coastlines of Vietnam and China, 180 nautical miles SE of Hainan Island, and about one-third of the way from central Vietnam to the northern Philippines.

The islands are divided into two main groups. The Amphitrite group is in the northeast and the Crescent group is in the southwest, and they are located about 70 km (229658.8 ft) from one another. Subject to hot and humid climate, with abundant rainfall and frequent typhoons, the archipelago is surrounded by productive fishing grounds and potential oil and gas reserves.