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East and Southeast Asia
Page last updated: April 24, 2024
The Paracel Islands are surrounded by productive fishing grounds and by potential oil and gas reserves. In 1932, French Indochina annexed the islands and set up a weather station on Pattle Island; maintenance was continued by its successor, Vietnam. China has occupied all the Paracel Islands since 1974, when its troops seized a South Vietnamese garrison occupying the western islands. China built a military installation on Woody Island with an airfield and artificial harbor, and has scattered garrisons on some of the other islands. The Paracel islands also are claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam.
Southeastern Asia, group of small islands and reefs in the South China Sea, about one-third of the way from central Vietnam to the northern Philippines
16°30' N, 112°00' E
Southeast Asia
Total: 8 km² ca.
Land: 7.75 km² ca.
Water: 0 km²
Land area is about 13 times the size of the National Mall in Washington, DC
Total: 0 km
518 km
NA
Tropical
Mostly low and flat
Highest point: unnamed location on Rocky Island 14 m
Lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
None
Other: 100% (2018 est.)
0 km² (2022)
A population of over 1,000 Chinese resides on Woody Island, the largest of the Paracels; there are scattered Chinese garrisons on some other islands
Typhoons
Composed of 130 small coral islands and reefs divided into the northeast Amphitrite Group and the western Crescent Group
1,440 (July 2014 est.)
Note: Chinese activity has increased in recent years, particularly on Woody Island, where the population exceeds 1,000; some other islands have scattered Chinese garrisons
0-14 years: NA
15-64 years: NA
65 years and over: NA
Total dependency ratio: NA
Youth dependency ratio: NA
Elderly dependency ratio: NA
Potential support ratio: NA
0.75% (2021 est.)
NA
NA
-0.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)
A population of over 1,000 Chinese resides on Woody Island, the largest of the Paracels; there are scattered Chinese garrisons on some other islands
(2021 est.)
NA
Improved: urban: NA
Rural: NA
Total: NA
Unimproved: urban: NA
Rural: NA
Total: NA
NA
NA
NA
China's use of dredged sand and coral to build artificial islands harms reef systems; ongoing human activities, including military operations, infrastructure construction, and tourism endangers local ecosystem including birds, fish, marine mammals, and marine reptiles
Tropical
Other: 100% (2018 est.)
Conventional long form: none
Conventional short form: Paracel Islands
Etymology: Portuguese navigators began to refer to the "Ilhas do Pracel" in the 16th century as a designation of low lying islets, sandbanks, and reefs scattered over a wide area; over time the name changed to "parcel" and then "paracel"
Small Chinese port facilities on Woody Island and Duncan Island
Occupied by China, which is assessed to maintain 20 outposts in the Paracels (Antelope, Bombay, and North reefs; Drummond, Duncan, Lincoln, Middle, Money, North, Pattle, Quanfu, Robert, South, Tree, Triton, Woody, and Yagong islands; South Sand and West Sand; Observation Bank); the outposts range in size from one or two buildings to bases with significant military infrastructure; Woody Island is the main base in the Paracels and includes an airstrip with fighter aircraft hangers, naval facilities, surveillance radars, and defenses such as surface-to-air missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles; combat aircraft have deployed to the island (2024)