Spratly Islands

(Chinese: Nansha; Pilipino: Kalayaan; Vietnamese: Truong Sa)A group of islets and coral reefs dominating the South China Sea and claimed by Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. They were first occupied by the French in 1933 and then by the Japanese during the Second World War. They have no indigenous inhabitants. They are said to be named after Richard Spratly, captain of the British whaler, the Cyrus, who sailed in the area in 1843 and reported back to the Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle that year that he had discovered 'two dangers': Ladd's Reef and what he called 'Spratly's Sandy Island'. The British Admiralty agreed the name of Spratly for the island group. The Chinese used the name Nansha Qundao 'South Sand Archipelago' from nán, shā 'sand' and qúndăo 'archipelago' from the 3rd century.

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