Page:The World Factbook (1990).djvu/307

 Spratly Islands



Geography

Total area: less than 5 km²; land area: less than 5 km²; includes 100 or so islets, coral reefs, and sea mounts scattered over the South China Sea

Comparative area: undetermined

Land boundaries: none

Coastline: 926 km

Maritime claims: undetermined

Disputes: China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam claim all or part of the Spratly Islands

Climate: tropical

Terrain: flat

Natural resources: fish, guano; oil and natural gas potential

Land use: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 100% other

Environment: subject to typhoons; includes numerous small islands, atolls, shoals, and coral reefs

Note: strategically located near several primary shipping lanes in the central South China Sea; serious navigational hazard

People

Population: no permanent inhabitants; garrisons

Government

Long-form name: none

Economy

Overview: Economic activity is limited to commercial fishing and phosphate mining. Geological surveys carried out several years ago suggest that substantial reserves of oil and natural gas may lie beneath the islands; commercial exploitation has yet to be developed.

Industries: some guano mining

Communications

Airports: 3 total, 2 usable; none with runways over 2,439 m; 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Ports: none; offshore anchorage only

Defense Forces

Note: approximately 50 small islands or reefs are occupied by China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam  Sri Lanka



Geography

Total area: 65,610 km²; land area: 64,740 km²

Comparative area: slightly larger than West Virginia

Land boundaries: none

Coastline: 1,340 km

Maritime claims:
 * Contiguous zone: 24 nm
 * Continental shelf: edge of continental margin or 200 nm
 * Extended economic zone: 200 nm
 * Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: tropical; monsoonal; northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest monsoon (June to October)

Terrain: mostly low, flat to rolling plain; mountains in south-central interior

Natural resources: limestone, graphite, mineral sands, gems, phosphates, clay

Land use: 16% arable land; 17% permanent crops; 7% meadows and pastures; 37% forest and woodland; 23% other; includes 8% irrigated

Environment: occasional cyclones, tornados; deforestation; soil erosion

Note: only 29 km from India across the Palk Strait; near major Indian Ocean sea lanes

People

Population: 17,196,436 (July 1990), growth rate 1.5% (1990)

Birth rate: 21 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 31 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 72 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 2.3 children born/woman (1990)  291