Dongsha Islands
| Dongsha Islands (Dōngshā Qúndǎo) | ||
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| Waters | South China Sea | |
| Geographical location | 20 ° 41 ′ N , 116 ° 48 ′ E | |
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| Number of islands | 1 | |
| Main island | Pratas Island | |
| Land area | 1.74 km² | |
| total area | 100 km² | |
| Residents | 200 | |
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The Dongsha Islands ( Chinese 東 沙 群島 / 东 沙 群岛 , Pinyin Dōngshā Qúndǎo ), also Pratas Islands (or Pratas Reef ), are a group of islands in the South China Sea consisting of an atoll .
geography
The islands are located 400 km southwest of Taiwan and 320 km southeast of Hong Kong . The atoll measures around 23 km in diameter and covers an area of around 100 km². It is largely sunk, only in the west the fringing reef penetrates the water surface and forms with Pratas Island (2.8 km × 0.9 km; 1.74 km²) the only significant land mass.
history
The islands were occupied by Japan from 1907 to 1909 and from 1939 to 1945 . Today they are under the control of the Republic of China in Taiwan and are inhabited by only about 200 marines stationed there . Administratively, they belong to the Qijin district of the port city of Kaohsiung, about 445 km away . The People's Republic of China claims the islands as a village of the greater community Jieshi (碣石镇) of the city of Lufeng their province Guangdong .
In 2007, the Dongsha Atoll and the surrounding sea areas were given special protection by the government of the Republic of China as the Dongsha National Park . The park has a total area of 3537 km².
Sun Yat-sen National University
In 2012, the Dongsha Atoll Research Station (DARS) of the Sun Yat-sen National University of Biology, Biogeochemistry and Oceanography was established.