List of islands in the South China Sea


Islands in the South China Sea includes the South China Sea Islands, islands on the China coast, on the Vietnam coast, on the Borneo coast, and the peripheral islands of Taiwan, the Philippines, etc.

South China Sea Islands

Islands on the southern coast of China

Islands of Guangdong

See Islands and Peninsulas of Hong Kong for a full list.
Ilha Verde is connected to the Macao Peninsula as a result of land reclamation. Ilha de Coloane and Ilha da Taipa are connected, also as a result of land reclamation.

Pratas Islands

Administered as part of Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, Republic of China

Paracel Islands

See Paracel Islands#List of entities for a complete list.
The Paracel Islands are occupied by the People's Republic of China, and claimed by the PRC, the ROC, and Vietnam.
Amphitrite GroupCrescent GroupUngrouped

  • Rocky Island
  • Tree Island
  • West Sand
  • Woody Island
  • Duncan Island
  • Money Island
  • Pattle Island
  • Robert Island
  • Yagong Island
  • Bombay Reef
  • Triton Island

    • Spratly Islands

    See also List of maritime features in the Spratly Islands
    The Spratly Islands were, in 1939, fourteen coral islets mostly inhabited by countless seabirds. According to a Chinese 1986 source, the Spratly Islands consist of 14 islands or islets, 6 banks, 113 submerged reefs, 35 underwater banks, 21 underwater shoals. For some reason, neither of these mention the 11th largest naturally occurring island located on the Swallow Reef atoll, occupied by Malaysia. The islands are all of a similar nature; they are cays - sand islands formed on old degraded and submerged coral reefs.
    Taiwan PhilippinesVietnamMalaysia

    • Taiping Island / Itu Aba
  • Flat Island
  • Lankiam Cay
  • Loaita Island
  • Nanshan Island
  • Northeast Cay
  • Thitu Island
  • West York Island
  • Amboyna Cay
  • Namyit Island
  • Sin Cowe Island
  • Spratly Island
  • Sand Cay
  • Southwest Cay
  • Swallow Reef

    • Reefs and artificial islands

    Note that, according PRC, in the Spratly Islands area, the definition of "island" is applied very liberally to reefs and artificial islands. There are in fact only about a dozen islands with an area greater than 1 hectare.
    Taiwan China PhilippinesVietnamMalaysiaBrunei

    • Zhongzhou Reef
  • Cuarteron Reef
  • Fiery Cross Reef
  • Gaven Reefs
  • Hughes Reef
  • Johnson South Reef
  • Mischief Reef
  • Subi Reef
  • Commodore Reef
  • Half Moon Shoal
  • Irving Reef
  • Second Thomas Shoal
  • Bombay Castle
  • Collins Reef
  • Cornwallis South Reef
  • Ladd Reef
  • Ardasier Reef
  • Dallas Reef
  • Erica Reef
  • Investigator Shoal
  • James Shoal
  • Luconia Shoals
  • Mariveles Reef
  • Swallow Reef
  • Louisa Reef

    • Scarborough Shoal

    Macclesfield Bank

    There are no islands, nor any land above sea-level, in the Macclesfield Bank.
    In conjunction with the Scarborough Shoal, which also contains no islands, the PRC refer to the combined area as the Zhongsha Islands, even though it contains no islands.

    Islands on the eastern coast of Vietnam