Compare Spratly Islands (2004) - Indian Ocean (2006)

Compare Spratly Islands (2004) z Indian Ocean (2006)

	Spratly Islands (2004)	Indian Ocean (2006)

Airports	3 (2003 est.)	-
Airports - with paved runways	total: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 less than 914 m: 1 (2004 est.)	-
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.)	-
Area	total: less than 5 sq km land: less than 5 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes 100 or so islets, coral reefs, and sea mounts scattered over an area of nearly 410,000 sq km of the central South China Sea	total: 68.556 million sq km note: includes Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Flores Sea, Great Australian Bight, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Java Sea, Mozambique Channel, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Savu Sea, Strait of Malacca, Timor Sea, and other tributary water bodies
Area - comparative	NA	about 5.5 times the size of the US
Background	The Spratly Islands consist of more than 100 small islands or reefs. They are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and potentially by gas and oil deposits. They are claimed in their entirety by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam, while portions are claimed by Malaysia and the Philippines. About 45 islands are occupied by relatively small numbers of military forces from China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Brunei has established a fishing zone that overlaps a southern reef, but has not made any formal claim.	The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, but larger than the Southern Ocean and Arctic Ocean). Four critically important access waterways are the Suez Canal (Egypt), Bab el Mandeb (Djibouti-Yemen), Strait of Hormuz (Iran-Oman), and Strait of Malacca (Indonesia-Malaysia). The decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Indian Ocean south of 60 degrees south latitude.
Climate	tropical	northeast monsoon (December to April), southwest monsoon (June to October); tropical cyclones occur during May/June and October/November in the northern Indian Ocean and January/February in the southern Indian Ocean
Coastline	926 km	66,526 km
Country name	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Spratly Islands	-
Disputes - international	all of the Spratly Islands are claimed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam; parts of them are claimed by Malaysia and the Philippines; in 1984, Brunei established an exclusive fishing zone that encompasses Louisa Reef in the southern Spratly Islands but has not publicly claimed the reef; claimants in November 2002 signed the "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea," which has eased tensions but falls short of a legally binding "code of conduct"	some maritime disputes (see littoral states)
Economy - overview	Economic activity is limited to commercial fishing. The proximity to nearby oil- and gas-producing sedimentary basins suggests the potential for oil and gas deposits, but the region is largely unexplored; there are no reliable estimates of potential reserves; commercial exploitation has yet to be developed.	The Indian Ocean provides major sea routes connecting the Middle East, Africa, and East Asia with Europe and the Americas. It carries a particularly heavy traffic of petroleum and petroleum products from the oilfields of the Persian Gulf and Indonesia. Its fish are of great and growing importance to the bordering countries for domestic consumption and export. Fishing fleets from Russia, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan also exploit the Indian Ocean, mainly for shrimp and tuna. Large reserves of hydrocarbons are being tapped in the offshore areas of Saudi Arabia, Iran, India, and western Australia. An estimated 40% of the world's offshore oil production comes from the Indian Ocean. Beach sands rich in heavy minerals and offshore placer deposits are actively exploited by bordering countries, particularly India, South Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
Elevation extremes	lowest point: South China Sea 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Southwest Cay 4 m	lowest point: Java Trench -7,258 m highest point: sea level 0 m
Environment - current issues	NA	endangered marine species include the dugong, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in the Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea
Geographic coordinates	8 38 N, 111 55 E	20 00 S, 80 00 E
Geography - note	strategically located near several primary shipping lanes in the central South China Sea; includes numerous small islands, atolls, shoals, and coral reefs	major chokepoints include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, Strait of Malacca, southern access to the Suez Canal, and the Lombok Strait
Irrigated land	0 sq km (1998 est.)	-
Land boundaries	0 km	-
Land use	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2001)	-
Location	Southeastern Asia, group of reefs and islands in the South China Sea, about two-thirds of the way from southern Vietnam to the southern Philippines	body of water between Africa, the Southern Ocean, Asia, and Australia
Map references	Southeast Asia	Political Map of the World
Maritime claims	NA	-
Military - note	Spratly Islands consist of more than 100 small islands or reefs, of which about 45 are claimed and occupied by China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam	-
Natural hazards	typhoons; serious maritime hazard because of numerous reefs and shoals	occasional icebergs pose navigational hazard in southern reaches
Natural resources	fish, guano, undetermined oil and natural gas potential	oil and gas fields, fish, shrimp, sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules
Population	no indigenous inhabitants note: there are scattered garrisons occupied by personnel of several claimant states (July 2004 est.)	-
Ports and harbors	none; offshore anchorage only	-
Terrain	flat	surface dominated by counterclockwise gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the southern Indian Ocean; unique reversal of surface currents in the northern Indian Ocean; low atmospheric pressure over southwest Asia from hot, rising, summer air results in the southwest monsoon and southwest-to-northeast winds and currents, while high pressure over northern Asia from cold, falling, winter air results in the northeast monsoon and northeast-to-southwest winds and currents; ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Indian Ocean Ridge and subdivided by the Southeast Indian Ocean Ridge, Southwest Indian Ocean Ridge, and Ninetyeast Ridge

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