Sand Cay

Sand Cay 10°22′30″N 114°28′48″E, also known as Son Ca Island (Vietnamese: Đảo Sơn Ca; Chinese: 敦谦沙洲; pinyin: Dunqian Shazhou; Tagalog: Bailan) is a cay on the north edge of the Tizard Bank of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. With an area of 7 hectares (17 acres), it is the ninth largest, and the fourth largest former Vietnamese-administered, of the Spratly Islands. The island has been occupied by Vietnam since 1974, (first by South Vietnam, then by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam after 1975). It is also claimed by China, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Taiwan.

Sand Cay
Disputed island
Geography
LocationSouth China Sea
Coordinates10.375°N 114.480°E / 10.375; 114.480
ArchipelagoSpratly Islands
Claimed by
China
Philippines
Taiwan
Vietnam
From right to left: Sand Cay, Zhongzhou/Ban Than Reef and Itu Aba Island

Sovereignty

The island has been occupied by Vietnam since 1974, (first by South Vietnam, then by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam after 1975). However, no Vietnamese stations have been built. By the later half of the 20th century, no nation had complete sovereignty on the islands.

Geography

Part of the Tizard Bank,[1] Sand Cay lies 6.2 nautical miles (11.5 km; 7.1 mi) east of Itu Aba Island, which is occupied by Taiwan. It is 450 metres (1,480 ft) long, 102 metres (335 ft) wide, and has an elevation of 3.5 metres (11 ft) to 3.8 metres (12 ft) at low tide.[2] There is a 41 metres (135 ft) high light house on the islet.[3] Sand Cay is commonly confused with Sandy Cay which is a sandy shoal (coral reef) near Thitu Island.

Ecology

Sand Cay has no source of natural fresh water, but the islet's coral sand is covered with a thin layer of fertile humus mixing with guano. The vegetation mainly composes of Barringtonia asiatica, Ipomoea pes-caprae and Casuarinaceae's species as well as some kinds of grass.[2] In recent years, islanders have cultivated fruit trees such as pomelo, jackfruit, dragonfruit, sugar-apple and guava.[4] Sand Cay is usually visited by seabirds, and its surrounding water is rich with fish, sea snails and sea cucumbers.[2]

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See also

References
  1. "Digital Gazetter of Spratly Islands". Archived from the original on 2010-08-27. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
  2. (in Vietnamese)Những điều cần biết về hai quần đảo Hoàng Sa, Trường Sa và khu vực thềm lục địa phía nam [What you need to know about Paracel Islands, Spratly Islands and southern continental shelf]. Political Department, Naval Command (Vietnam). 2011.
  3. (in Vietnamese)Phạm Thanh Hà; Lưu Phương Mai (May 9, 2011). "Kí sự Trường Sa - kì 3: Nơi anh đến là biển xa..." Nhân dân online. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  4. (in Vietnamese) Nguyễn Đình Quân (December 27, 2011). "Sơn Ca Xanh". Tiền phong online. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
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