The Spratly Islands (Vietnamese: Quần đảo Trường Sa, Tagalog: Kapuluan ng Kalayaan,

[1]
 Malay: Kepulauan Spratly, Chinese: 南沙群岛 (Nánshā Qúndǎo), Dusun: Kopulohon Dibut) are
a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. Composed of islands, islets and cays[2] and more
than 100 reefs, sometimes grouped in submerged old atolls,[3] the archipelago lies off the coasts of
the Philippines, Malaysia, and southern Vietnam. Named after the 19th-century British whaling
captain Richard Spratly who sighted Spratly Island in 1843, the islands contain less than 2 km2 (490
acres) of naturally occurring land area, which is spread over an area of more than
425,000 km2 (164,000 sq mi).
The Spratly Islands are one of the major archipelagos in the South China Sea which complicate
governance and economics in this part of Southeast Asia due to their location in strategic shipping
lanes. The islands have no indigenous inhabitants, but offer rich fishing grounds and may contain
significant oil and natural gas reserves,[4][5] and as such are important to the claimants in their
attempts to establish international boundaries. Some of the islands have civilian settlements, but of
the approximately 45 islands, cays, reefs and shoals that are occupied, all contain structures that are
occupied by military forces from Malaysia, Taiwan (ROC), China (PRC), the Philippines or Vietnam.
Additionally, Brunei has claimed an exclusive economic zone in the southeastern part of the Spratly
Islands, which includes the uninhabited Louisa Reef.

Source : Wikipedia