Macclesfield Bank

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Macclesfield Bank
Disputed islands
Other names: Middle Sand Islands[1]
250px
Macclesfield Bank
Geography
Location South China Sea
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Total islands 0
Major islands None
Area 6,448 square kilometres (2,490 sq mi) total, 0 km² land surface/islets
Length About 130 kilometres (81 mi)
Width About 70 kilometres (43 mi)
Highest point Unnamed point below sea level
−9.2 metres (−30 ft)
Administered by
People's Republic of China
Prefecture-level city
Province		 Sansha[2]

Hainan
Claimed by
Republic of China (Taiwan)
Municipality Kaohsiung
Demographics
Population None

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'Zhongsha' redirects here. For other uses, see Zhongsha (disambiguation).
South China Sea

Macclesfield Bank is an elongated sunken atoll of underwater reefs and shoals in the South China Sea. It lies east of the Paracel Islands, southwest of the Pratas Islands and north of the Spratly Islands. Its length exceeds 130 km (81 mi) southwest-northeast, with a maximal width of more than 70 km (43 mi). With an ocean area of 6,448 km2 (2,490 sq mi) within the outer rim of the reef,[3] although completely submerged without any emergent cays or islets, it is one of the largest atolls of the world.[4] The Macclesfield Bank is part of what the PRC call the Zhongsha Islands, which includes a number of geographically separate submarine features, and also refers to a county-level administrative division.

History

Macclesfield banks were named after the British naval ship, HMS Macclesfield, which ran aground in the vicinity of these shoals in 1804.[5] [6] [7]

Geography

The broken coral reef rim of Macclesfield Bank, with a width of up to 8 km (5 mi), has depths of 11.8 m (39 ft) at Pygmy Shoal on the northeast end of the bank and depths of 11.6 to 18 m (59 ft) elsewhere. Within the lagoon, Walker Shoal marks the least known depth of 9.2 metres (30 ft). In general, the central lagoon is very deep, with depths up to 100 metres (330 ft).[3]

The elongated atoll consists of:

English
Name		 Romanized
Name		 Chinese
Name		 Coordinates
Siamese Shoal Simen Ansha 西門暗沙 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Bankok Shoal Bengu Ansha 本固暗沙 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Magpie Shoal Meibin Ansha 美濱暗沙 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Carpenter Shoal Luban Ansha 魯班暗沙 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Oliver Shoal Zhongbei Ansha 中北暗沙 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Pigmy (Pygmy) Shoal Biwei Ansha 比微暗沙 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Engeria (Egeria) Bank Yinji Tan 隱磯灘 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Howard Shoal Wuyong Ansha 武勇暗沙 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Learmonth Shoal Jimeng Ansha 濟猛暗沙 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Plover Shoal Haijiu Ansha 海鳩暗沙 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Addington Patch Anding Lianjiao 安定連礁 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Smith Shoal Meixi Ansha 美溪暗沙 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Bassett Shoal Bude Ansha 布德暗沙 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Balfour Shoal Bofu Ansha 波洑暗沙 or
伏洑暗沙		 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Parry Shoal Paibo Ansha 排波暗沙 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Cawston Shoal Guodian Ansha 果淀暗沙 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Penguin Bank Paihong Tan 排洪灘 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Tancred Shoal Taojing Ansha 濤靜暗沙 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Combe Shoal Kongpai Ansha 控湃暗沙 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Cathy (Cathay) Shoal Huaxia Ansha 華夏暗沙 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Hardy Patches Shitang Lianjiao 石塘連礁 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Hand Shoal Zhizhang Ansha 指掌暗沙 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Margesson Shoal Nanfei Ansha 南扉暗沙 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Walker Shoal Manbu Ansha 漫步暗沙 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Phillip's Shoal Lexi Ansha 樂西暗沙 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Payne Shoal Pingnan Ansha 屏南暗沙 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Territorial claims

Macclesfield Bank is claimed, in whole or in part, by China[8] and Taiwan (Republic of China).[9][10]

Some sources[10][11] state that the Philippines claims this underwater feature. However, Jose Zaide, a Philippine diplomat of ambassadorial rank, has written that the Philippines does not claim the Macclesfield Bank.[12]

As the bank is entirely underwater, some scholars have raised questions regarding the legality of territorial claims upon it with regards to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.[13][14][15][16]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 List of data for various geographic features (2001), The Geological Society of America.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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