The Spratly Islands (, , , ) are a disputed group of more than 750 reefs, islets, atolls, cays and islands in the South China Sea. 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 approximately 4 km² (1.5 sq mi) of land area spread over a vast area of more than 425,000 km² (164,000 sq mi).