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 km
2 (1.5 sq mi) of land area spread over a vast area of more than 425,000 km
2 (164,000 sq mi).