The Spratly Islands are small and barely above water at high tide, but they are geopolitically important. Many countries in the region and beyond, including the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, China, and Taiwan, have claimed territory here. Why are these islands geopolitically significant?

Question

Geography

Milagros Lynn

13 December, 04:27

The Spratly Islands are small and barely above water at high tide, but they are geopolitically important. Many countries in the region and beyond, including the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, China, and Taiwan, have claimed territory here. Why are these islands geopolitically significant?

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Answers (1)

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Janet Jordan · Answer 1

The Spratly Islands are geopolitically significant because of the oil and natural gas deposits found in the bed of its territorial waters.

Explanation:

The Spratly Islands are an archipelago in the southwestern part of the South China Sea. The islands do not have a resident population, ports or harbors, but there are four airports. Currently, the archipelago is used as a fishing area.

The territory of the islands is disputed by six states: Vietnam, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei. Despite their tiny size, the islands of the archipelago are important in terms of presence in the region. In addition, studies indicate the presence of a significant amount of oil and gas. According to the US Department of Energy, up to 5.4 billion barrels of oil and up to 55.1 trillion cubic meters of natural gas are concentrated in the Reed Bank area of the archipelago.

About 45 islands are occupied by relatively small military contingents from Vietnam, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan. The Brunei fishery area includes the southern reef, but Brunei has not made any official territorial claims.