Borders of the Philippines: Malaysia-Philippines Border, Territorial Disputes of the Philippines, Spratly Islands, Sabah

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 33. Chapters: Malaysia-Philippines border, Territorial disputes of the Philippines, Spratly Islands, Sabah, Spratly Islands dispute, North Borneo dispute, Territories claimed by the Philippines, Scarborough Shoal, Itu Aba Island, Macclesfield Bank, Island of Palmas Case, Celebes Sea, Luzon Strait, Sangihe Islands, Bashi Channel, Sibutu Passage, Balabac Strait. Excerpt: The Spratly Islands dispute is a territorial dispute over the ownership of the Spratly Islands, a group of islands located in the South China Sea. States staking claims to various islands are: the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Brunei. All except Brunei occupy some of the islands. The Spratly Islands are important for a number of reasons: the Spratly area holds significant reserves of oil and natural gas, it is a productive area for world fishing and commercial shipping, and coastal countries would get an extended continental shelf. But some countries, like the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China, and Vietnam make claims based on historical sovereignty over the islands. There are multiple reasons why the neighboring nations would be interested in the Spratly Islands. In 1968 oil was discovered in the region. The Geology and Mineral Resources Ministry of the People's Republic of China (PRC) has estimated that the Spratly area holds oil and natural gas reserves of 17.7 billion tons (1.60 x 10 kg), as compared to the 13 billion tons (1.17 x 10 kg) held by Kuwait, placing it as the fourth largest reserve bed in the world. These large reserves assisted in intensifying the situation and propelled the territorial claims of the neighboring countries. In 1968, the Philippines started to take their claims more seriously and stationed troops on three islands which had been claimed by the adven...