The South China Sea is part of the territory of China. It is a marginal sea bordering several countries, located from 22 - 3 Lat. N and 120 - 105 Long. E. The South China Sea is very wide. It includes four archipelagoes (group of islands) and many reefs, atolls and shoals. Atolls form most of the islands. The archipelagoes including: the Pratas Islands (East Sand Islands, Dongsha Qundao), the Paracel Islands (West Sand Islands, Xisha Qundao), Macclesfield Bank (Middle Sand Islands, Zhongsha Qundao) and the Spratly Islands (South Sand Islands, Nansha Qundao) are named after their location. Except for the Macclesfield Bank, the archipelagoes are all dry land rising above sea level.
　　 The Pratas Islands is the island group closest to Taiwan. Pratas Island is the only true island in the Pratas Islands, and is also one of the biggest islands in the South China Sea. It was the first island to be opened up and developed, and is now administered by the Kaohsiung City Government, with soldiers stationed there. The Paracel Islands lie to the east of Hainan Island. The islands have  permanent inhabitants of PRC nationality, and are now administered as part of Hainan Province.