Back Laôt Cina Tunong ACE Suid-Chinese See Afrikaans Südchinesisches Meer ALS ደቡብ ቻይና ባሕር Amharic بحر الصين الجنوبي Arabic দক্ষিণ চীন সাগৰ Assamese Mar de la China Meridional AST Cənubi Çin dənizi Azerbaijani گونئی چین دنیزی AZB Көньяҡ Ҡытай диңгеҙе Bashkir
| South China Sea | |||||||||||
 Map of the South China Sea | |||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 南中國海 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 南中国海 | ||||||||||
| Hanyu Pinyin | Nán Zhōnggúo Hǎi | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||
| Vietnamese | Biển Đông | ||||||||||
| Malay name | |||||||||||
| Malay | Laut China Selatan | ||||||||||
| Filipino name | |||||||||||
| Tagalog | Timog Dagat Tsina ('Dagat Kanlurang Pilipinas', meaning "West Philippine Sea", for the portion within Philippine waters) | ||||||||||
| Portuguese name | |||||||||||
| Portuguese | Mar da China Meridional | ||||||||||
The South China Sea is an ocean region in the south of China. It is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean; a vital area for shipping, fishing, and natural resources, and strategically important for regional security.
The sea and its islands and reefs are claimed by many nations, including China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.[1] These claims are mirrored in the many names used for the islands and the sea.
- ↑ "Stirring up the South China Sea (II): Regional Responses," Archived 2013-06-19 at the Wayback Machine Asia Report N°229, 24 July 2012; retrieved 2013-4-17.