factbook.json/east-n-southeast-asia/pf.json

{
  "Introduction": {
    "Background": {
      "text": "The Paracel Islands are surrounded by productive fishing grounds and by potential oil and gas reserves. In 1932, French Indochina annexed the islands and set up a weather station on Pattle Island; maintenance was continued by its successor, Vietnam. China has occupied all the Paracel Islands since 1974, when its troops seized a South Vietnamese garrison occupying the western islands. China built a military installation on Woody Island with an airfield and artificial harbor. The islands also are claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam."
    }
  },
  "Geography": {
    "Location": {
      "text": "Southeastern Asia, group of small islands and reefs in the South China Sea, about one-third of the way from central Vietnam to the northern Philippines"
    },
    "Geographic coordinates": {
      "text": "16 30 N, 112 00 E"
    },
    "Map references": {
      "text": "Southeast Asia"
    },
    "Area": {
      "total": {
        "text": "8 sq km ca."
      },
      "land": {
        "text": "7.75 sq km ca."
      },
      "water": {
        "text": "0 sq km"
      }
    },
    "Area - comparative": {
      "text": "land area is about 13 times the size of the National Mall in Washington, DC"
    },
    "Land boundaries": {
      "total": {
        "text": "0 km"
      }
    },
    "Coastline": {
      "text": "518 km"
    },
    "Maritime claims": {
      "text": "NA"
    },
    "Climate": {
      "text": "tropical"
    },
    "Terrain": {
      "text": "mostly low and flat"
    },
    "Elevation": {
      "lowest point": {
        "text": "South China Sea 0 m"
      },
      "highest point": {
        "text": "unnamed location on Rocky Island 14 m"
      }
    },
    "Natural resources": {
      "text": "none"
    },
    "Land use": {
      "agricultural land": {
        "text": "0% (2011 est.)"
      },
      "agricultural land: arable land": {
        "text": "arable land: 0% (2011 est.)"
      },
      "agricultural land: permanent crops": {
        "text": "permanent crops: 0% (2011 est.)"
      },
      "agricultural land: permanent pasture": {
        "text": "permanent pasture: 0% (2011 est.)"
      },
      "forest": {
        "text": "0% (2011 est.)"
      },
      "other": {
        "text": "100% (2011 est.)"
      }
    },
    "Irrigated land": {
      "text": "0 sq km (2012)"
    },
    "Population distribution": {
      "text": "a population of over 1,000 Chinese resides on Woody Island, the largest of the Paracels; there are scattered Chinese garrisons on some other islands"
    },
    "Natural hazards": {
      "text": "typhoons"
    },
    "Environment - current issues": {
      "text": "China's use of dredged sand and coral to build artificial islands harms reef systems; ongoing human activities, including military operations, infrastructure construction, and tourism endangers local ecosystem including birds, fish, marine mammals, and marine reptiles"
    },
    "Geography - note": {
      "text": "composed of 130 small coral islands and reefs divided into the northeast Amphitrite Group and the western Crescent Group"
    }
  },
  "People and Society": {
    "Population": {
      "text": "297,154 (July 2021 est.)",
      "note": "<p><strong>note:</strong> Chinese activity has increased in recent years, particularly on Woody Island, where the population exceeds 1,000; there are scattered Chinese garrisons on some other islands</p>"
    },
    "Population growth rate": {
      "text": "0.75% (2021 est.)"
    },
    "Death rate": {
      "text": "5.51 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)"
    },
    "Net migration rate": {
      "text": "-0.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)"
    },
    "Population distribution": {
      "text": "a population of over 1,000 Chinese resides on Woody Island, the largest of the Paracels; there are scattered Chinese garrisons on some other islands"
    },
    "Infant mortality rate": {
      "total": {
        "text": "4.46 deaths/1,000 live births"
      },
      "male": {
        "text": "5.37 deaths/1,000 live births"
      },
      "female": {
        "text": "3.51 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)"
      }
    },
    "Life expectancy at birth": {
      "total population": {
        "text": "78.19 years"
      },
      "male": {
        "text": "75.86 years"
      },
      "female": {
        "text": "80.63 years (2021 est.)"
      }
    },
    "Total fertility rate": {
      "text": "1.82 children born/woman (2021 est.)"
    }
  },
  "Government": {
    "Country name": {
      "conventional long form": {
        "text": "none"
      },
      "conventional short form": {
        "text": "Paracel Islands"
      },
      "etymology": {
        "text": "Portuguese navigators began to refer to the \"Ilhas do Pracel\" in the 16th century as a designation of low lying islets, sandbanks, and reefs scattered over a wide area; over time the name changed to \"parcel\" and then \"paracel\""
      }
    }
  },
  "Economy": {
    "Economic overview": {
      "text": "The islands have the potential for oil and gas development. Waters around the islands support commercial fishing, but the islands themselves are not populated on a permanent basis."
    }
  },
  "Transportation": {
    "Airports": {
      "total": {
        "text": "1 (2013)"
      }
    },
    "Airports - with paved runways": {
      "total": {
        "text": "1 (2019)"
      },
      "1,524 to 2,437 m": {
        "text": "1"
      }
    },
    "Ports and terminals": {
      "text": "small Chinese port facilities on Woody Island and Duncan Island"
    }
  },
  "Military and Security": {
    "Military - note": {
      "text": "occupied by China, which is assessed to maintain 20 outposts in the Paracels (Antelope, Bombay, and North reefs; Drummond, Duncan, Lincoln, Middle, Money, North, Pattle, Quanfu, Robert, South, Tree, Triton, Woody, and Yagong islands; South Sand and West Sand; Observation Bank); the outposts range in size from one or two buildings to bases with significant military infrastructure; Woody Island is the main base in the Paracels and includes an airstrip with fighter aircraft hangers, naval facilities, surveillance radars, and defenses such as surface-to-air missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles; fighter aircraft have deployed to the island (2020)"
    }
  },
  "Transnational Issues": {
    "Disputes - international": {
      "text": "<p>occupied by China, also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam</p>"
    }
  }
}