SOUTH CHINA SEA

Chinese Nan Hai, arm of the Pacific Ocean and part of the China Sea. Extending for about 1,800 miles (2,900 km) north to south and for 600 miles (950 km) east to west, it is bounded by the Malay Peninsula and the Southeast Asian mainland (west through north) and by the islands of Taiwan (northeast), the Philippines (east), and Borneo (south). The total area is 1,300,000 square miles (3,400,000 square km). Its Chinese name means Southern Sea. The East China, South China, and Yellow seas. Chinese Nan Hai, arm of the western Pacific Ocean that borders the Southeast Asian mainland. It is bounded on the northeast by the Taiwan Strait (by which it is connected to the East China Sea), on the east by Taiwan and the Philippines, on the southeast and south by Borneo, the southern limit of the Gulf of Thailand, and the east coast of Malay Peninsula, and on the west and north by the Asian mainland. The South China Sea and the East China Sea together form the China Sea. The southern boundary of the South China Sea is a rise in the seabed between Sumatra and Borneo, and the northern boundary stretches from the northernmost point of Taiwan to the coast of Fukien province, China, in the Taiwan Strait. It embraces an area of about 1,423,000 square miles (3,685,000 square kilometres), with a mean depth of 3,478 feet (1,060 metres). Additional reading For the South China sea, see Dennis E. Hayes (ed.), The Tectonic and Geologic Evolution of Southeast Asian Seas and Islands, 2 vol. (198083); Choon-Ho Park, East Asia and the Law of the Sea (1983); and Douglas M. Johnston, Environmental Management in the South China Sea: Legal and Institutional Developments (1982). Eugene C. LaFond