Namyit Island

Namyit Island
Disputed island
Geography
NASA's satellite photo of Namyit Island
Location	South China Sea
Coordinates	10°10′54″N 114°21′36″E / 10.18167°N 114.36000°E / 10.18167; 114.36000Coordinates: 10°10′54″N 114°21′36″E / 10.18167°N 114.36000°E / 10.18167; 114.36000
Archipelago	Spratly Islands
Administered by
Vietnam
Claimed by
People's Republic of China
Philippines
Republic of China (Taiwan)

Spratly Islands
Part of a series on the
Spratly Islands military occupations map
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Spratly Islands dispute Dangerous Ground (South China Sea) Great wall of sand History of the Spratly Islands List of maritime features in the Spratly Islands Philippines and the Spratly Islands Republic of Morac-Songhrati-Meads Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
Confrontations
Southwest Cay incident (1975) Johnson South Reef skirmish (1988)
Military occupations
Occupied by China Cuarteron Reef · Huayang Reef Fiery Cross Reef · Yongshu Reef Gaven Reefs · Nanxun Reef and Xinan Reef Hughes Reef · Dongmen Reef Johnson South Reef · Chigua Reef Mischief Reef · Meiji Reef Subi Reef · Zhubi Reef Occupied by Malaysia Ardasier Reef · Ubi Reef Dallas Reef · Laya Reef Erica Reef · Siput Reef Investigator Shoal · Peninjau Shoal Louisa Reef · Semarang Barat Kecil Reef Mariveles Reef · Mantanani Reef Swallow Reef · Layang-Layang Island Occupied by the Philippines Thitu Island · Pagasa Island West York Island · Likas Island Northeast Cay · Parola Island Nanshan Island · Lawak Island Loaita Island · Kota Island Flat Island · Patag Island Lankiam Cay · Panata Island Irving Reef · Balagtas Reef Second Thomas Shoal · Ayungin Shoal Occupied by Taiwan Itu Aba Island · Taiping Island Zhongzhou Reef Occupied by Vietnam Spratly Island · Truong Sa Island Southwest Cay · Song Tu Tay Island Sin Cowe Island · Sinh Ton Island Sand Cay · Son Ca Island Namyit Island · Nam Yet Island Amboyna Cay · An Bang Island Collins Reef · Co Lin Reef Ladd Reef · Lat Reef

Namyit Island (Vietnamese: Đảo Nam Yết; Tagalog: Binago; simplified Chinese: 鸿庥岛; traditional Chinese: 鴻庥島; pinyin: Hongxiu Dao) is the third-largest island on Tizard Bank in the Spratly Islands in South China Sea. With an area of 5.3 hectares (13 acres), it is the twelfth-largest Spratly island and the fifth-largest among the Vietnamese-administered Spratly islands. The island is also claimed by the People's Republic of China, the Philippines and the Republic of China (Taiwan).

History in the 20th century

Although two South Vietnamese warships including HQ-04 Tuy Dong and HQ-05 Tay Ket stopped off Namyit Island in 1962,^[1] South Vietnamese troops had only set up a permanent garrison on the islet since August 1973. On 6 September 1973, Republic of Vietnam's Ministry of the Interior signed Decree No. 420-BNV/HCĐP/26 merging some Spratly islands including Namyit into Phuoc Hai Commune, Dat Do District, Phuoc Tuy Province.^[2] South Vietnam continued to administer the entity until 27 April 1975 when their troops were evicted by Vietnam People's Army.

Geography

Being 11 nautical miles (20 kilometres) to the south of Itu Aba Island,^[3] Namyit Island is a small oval-shaped coral island which is 600 metres (660 yards) in length and 125 metres (137 yards) in width. The coral reef on which the island lies is 0.2 metres (0.66 feet) to 0.4 metres (1.3 feet) above the sea during low tide.^[3] There is a heliport at the end of island.^[4]

Namyit Island Light is a white round tower with red bands standing 23 metres (75 feet) in height.

Ecology

Namyit Island has no source of fresh water, and its coral sand is not suitable for plants in general. The island is covered with small trees, bushes and grass and is inhabited by sea birds.^[4] The surrounding water is home to four hundred and ninety-two species of plankton, eighty-six species of seaweed, two species of seagrass, two hundred and twenty-five species of benthic organisms, one hundred and sixty species of coral, four hundred and fourteen species of reef fish and two species of sea turtles.^[5]

References

↑ "White Paper on the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands (1975) [part 2, split by uploading site]". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Republic of Vietnam). Retrieved 21 March 2013.
↑ "A number historical and juridical documents on Vietnam's sovereignty over the Truong Sa and Hoang Sa archipelagoes- Part 3". Authority of Foreign Information Service, Ministry of Information and Communications (Vietnam). 21 October 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
1 2 (Vietnamese)Những điều cần biết về hai quần đảo Hoàng Sa, Trường Sa và khu vực thềm lục địa phía nam [What you need to know about Paracel Islands, Spratly Islands and southern continental shelf]. Political Department, Naval Command (Vietnam). 2011.
1 2 "Digital Gazetter of Spratly Islands". Retrieved 22 March 2008.
↑ (Vietnamese) Nguyễn Đình Quân (15 September 2012). "Lập Khu bảo tồn biển Nam Yết". Tiền phong online. Retrieved 21 March 2013.

External links

Namyit Island, Google Maps

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