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. The People's Republic of China has occupied the Paracel Islands since January 19, 1974, when its troops seized a South Vietnamese garrison occupying the western islands. The islands are claimed by the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Vietnam.
The islands have no indigenous inhabitants. The PRC announced plans in 1997 to open the islands for tourism. The small Chinese port facilities on Woody Island and Duncan Island are being expanded. There is one airport.
The Communists resumed development of the island along the lines established by the Japanese, but the results were limited by the island's isolation, its humid and typhoon-prone climate, and its continuing reputation as a place of danger and exile by mainland Chinese.
The Nandu River in the northern part of the island is 314 km long, and its tributary, the Xinwu River, is 109 km long; the Changhua River in the west is 230 km long; and the Wanquan River in the east is 162 km long.
Hainan Island is often divided into eight regions for tourism purposes Hainan Island: Haikou and area (Haikou, Qiongshan, Ding'an); the Northeast (Wenchang); the Central East Coast (Qionghai, Ding'an); the South East Coast; the South (Sanya); the West Coast (Ledong, Dongfang, Changilang); the North West (Danzhou, Lingao, Chengmai); and the Central Highlands (Baisha, Qiongzhong, and Wuzhishan/Tongzha).
The Paracel Islands (Chinese: 西沙群島; pinyin: Xīshā Qúndǎo; Vietnamese: Quần đảo Hoàng Sa) are a group of small islands and reefs in the South China Sea and part of the South China Sea Islands, about one-third of the way from Vietnam to the Philippines.
The Paracel Islands are controlled and administered by the People's Republic of China but claimed by some neighboring countries.
Before 1932, Paracel Islands was placed on the map of China by the Qing Dynasty and Republic of China, as well as on the map of Vietnam by the Nguyen Dynasty.
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