Huangyan Island: The Largest Island in China's Eastern Seas, 600 Kilometers from Yongxing Island
Huangyan Island is the largest island in the Xisha Islands and the easternmost reef here.
It is 600 kilometers from Yongxing Island in the West Island and about 1112 kilometers from Guangzhou,
It is about 230 kilometers from the west coast of the Philippines' Luzon Island.
Huangyan Island is very large. At low tide, the area exposed to the sea reaches 44 square kilometers, which is 10 times that of Jingqi Island,
Huangyan Island is a slightly triangular large reef with a ring-shaped shape, the reef surrounds a shallow lake, with a clear green water color, different from the deep blue-black water color outside the reef,
It is 15 kilometers long east-west and 15 kilometers wide north-south, with a perimeter of about 55 kilometers and an area of about 150 square kilometers (including Linghu Lake). The average water depth inside the reef is less than 10 meters.
Its surface is covered with many belt-shaped reef blocks surrounding Linghu Lake, generally at a depth of 0.5-3 meters underwater.
Huangyan Island was formerly known as Democratic Reef and is the only exposed island in the Zhongsha Islands of the South China Sea,
The reef is dotted with reefs on its sides, with the reefs at the north and south ends being the densest, the northern one is called North Rock and the southern one is called South Rock. There is a shallow lake entrance in the southeast, look at it.
The water depth of the entrance to the lake is 9-11 meters and the width is 360-400 meters.
From a geological structure point of view, Huangyan Island is a natural extension of the Chinese continental shelf.
To the east of Huangyan Island is the deep Manila Trench, the deepest part of the trench is 5377 meters, which is one of the deepest areas in the South China Sea.
Huangyan Island is a naturally formed land area that is above the water surface at high tide, not a sandbar or shoal hidden underwater all year round.
From a geological structure point of view, Huangyan Island is a natural extension of the Chinese continental shelf, not a floating island in the sea.
Huangyan Island's area contains extremely rich mineral resources;
Mainly manganese nodules and metal mud, with 30 kinds of metals, among which manganese, copper, cobalt, nickel are most abundant.
In addition, oil and natural gas are also very abundant.
As land resources become increasingly scarce, the exploration and development of marine resources are becoming a necessity.
Huangyan Island's geographical location is very important for the economic development of the South China Sea, its importance is self-evident.
If the West Island is the gatekeeper of the South China Sea, then Zhongsha and Huangyan Island are important components of this gate.
Huangyan Island's strategic location is equally important for the Philippines, it is only 300 kilometers from the Philippines' capital Manila, if China firmly occupies this foothold, the Philippine Navy can only maneuver within the port.
