Editing South China Sea (section)

{{Short description|Marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}

{{Infobox body of water
| name               = South China Sea
| native_name        = 
| native_name_lang   = 
| other_name         = <!--    Images     -->
| image              = Mar de China Meridional - BM WMS 2004.jpg
| alt                = 
| caption            = Satellite image of South China Sea and to left the Gulf of Thailand 
| image_bathymetry   = South China Sea.jpg
| alt_bathymetry     = 
| caption_bathymetry = The northeastern portion of South China Sea
<!--    Stats      -->| location           = [[East Asia]] and [[Southeast Asia]]
| group              = 
| coordinates        = {{Coord|12|N|113|E|type:waterbody_scale:10000000|display=inline,title}}
| type               = [[Sea]]
| etymology          = 
| part_of            = [[Pacific Ocean]]
| inflow             = 
| rivers             = {{hlist|[[Agno River|Agno]]|[[Jiulong River|Jiulong]]|[[Kapuas River|Kapuas]]|[[Mekong]]|[[Min River (Fujian)|Min]]|[[Pahang River|Pahang]]|[[Pampanga River|Pampanga]]|[[Pasig River|Pasig]]|[[Pearl River (China)|Pearl]]|[[Rajang River|Rajang]]|[[Red River (Vietnam)|Red]]|[[Sambas River|Sambas]]}}
| outflow            = 
| oceans             = 
| catchment          = <!-- {{convert|VALUE|UNITS}} must be used -->
| basin_countries    = {{collapsible list|[[Brunei]]<br />[[China]]<br />[[Indonesia]]<br />[[Malaysia]]<br />[[Philippines]]<br />[[Taiwan]]<br />[[Vietnam]]}}
| agency             = 
| designation        = 
| length             = <!-- {{convert|VALUE|UNITS}} must be used -->
| width              = <!-- {{convert|VALUE|UNITS}} must be used -->
| area               = {{convert|3500000|km2}}
| depth              = <!-- {{convert|VALUE|UNITS}} must be used -->
| max-depth          = <!-- {{convert|VALUE|UNITS}} must be used -->
| volume             = <!-- {{convert|VALUE|UNITS}} must be used -->
| salinity           = 
| shore              = <!-- {{convert|VALUE|UNITS}} must be used -->
| elevation          = <!-- {{convert|VALUE|UNITS}} must be used -->
| temperature_high   = <!-- {{convert|VALUE|UNITS}} must be used -->
| temperature_low    = <!-- {{convert|VALUE|UNITS}} must be used -->
| islands            = [[List of islands in the South China Sea|List of islands in South&nbsp;China Sea]] <!-- {{hlist|[[Borneo]]|[[Hainan Island|Hainan]]|[[Luzon]]|[[Palawan Island|Palawan]]|[[Taiwan Island|Taiwan]]}} -->
| islands_category   = Islands of the South China Sea
| sections           = 
| trenches           = [[Manila Trench]]
| benches            = 
| cities             = {{collapsible list|title=Major cities|bullets=true|<!-- add major cities -->[[Alaminos, Pangasinan|Alaminos]]|[[Bà Rịa]]|[[Bạc Liêu (city)|Bạc Liêu]]|[[Bacoor]]|[[Balanga, Bataan|Balanga]]|[[Batam]]|[[Bintulu]]|[[Cẩm Phả]]|[[Cam Ranh]]|[[Candon]]|[[Cavite City]]|[[Da Nang]]|[[Dagupan]]|[[Đồng Hới]]|[[Hạ Long]]|[[Hà Tĩnh]]|[[Haikou]]|[[Haiphong]]|[[Ho Chi Minh City]]|[[Hội An]]|[[Hong Kong]]|[[Kaohsiung]]|[[Kota Kinabalu]]|[[Kuala Terengganu]]|[[Kuantan]]|[[Kuching]]|[[Laoag]]|[[Las Piñas]]|[[Macau]]|[[Malolos]]|[[Manila]]|[[Mersing]]|[[Miri, Malaysia|Miri]]|[[Móng Cái]]|[[Nakhon Si Thammarat]]|[[Nam Định]]|[[Nanwan]]|[[Navotas]]|[[Nha Trang]]|[[Olongapo]]|[[Parañaque]]|[[Pasay]]|[[Pattaya]]|[[Pekan, Pahang|Pekan]]|[[Phan Rang–Tháp Chàm]]|[[Phan Thiết]]|[[Quảng Ngãi]]|[[Qui Nhơn]]|[[Sầm Sơn]]|[[San Fernando, La Union|San Fernando]]|[[Sanya]]|[[Shantou]]|[[Sihanoukville (city)|Sihanoukville]]|[[Sóc Trăng]]|[[Surat Thani]]|[[Tainan]]|[[Taitung City|Taitung]]|[[Tam Kỳ]]|[[Tanjungpinang]]|[[Thái Bình]]|[[Thanh Hóa]]|[[Tuy Hòa]]|[[Vigan]]|[[Vũng Tàu]]|[[Xiamen]]|[[Zhanjiang]]}}
<!--      Map      -->| pushpin_map        = South China Sea#Southeast Asia#Asia
| pushpin_relief     = y
| pushpin_label      = South China&nbsp;Sea
| pushpin_label_position = 
| pushpin_map_alt    = 
| pushpin_map_caption = <!--   Below       -->
| website            = 
| reference          = 
}}

The '''South China Sea''' is a marginal [[sea]] of the Western [[Pacific Ocean]]. It is bounded in the north by [[South China]], in the west by the [[Indochinese Peninsula]], in the east by the islands of [[Taiwan island|Taiwan]] and northwestern [[Philippines]] (mainly [[Luzon]], [[Mindoro]] and [[Palawan Island|Palawan]]), and in the south by [[Borneo]], eastern [[Sumatra]] and the [[Bangka Belitung Islands]], encompassing an area of around {{convert|3500000|km2|abbr=on}}.  It communicates with the [[East China Sea]] via the [[Taiwan Strait]], the [[Philippine Sea]] via the [[Luzon Strait]], the [[Sulu Sea]] via the straits around [[Palawan]], the [[Java Sea]] via the [[Karimata Strait|Karimata]] and [[Bangka Strait]]s and directly with [[Gulf of Thailand]]. The [[Gulf of Tonkin]] is part of the South China Sea. 

$3.4 trillion of the world's $16 trillion [[Maritime transport|maritime shipping]] passed through South China Sea in 2016. Oil and natural gas reserves have been found in the area. The Western Central Pacific accounted for 14% of world's commercial fishing in 2010.

The [[South China Sea Islands]], collectively comprising several [[archipelago]] clusters of mostly small uninhabited islands, islets ([[cay]]s and [[shoal]]s), [[reef]]s/[[atoll]]s and [[seamount]]s numbering in the hundreds, are subject to [[territorial disputes in the South China Sea|competing claims of sovereignty]] by several countries. These claims are also reflected in the variety of names used for the islands and the sea.