Editing South China Sea (section)

==Islands and seamounts==
{{See also|South China Sea Islands|list of islands in the South China Sea}}
{{unsourced section|date=May 2025}}
The South China Sea contains over 250 small [[island]]s, [[atoll]]s, [[cays]], [[shoals]], [[reef]]s, and [[sandbars]], most of which have no indigenous people, many of which are naturally under water at high tide, and some of which are permanently submerged. The features are:
[[File:Karta CN SouthChinaSea.PNG|thumb|upright|South China Sea]]
* The [[Spratly Islands]]
* The [[Paracel Islands]]
* [[Pratas Island]] and the Vereker Banks
* The [[Macclesfield Bank]]
* The [[Scarborough Shoal]]

The Spratly Islands spread over an 810 by 900&nbsp;km area covering some 175 identified insular features, the largest being [[Taiping Island]] (Itu Aba) at just over {{convert|1.3|km}} long and with its highest elevation at {{convert|3.8|m}}.

The largest singular feature in the area of the Spratly Islands is a {{convert|100|km}} wide [[seamount]] called [[Reed Tablemount]], also known as Reed Bank, in the northeast of the group, separated from Palawan Island of the Philippines by the Palawan Trench. Now completely submerged, with a depth of {{convert|20|m}}, it was an island until it was covered about 7,000 years ago by increasing sea levels after the [[Last Glacial Period|last ice age]]. With an area of {{convert|8,866|km2}}, it is one of the largest submerged atoll structures in the world.