Area 86 km² | Time zone China Standard (UTC+8) District Xiangzhou | |
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The Wanshan Archipelago (lit. Myriad Islands Archipelago), sometimes referred to as the Ladrones Islands (Thieves Islands), is a 104-island archipelago that is part of the Xiangzhou District of Zhuhai Municipality in Guangdong Province, People's Republic of China.
Contents
- Map of E4B887E5B1B1E7BEA4E5B29B China
- AdministrationEdit
- GeographyEdit
- List of islandsEdit
- PopulationEdit
- EconomyEdit
- Tourist sitesEdit
- TransportationEdit
- References
Map of %E4%B8%87%E5%B1%B1%E7%BE%A4%E5%B2%9B, China
AdministrationEdit
Most of the islands of the archipelago are in the Wanshan Marine Development Experimental Zone (万山海洋开发试验区) which consist of three towns: Guishan Town (桂山镇), Dan'gan Town (担杆镇) and Wanshan Town (万山镇).
GeographyEdit
The islands are situated in the South China Sea, to the south of the opening of the Pearl River estuary and Hong Kong.
The Wanshan Islands also include some islands in Hong Kong and Macau, such as Hong Kong Island and Lantau Island in Hong Kong, Taipa-Coloane Island in Macau.
The archipelago includes several groups of islands. On the older European maps, the western group, located south of the Pearl River estuary and Hong Kong's island of Lantau, and including the Greater Wanshan Island (Dawanshan Dao), Guishan Dao, Zhizhou Liedao group, Wai Dangling Dao, Sanmen Liedao group, and Aizhou Liedao group, was known as the Ladrones Islands (that is, "Thieves Islands", in Spanish or Portuguese). The eastern chain of islands, located south of Hong Kong, was known in the West as the Lema Islands; today, the western half of this chain is known as Jiapeng Liedao, and the eastern half as Dan'gan Liedao.
The largest island, Dan'gan, features mountainous terrain similar to Hong Kong.
List of islandsEdit
Islands of the archipelago include:
Dan'gan Liedao (担杆列岛), the eastern group of Wanshan archipelago, and the eastern half of the former Lema Islands chain
Jiapeng Liedao (佳蓬列岛), the southern group of Wanshan archipelago, and the western half of the former Lema Islands chain
Southwestern group, apparently without a general name
Central group, apparently without a general name; located south of Lantau
Northwestern group, apparently without a general name; located between Lantau and Macau
Other geographically important points of interest:
PopulationEdit
There is a small local population, mostly in small fishing villages:
EconomyEdit
The archipelago's economy is mainly fisheries (crystal prawn, peeler crab). There is a growing tourism industry with a focus on history, beaches, and the natural beauty of the islands. About 350,000 tourists visit the islands annually. Club Med opened a holiday resort on Dong'ao in 2014.
There is also potential for petroleum extraction in the waters off the islands.
Tourist sitesEdit
Tourist sites of Wanshan Archipelago include: