Yagong Island Explained

Yagong Island
Official Name:Yagong Community
Coordinates:16.5667°N 111.6864°W
Pushpin Map:South China Sea
Pushpin Label:Yagong Island
Length Km:0.175
Width Km:0.075
Area Total Km2:0.013
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:China
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Name1:Hainan
Subdivision Type2:Prefecture-level city
Subdivision Name2:Sansha
Subdivision Type3:County-level division
Subdivision Name3:Xisha District
Subdivision Name4:Yongxing DaoNeighborhood Committee
Timezone1:China
Utc Offset1:+8

Yagong Island (; Vietnamese: Đảo Ba Ba) is an island in the Crescent Group (Yongle Qundao 永乐环礁) of the Paracel Islands, in the South China Sea. It is also known as "He Duck" (male duck) due to its shape. It is located a few hundred metres southwest of Observation Bank (Silver Islet, Yin Yu (Chinese: 银屿), Bãi Xà Cừ) in the northeast of the Crescent Group.

It is occupied by the PRC, and like all of the other Paracel islands, it is controlled by China (PRC) and claimed by Taiwan (ROC) and Vietnam.

It is administered as the "Yagong Community", a village-level division of the Yongxing Dao Neighborhood Committee township-level division, in the county-level division of the Xisha District, of the Sansha prefecture-level city, in the Hainan province.

It has an area of just under 1 hectare (9800sqm) and a residential population of about 100 fishermen with solar power and a desalination plant.[1]

Prior to 2013, the island was a barren stretch of coral and clamshells surrounding a central lagoon, providing a temporary stopover and resting place for fishermen. In 2013, the PRC shipped 120 tonnes of soil, 200 tonnes of fresh water, coconut fibre, and 400 trees to the island as part of a Sansha-wide greening project.[2] As of 2013, regular tourist visits were made to the island by a cruise line, which also supplies the 78 registered (in 2016) residents with groceries.[1]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Liu Zhen . Yagong Island was no place for a dog, now it's home to 400 trees : Villager estimates each tree on remote South China Sea island cost 20,000 yuan . South China Morning Post . 23 May 2016 . 2 July 2017 .
  2. Web site: China Focus: South China islands see green transformation . 30 July 2014 . 13 September 2014 . news.xinhuanet.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140913172536/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2014-07/30/c_133520232.htm . 13 September 2014 .