{
  "Introduction": {
    "Background": {
      "text": "The Paracel Islands are surrounded by productive fishing grounds and by potential oil and gas reserves. In 1932, French Indochina annexed the islands and set up a weather station on Pattle Island; maintenance was continued by its successor, Vietnam. China has occupied all the Paracel Islands since 1974, when its troops seized a South Vietnamese garrison occupying the western islands. China built a military installation on Woody Island with an airfield and artificial harbor. The islands also are claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam."
    }
  },
  "Geography": {
    "Location": {
      "text": "Southeastern Asia, group of small islands and reefs in the South China Sea, about one-third of the way from central Vietnam to the northern Philippines"
    },
    "Geographic coordinates": {
      "text": "16 30 N, 112 00 E"
    },
    "Map references": {
      "text": "Southeast Asia"
    },
    "Area": {
      "total": {
        "text": "ca. 7.75 sq km"
      },
      "land": {
        "text": "ca. 7.75 sq km"
      },
      "water": {
        "text": "0 sq km"
      }
    },
    "Area - comparative": {
      "text": "land area is about thirteen times the size of the National Mall in Washington, DC"
    },
    "Land boundaries": {
      "text": "0 km"
    },
    "Coastline": {
      "text": "518 km"
    },
    "Maritime claims": {
      "text": "NA"
    },
    "Climate": {
      "text": "tropical"
    },
    "Terrain": {
      "text": "mostly low and flat"
    },
    "Elevation": {
      "mean elevation": {
        "text": "NA"
      },
      "elevation extremes": {
        "text": "lowest point: South China Sea 0 m ++ highest point: unnamed location on Rocky Island 14 m"
      }
    },
    "Natural resources": {
      "text": "none"
    },
    "Land use": {
      "agricultural land": {
        "text": "0% ++ arable land 0%; permanent crops 0%; permanent pasture 0%"
      },
      "forest": {
        "text": "0%"
      },
      "other": {
        "text": "100% (2011 est.)"
      }
    },
    "Irrigated land": {
      "text": "0 sq km (2012)"
    },
    "Natural hazards": {
      "text": "typhoons"
    },
    "Environment - current issues": {
      "text": "NA"
    },
    "Geography - note": {
      "text": "composed of 130 small coral islands and reefs divided into the northeast Amphitrite Group and the western Crescent Group"
    }
  },
  "People and Society": {
    "Population": {
      "text": "no indigenous inhabitants",
      "note": {
        "text": "there are scattered Chinese garrisons"
      }
    }
  },
  "Government": {
    "Country name": {
      "conventional long form": {
        "text": "none"
      },
      "conventional short form": {
        "text": "Paracel Islands"
      },
      "etymology": {
        "text": "Portuguese navigators began to refer to the \"Ilhas do Pracel\" in the 16th century as a designation of low lying islets, sandbanks, and reefs scattered over a wide area; over time the name changed to \"parcel\" and then \"paracel\""
      }
    }
  },
  "Economy": {
    "Economy - overview": {
      "text": "The islands have the potential for oil and gas development. Waters around the islands support commercial fishing, but the islands themselves are not populated on a permanent basis."
    }
  },
  "Transportation": {
    "Airports": {
      "text": "1 (2013)"
    },
    "Airports - with paved runways": {
      "total": {
        "text": "1"
      },
      "1,524 to 2,437 m": {
        "text": "1 (2013)"
      }
    },
    "Ports and terminals": {
      "text": "small Chinese port facilities on Woody Island and Duncan Island"
    }
  },
  "Military and Security": {
    "Military - note": {
      "text": "occupied by China"
    }
  },
  "Transnational Issues": {
    "Disputes - international": {
      "text": "occupied by China, also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam"
    }
  }
}