Prefecture-level city in Hainan, People's Republic of China
About Sansha
Sansha City is a prefecture-level city under the Hainan province of China. It is the southernmost and least populated prefecture in China by far, with the smallest land area but the largest maritime territory. The city's seat is located on Yongxing Island in the South China Sea, and administers several island groups, atolls, seamounts and a number of other ungrouped maritime features within the nine-dash line, although the PRC's de facto control over the area varies. The name "Sansha", literally meaning "three sands", refers to the three archipelago districts of Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha.
Recent history
In March 1953, as talks were proceeding with the French on the handing over of Hainan and territories south of Guangdong to the People's Republic of China, the Chinese State Council authorized the establishment of a separate "Guangdong Province Paracels, Spratlys, and Zhongsha Islands Authority" as a county-level administrative division on Woody Island (Yongxing Dao). However, the island continued to support a threadbare population of fisherfolk at that time. In March 1959, this authority was upgraded to an administrative office in the name of "Guangdong Province Paracels, Spratlys, and Zhongsha Islands Revolutionary Committee". In October 1984, the administration of Sansha consisting of Yongxing Dao (Woody Island) and other islands in the South China sea was transferred to Hainan. This coincided with the establishment of Hainan as a separate administrative region. …
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