Scarborough Shoal

Philippines / Ilocos / Ilio-ilio /
 reef, shoal, sandbar, atoll, notable by news, territorial dispute
Several rocks up to 3 m high. Much of the reef is just below water at high tide. Encloses a lagoon. Near the mouth of the lagoon are the ruins of an iron tower, 8.3 m high.

220 km (137 miles) from Palauig, Zambales, Philippines.
859.1 km (533.8 miles) far from Hainan Province, China
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarborough_Reef
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   15°9'48"N   117°46'46"E

Comments

  • The name Bajo de Masinloc (translated as "under Masinloc") itself identifies the shoal as a particular political subdivision of the Philippine Province of Zambales, known as Masinloc. One of the earliest known and most accurate maps of the area, named Carta Hydrographical y Chorographica De Las Yslas Filipinas by Fr. Pedro Murillo Velarde, S.J., and published in 1734, included Bajo de Masinloc as part of Zambales. The name Bajo de Masinloc was a name given to the shoal by the Spanish colonizers. In 1792, another map drawn by the Alejandro Malaspina expedition and published in 1808 in Madrid, Spain, also showed Bajo de Masinloc as part of Philippine territory. This map showed the route of the Malaspina expedition to and around the shoal. It was reproduced in the Atlas of the 1939 Philippine Census. The Mapa General, Islas Filipinas, Observatorio de Manila published in 1990 by the US Coast and Geodetic Survey, also included Bajo de Masinloc as part of the Philippines. Philippine flags have been erected on some of the islets of the shoal, including a flag raised on an 8.3-meter high flag pole in 1965 and another Philippine flag raised by Congressmen Roque Ablan and Jose Yap in 1997. In 1965, the Philippines also built and operated a small lighthouse in one of the islets in the Shoal. In 1992, the Philippine Navy rehabilitated the lighthouse and reported it to the International Maritime Organization for publication in the List of Lights (currently this lighthouse is not operational). Bajo de Masinloc was also used as an impact range by Philippine and US Naval Forces stationed in Subic Bay in Zambales for defence purposes. The Philippines Department of Environment and Natural Resources together with the University of the Philippines has also been conducting scientific, topographic, and marine studies in the Shoal. Filipino fishermen have always considered it as their fishing grounds owing to their proximity to the coastal towns and areas of Southwest Luzon.
  • It is clearly under Philippine Economic Zone.
  • Panatag Shoal