Geography
Pratas is located 850 km southwest of Taipei and 340 km southeast of Hong Kong in the northern part of the South China Sea or the Pratas Terrace (20°43′N 116°42′E / 20.717°N 116.7°E / 20.717; 116.7Coordinates: 20°43′N 116°42′E / 20.717°N 116.7°E / 20.717; 116.7). The island is 2.8 km (2 mi) long and 0.865 km (1 mi) wide.
The island is made up of coral atolls and reef flats. Only Pratas Island is above sea level, Northern Vereker and Southern Vereker atolls are under water. Brush, vines and bushes cover some of Pratas and rest is white sand.
Other flora and fauna on Pratas:
- silver silk tree
- strawberry tung tree
- coconut tree
- little Terns
- turnstones
- gullbilled Terns
- parrotfish
- starfish
- rock lobsters
- crabs
- sharks
The island is shaped like a ring and consists of three major entities in the area:
- Pratas Island (東沙島)
- North Vereker Bank (北衛灘)
- South Vereker Bank (南衛灘)
There are also some seamount formations nearby, but not part of the main island:
- Jianfeng Seamount (尖峰海山)
- Maojia Seamount (芼架海山)
- Beipo Seamount (北波海山)
Read more about this topic: Pratas Islands
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