The Spratly Islands form an archipelago of reefs, islets, atolls,islands and cays in the South China Sea off the coasts of the Philippines and Malaysia. Although spread over an area of more than 425,000 square kilometres of sea, they constitute less than 4 square kilometres of land. The archipelago provides rich fishing grounds and may contain oil and gas reserves, making them the object of an ongoing territorial dispute between China, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei.