Lansdowne Reef

Lansdowne Reef
Disputed island;
	Lansdowne Reef
	Lansdowne Reef
Other names	Đá Len Đao (Vietnamese); Pagkakaisa Reef (Philippine English); Bahura ng Pagkakaisa (Filipino); 琼礁 Qióng jiāo(Chinese)
Geography
Location	South China Sea
Coordinates	9°46′46″N 114°22′11″E / 9.77944°N 114.36972°E
Archipelago	Spratly Islands
Area	4 ha (9.9 acres)
Administration
	Vietnam
District	Trường Sa District
Commune	Sinh Tồn Commune
Claimed by
	China
	Philippines
	Taiwan

Lansdowne Reef (Filipino: Bahura ng Pagkakaisa); Len Đao Reef (Vietnamese: Đá Len Đao); Mandarin Chinese: 琼礁; pinyin: Qióng jiāo, is a cay on the southern part of the Union Banks of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. The island has been occupied by Vietnam since 1988. It is also claimed by China (PRC), the Philippines, Vietnam, and Taiwan (ROC).^[1]^[2]^[3]

Geography

Len Dao Reef is located 6.4 nautical miles (11.8 km) northeast of Gac Ma Reef and 6.8 nautical miles (12.6 km) south-southeast of Sinh Ton Island. Geographically, Len Dao Reef is not an island but a coral reef. When the tide is low, the coral reef rises approximately 0.5 meters; conversely, when the tide is high, the reef submerges 1.8 meters below water.^[4] The area of the coral reef is approximately 0.58 square kilometers.^[5]

The Vietnamese Navy is stationed on a complex of structures called Len Dao Island, with geographical coordinates recorded on the sovereignty marker as 9°45′40″N 114°21′50″E. There is also a stone cultural house completed in 2018.

Starting in June 2025, Vietnam began land reclamation activities at Len Dao Reef. The island expanded to a total of 4 hectares.

Chigua Jiao (Johnson South Reef)

Đá Cô Lin
(Collins Reef,
Johnson North Reef)

Loveless Reef

Gent Reef

Sinh Tồn (Sin Cowe Island)

Edmund Reef

McKennan Reef

Dōngmén Jiāo (Hughes Reef)

Sinh Tồn Đông (Grierson Reef/ Sin Cowe East Island)

Đá Len Đao (Landsdowne Reef)

References

^ (in Vietnamese)Mai Thanh Hai (May 29, 2018). "Những người giữ Len Đao". Thanh Niên. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
^ D. J. Hancox; John Robert Victor Prescott (1995). A Geographical Description of the Spratly Islands and an Account of Hydrographic Surveys Amongst Those Islands. IBRU. pp. 11–. ISBN 978-1-897643-18-1.
^ "Lansdowne Reef". cil.nus.edu.sg. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
^ Những điều cần biết về hai quần đảo Hoàng Sa, Trường Sa và khu vực thềm lục địa phía nam (DK1). Cục Chính trị (Bộ Tư lệnh Hải quân). 2011.
^ "cil.nus.edu.sg". cil.nus.edu.sg. Retrieved 2025-08-06.