Sulu Sea in the context of "Palawan"

The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luzon, Mindoro, and Palawan), and in the south by Borneo, eastern Sumatra, and the Bangka Belitung Islands, encompassing an area of around 3,500,000 km (1,400,000 sq mi). It communicates with the East China Sea via the Taiwan Strait, the Philippine Sea via the Luzon Strait, the Sulu Sea via the straits around Palawan, the Java Sea via the Karimata and Bangka Straits, and directly with the Gulf of Thailand. Additionally, the Gulf of Tonkin is part of the South China Sea.

$3.4 trillion of the world's $16 trillion maritime shipping passed through the South China Sea in 2016. Oil and natural gas reserves have been found in the area. The Western Central Pacific accounted for 14% of the world's commercial fishing in 2010.

A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition of sand or wave erosion planing down rock outcrops. However, reefs such as the coral reefs of tropical waters are formed by biotic (living) processes, dominated by corals and coralline algae. Artificial reefs, such as shipwrecks and other man-made underwater structures, may occur intentionally or as the result of an accident. These are sometimes designed to increase the physical complexity of featureless sand bottoms to attract a more diverse range of organisms. They provide shelter to various aquatic animals which help prevent extinction. Another reason reefs are put in place is for aquaculture, and fish farmers who are looking to improve their businesses sometimes invest in them. Reefs are often quite near to the surface, but not all definitions require this.

Earth's largest coral reef system is the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, at a length of over 2,300 kilometres (1,400 miles).

Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km ( 4,082 sq.mi ), it has a population of 1,430,921, as of the 2024 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of Luzon and northeast of Palawan. Mindoro is divided into two provinces: Occidental Mindoro and Oriental Mindoro. Calapan is the only city on the island and largest settlement on the island with a total population of 148,558 inhabitants as of 2024. The southern coast of Kristine Mindoro forms the northeastern extremum of the Sulu Sea. Mount Halcon is the highest point on the island, standing at 8,484 feet (2,586 m) above sea level located in Oriental Mindoro. Mount Baco is the island's second highest mountain with an elevation of 8,163 feet (2,488 m), located in the province of Occidental Mindoro.

Palawan (Spanish: Isla de La Paragua) is the largest island of the province of Palawan in the Philippines and fifth-largest by area and tenth-most populous island of the country, with a total population of 1,023,849 as of 2024 census. The northwest coast of the island is along the Palawan Passage in the eastern South China Sea, while the southeast coast forms part of the northern limit of the Sulu Sea. Much of the island remains traditional and is considered by some as under-developed. Abundant wildlife, jungle mountains, and some white sandy beaches attract many tourists, as well as international companies looking for development opportunities.

One city and 12 out of the 23 municipalities of the Province of Palawan are on this island. Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm, one of seven operating units of the Bureau of Corrections, is located on the island.

The Visayas (/vəˈsaɪəz/ və-SY-əz), or the Visayan Islands (Visayan: Kabisay-an, Cebuano pronunciation: [kabiˈsajʔan]; Filipino: Kabisayaan [kɐbɪsɐˈjaʔan]), are one of the three principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Luzon and Mindanao. Located in the central part of the archipelago, it consists of several islands, primarily surrounding the Visayan Sea, although the Visayas are also considered the northeast extremity of the entire Sulu Sea. Its inhabitants are predominantly the Visayan peoples.

The major islands of the Visayas are Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte and Samar. The region may also include the provinces of Palawan, Romblon, and Masbate, whose populations identify as Visayan and whose languages are more closely related to other Visayan languages than to the major languages of Luzon.

The Celebes Sea (/ˈsɛlɪbiːz, səˈliːbiz/ SEL-ib-eez, sə-LEE-beez; Filipino: Dagat Selebes) or Sulawesi Sea (Malay: Laut Sulawesi; Indonesian: Laut Sulawesi; pronounced [ˌlaʊt̪̚ sulaˈwesi]) of the western Pacific Ocean is bordered on the north by the Sulu Archipelago and Sulu Sea and Mindanao Island of the Philippines, on the east by the Sangihe Islands chain, on the south by Sulawesi's Minahasa Peninsula, and the west by northern Kalimantan in Indonesia. It extends 605 km (376 mi) north-south by 780 km (485 mi) east-west and has a total surface area of 472,000 km (182,000 sq mi), to a maximum depth of 6,220 metres (20,406 ft). South of the Cape Mangkalihat, the sea opens southwest through the Makassar Strait into the Java Sea.

The Celebes Sea is a piece of an ancient ocean basin that formed 42 million years ago in a locale removed from any landmass. By 20 million years ago, the earth's crust movement had moved the basin close enough to the Indonesian and Philippine volcanoes to receive emitted debris. By 10 million years ago the Celebes Sea was inundated with continental debris, including coal, which was shed from a growing young mountain on Borneo and the basin had docked against Eurasia.

The Sulu Archipelago (Tausug: Kapū'-pūan sin Sūg; Sulat Sūg: كَفُوْءْفُوْأَنْ سِنْ سُوْݢْ‎; Filipino: Kapuluan ng Sulu) is a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean, in the southwestern Philippines. The archipelago forms the northern limit of the Celebes Sea and southern limit of the Sulu Sea. The Sulu Archipelago islands are within the Mindanao island group, consisting of the Philippines provinces of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi; hence the archipelago is sometimes referred to as Basulta, derived from the first syllables of the three provinces.

The archipelago is not, as is often supposed, the remains of a land bridge between Borneo and the Philippines. Rather, it is the exposed edge of small submarine ridges produced by tectonic tilting of the sea bottom. Basilan, Jolo, Tawi-Tawi and other islands in the group are extinct volcanic cones rising from the southernmost ridge. Tawi-Tawi, the southernmost island of the group, has a serpentine basement-complex core with a limestone covering. This island chain is an important migration route for birds.

Pamalican Island, also spelled as Pamalikan, is a small and sandy island of the Cuyo Islands in the Sulu Sea, between Palawan and Panay, in the north part of the Palawan Province of the Philippines. The island is set in the middle of a 7-square-kilometre (2.7 sq mi) coral reef. It has a length of 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi), and measures only 500 metres (1,600 ft) at its widest point. Pamalican can be found 7 miles southwest of Quiniluban island and 3 miles northeast of Manamoc island.

The island was originally exploited as a struggling family-owned plantation. It was then purchased by Andrés Soriano Jr., a businessman. His children decided to build a resort on the island and leased the management responsibility to establish an exclusive resort. The island is private property and belongs in totality to Seven Seas Resorts and Leisure, Inc. (owned by the Sorianos). It is part of the high-end resort group, Aman Resorts, under the name Amanpulo. About 40% of the employees are from the neighbouring Manamoc island.