Trường Sa special administrative region

Trường Sa is an island special administrative region of Khánh Hòa province in the South Central Coast region of Vietnam. Originally, a district was established on the basis of the Spratly Islands, which is also claimed wholly or in part by Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan. According to the 2009 census, the district has a population of 195 people.

Geography

Trường Sa district was established on the basis of small coral islands/cays, reefs and banks of the Spratly Islands which are south east of Cam Ranh. As the islands contain a large number of scattered geographic entities, the district is divided into eight clusters including Song Tử, Thị Tứ, Loại Ta, Nam Yết, Sinh Tồn, Trường Sa, Thám Hiểm and Bình Nguyên by Vietnam. On June 16th, 2025, through Resolution No. 1667/NQ of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, Trường Sa district was changed into a special administrative region.

Administrative history in the 20th century

By the early 1930s, France had claimed the Spratly Islands. On 21 December 1933, Cochinchina's governor Jean-Félix Krautheimer signed Decree No. 4702-CP annexing Spratly Island, Amboyna Cay, Itu Aba Island, Northeast Cay, Southwest Cay, Thitu Island, Loaita Island and subsidiary islands into Bà Rịa province.
On 22 October 1956, Republic of Vietnam's President Ngô Đình Diệm signed Decree No. 143-NV renaming provinces of South Vietnam. According to this decree, Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu was renamed to Phước Tuy province under which the Spratly Islands was administered.
On 6 September 1973, the Republic of Vietnam's Ministry of the Interior signed Decree No. 420-BNV/HCĐP/26 merging Spratly Island, Amboyna Cay, Itu Aba Island, Northeast Cay, Southwest Cay, Loaita Island, Thitu Island, Namyit Island, Sin Cowe Island and the surrounding islands into Phước Hải Commune, Đất Đỏ district, Phước Tuy province.
On 9 December 1982, the Council of Ministers of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam issued Decision No. 193/HĐBT establishing Trường Sa District as an administrative unit of Đồng Nai Province. On December 28, 1982, The Seventh National Assembly decided to incorporate Trường Sa District into Phú Khánh Province.
On 1 July 1989, the National Assembly split Phú Khánh Province into Phú Yên province and Khánh Hòa province. Trường Sa district was placed under the direct administration of Khánh Hòa.
On 16 June 2025, Trường Sa district became Trường Sa Special Administrative Region based on the foundation of Trường Sa township, Song Tử Tây commune, and Sinh Tồn commune.

Administration

According to Decree No. 65/2007/NĐ-CP of 11 April 2007 issued by the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Trường Sa district had three administrative units including one commune-level town and two rural communes.

Trường Sa Township was established on the basis of Trường Sa Island and surrounding islands, reefs and banks.
Song Tử Tây Commune was established on the basis of Song Tử Tây island and surrounding islands, reefs and banks.
Sinh Tồn Commune was established on the basis of Sinh Tồn Island and surrounding islands, reefs and banks.

In reality, Trường Sa district is effectively administering only 21 islets and reefs of the Spratly Islands:

Cluster	Coral islands/cays	Reefs	Map
Song Tử	Southwest Cay	South Reef
Thị Tứ	-	-
Loại Ta	-	-
Nam Yết	Namyit Island, Sand Cay	Discovery Great Reef, Petley Reef
Sinh Tồn	Sin Cowe Island, Grierson Reef	Collins Reef/Johnson North Reef, Lansdowne Reef
Trường Sa	Spratly Island, Pearson Reef, Central London Reef	East London Reef, Ladd Reef, Cornwallis South Reef, West London Reef, Pigeon Reef/Tennent Reef, Alison Reef
Thám Hiểm	Amboyna Cay	Barque Canada Reef
Bình Nguyên	-	-

Population

According to statistics on April 1, 2009, the population of Truong Sa district was 195 people, of which Truong Sa town area was 82 people.
According to statistics dated April 1, 2019, the population of Truong Sa district was 93 people, of which Truong Sa town area was 30 people.
In the Spratly Islands, there are only 4 islands with permanent inhabitants, which are Spratly Island, West Reef East Island, Sin Cowe Island, and Southwest Cay. On the remaining islands, only naval troops are stationed.

Transport

The Trường Sa Special Administrative Region is served by Truong Sa Airport located on Spratly Island. It was originally 550 m long, then expanded to 1,200 m as it is today.
In Truong Sa town, island communes, island points have piers. The islands inhabited by civilians such as Spratly Island, West Reef East Island, Southwest Cay, Sin Cowe Island all have large locks for ships to anchor to avoid storms. New locks are also being built on the islands in the accretion phase from the end of 2021, including Namyit Island, Sand Cay, and Phan Vinh Island.

Education

Trường Sa Special Administrative Region has 4 primary schools on the islands: Spratly Island, Southwest Cay, Sin Cowe Island and West Reef East Island accepting students from kindergarten to grade 5. Students who want to study at higher levels must enter the school on mainland for further study.

Telecommunication

Viettel Group has installed a number of broadcasting stations in Trường Sa. The coverage of the stations is 20 km from the islands/atolls and also allows wireless Internet access with 2.75G EDGE technology.