Sansha City is a prefecture-level city located in the Hainan province of China. It holds the distinction of being the southernmost and least populated prefecture in China by far. While it possesses the smallest land area of any prefecture, it maintains the largest maritime territory.
The city's seat is situated on Yongxing Island in the South China Sea. From this location, it administers several island groups, atolls, seamounts, and various other ungrouped maritime features within the nine-dash line, though the level of de facto control over these areas varies. The name "Sansha" translates literally to "three sands," referring to the three archipelago districts of Xisha, Zhongsha, and Nansha.