South China Sea Data 2012-2023
This dataset contains geo-located events related to ongoing territorial disputes in the South China Sea, also known as the Biển Đông (East Sea), West Philippine Sea, or (in part) North Natuna Sea.
In this version, reports from 2009 to 2019 are included (11 years).
The data are structured in two levels:
- Events: An event is a discrete occurrence in the basin at a specific location, that fits the criteria for inclusion. These are rows within the geo-located “event” dataset.
- Reports: A report is an individual news item that provides information about the activities that occurred and the location of an event. Most events have more than one report, although some events only have a single report in the dataset. These are rows within the “report” dataset.
Because these events are drawn from publicly available news sources, they are by no means a comprehensive accounting of all the clashes that have taken place in the westernmost Pacific Ocean during the decade in question. Indeed, in speaking with journalists in several littoral countries, a considerable number of incidents are not reported on, either due to political pressure, lack of capacity, or insufficient verifiable details regarding what took place.
We have uploaded to the Harvard Dataverse a complete CSV of the events with all geo-locations associated with them. Links to all the underlying news reports are included as well. In the SCSDI Dataverse archive, there are also gpkg and shp files that will allow users to plot the geo-locations of the events using GIS software like QGIS or ArcGIS, or in statistical packages such as R or Stata. There is also a simple version of the dataset with key fields (event ID, date, location, notes) which is suitable for basic analysis in Excel.
To provide a deeper understanding of these events, we have developed two interactive maps as follows.
Interactive Map of Geo-Located Events
This interactive map visualizes geo-located events related to territorial disputes in the South China Sea from 2012 to 2023. Users can filter events based on the time period and countries involved, allowing for a detailed exploration of the dataset. Each event is displayed with relevant details, including its location, date, and additional context. The map provides an intuitive way to analyze trends and geographic patterns over time.
Event Density Heatmap
The event density heatmap illustrates the concentration of recorded events across the South China Sea. Areas with higher densities of events are represented in warmer colors (e.g., red), while regions with fewer recorded events appear in cooler colors (e.g., green). This visualization helps identify hotspots where territorial disputes and maritime incidents are most frequent. The map provides insights into spatial patterns and allows for a comparative analysis over time.