!!!Paracel Islands: Government
||Country name|''conventional long form'': none \\ ''conventional short form'': Paracel Islands \\ ''etymology'': Portuguese navigators began to refer to the "Ilhas do Pracel" in the 16th century as a designation of low lying islets, sandbanks, and reefs scattered over a wide area; over time the name changed to "parcel" and then "paracel" \\