first island chain

• First Island Chain

Calque from Chinese 第一島鏈／第一岛链 (Dìyī dǎoliàn).

first island chain

1. (geopolitics) The first chain of major archipelagos out from the East Asian continental mainland coast. Principally composed of the Kuril Islands, Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, the northern Philippines, Japan, and Borneo; from the Kamchatka Peninsula to the Malay Peninsula.

• Some definitions of the first island chain anchor the northern end on the Russian Far East coast north of Sakhalin, with Sahkalin Island being the first link in the chain.

• second island chain / Second Island Chain
• third island chain / Third Island Chain