Malay Archipelago
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 World map highlighting Malay Archipelago. New Guinea—not part of the Malay Archipelago by some definitions—is also included. |
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| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Southeast Asia, Oceania |
| Total islands | 20,000 |
| Major islands | Borneo, Java, Luzon, Mindanao, New Guinea, Sulawesi, Sumatra |
| Area | >2 million km² |
| Country | |
| Brunei | |
| Largest city | Bandar Seri Begawan |
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East Timor
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| Largest city | Dili |
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Indonesia
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| Largest city | Jakarta |
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Malaysia
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| Largest city | Kuching (Kuala Lumpur is larger and part of Maritime Southeast Asia, but not part of the Malay Archipelago) |
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Philippines
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| Largest city | Quezon City (Metro Manila suburb) |
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Singapore
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| Largest city | Singapore |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 350 million.[1] |
The Malay Archipelago and Maritime Southeast Asia are names given to the archipelago located between mainland Southeastern Asia and Australia. Located between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the group of 20,000 islands is the world's largest archipelago by area. It includes the countries of Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia (only East), East Timor, and most of Papua New Guinea.[2] The island of New Guinea is not always included in the Malay Archipelago,[2] while Peninsular Malaysia also is included within Maritime Southeast Asia.[3]
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[edit] Terminology
The concept of a “Malay race” which included the peoples of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines was put forward by European colonialists due to their observations regarding the influence of the Malay empire, Srivijaya.[4] Nineteenth century naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace used the term “Malay Archipelago” as the title of his influential book documenting his studies in the region.
There are arguments for excluding Papua New Guinea for cultural and geographical reasons: Papua New Guinea is culturally quite different from the other countries in the region, and the island of New Guinea itself is geologically not part of the continent of Asia, as the islands of the Sunda Shelf are (see Australia). The archipelago is sometimes also known as the “East Indies”, particularly in the European colonial era, but broader definitions of the “East Indies” include Indochina, the Indian subcontinent, and even areas as far west as Iranian Baluchistan.
[edit] Geography and geology
The archipelago encompasses many groups which may be considered archipelagoes in their own right. The major ones are:
- The Sunda Islands
- The Maluku Islands
- The Philippines
Geologically the archipelago is one of the most active volcanic regions in the world. Geological uplifts in the region have also produced some impressive mountains, culminating in Mount Kinabalu in Sabah with a height of 4,095.2 m (or Puncak Jaya in Papua at 4,884 m (16,024 ft), if New Guinea is included). The climate throughout the archipelago, owing to its position on the equator, is tropical. It is notably rainier in the west than in the east.
[edit] Biogeography
The Malay Archipelago is traversed by the "Wallace Line" (or "Wallace's Line"), a boundary that separates the zoogeographical regions of Asia and Wallacea (which is a transitional zone between Asia and Australia). West of the line are found organisms related to Asiatic species; to the east, a mixture of species of Asian and Australian origin are present. The line is named after Alfred Russel Wallace, who noticed this clear dividing line during his travels through the East Indies in the 19th century. The line runs through the Malay Archipelago, between Borneo and Sulawesi (Celebes); and through the Lombok Strait between Bali (in the west) and Lombok (in the east). Antonio Pigafetta had also recorded the biological contrasts between the Philippines and the Maluku Islands (Spice Islands) (situated on opposite sides of the line) in 1521 during the continuation of the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan (after Magellan himself had been killed on Mactan).
[edit] Demography
The archipelago's area is more than 2 million km², and its total population is more than 300,000,000. The biggest islands in the archipelago are New Guinea, Borneo, and Sumatra. The most heavily populated is Java. The people of the archipelago are predominantly from Austronesian subgroupings, and all correspondingly speak western Malayo-Polynesian languages. Also, this region of Southeast Asia share more social and cultural ties with other Austronesian peoples in the Pacific than with the peoples of Mainland Southeast Asia.
The mainland part of Malaysia, which is known as Malaya, is included as part of Maritime Southeast Asia[3] in order that all the non-Oceanian Austronesian peoples can be included together in one cultural region.
The main religions in this region are Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and traditional Animism.
[edit] See also
- The Malay Archipelago—a book by Alfred Russel Wallace
- Austronesia
- Malesia
- Nusantara
- Wallacea
- Wallace Line
[edit] References
- ^ Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division (2006) (.PDF). World Population Prospects, Table A.2. 2006 revision. United Nations. pp. p. 37-42. http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2006/WPP2006_Highlights_rev.pdf. Retrieved on 2007-06-30.
- ^ a b "Malay Archipelago." Encyclopedia Britannica. 2006. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.
- ^ a b "Maritime Southeast Asia." Worldworx Travel. Accessed 26 May 2009.
- ^ Reid, Anthony. Understanding melayu (Malay) as a source of diverse modern identities. Origins of Malayness 2001 Cambridge University Press. Retrieved on March 2, 2009.
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