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Malay Archipelago
World map highlighting Malay Archipelago, with the island of New Guinea—not part of the Malay Archipelago by some definitions—in light green.
World map highlighting Malay Archipelago, with the island of New Guinea—not part of the Malay Archipelago by some definitions—in light green.
Geography
Location Southeast Asia, Oceania
Total islands 20,000
Major islands Borneo, Java, Luzon, Mindanao, New Guinea, Sulawesi, Sumatra
Area >2 million km²


Administration
Flag of Brunei Brunei
Largest city Bandar Seri Begawan
Flag of East Timor East Timor
Largest city Dili
Flag of Indonesia Indonesia
Largest city Jakarta
Flag of Malaysia Malaysia
Largest city Kuching
(NB Kuala Lumpur is larger, but it is not part of the Malay Archipelago)
Flag of the Philippines Philippines
Largest city Quezon City
Flag of Singapore Singapore
Largest city Singapore
Demographics
Population 300+ million

The Malay Archipelago is a vast archipelago located between mainland Southeastern Asia (Indochina) and Australia. Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Java (Jawa is an Island of Indonesia and the site of its Capital city Jakarta. Luzon is the largest and most economically and politically important Island in the Philippines and one of the three island groups in the country with Visayas Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost Island in the Philippines. New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the world's second largest island, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known Sulawesi (formerly known as Celebes, ˈsɛlɛbiz is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Sumatra (also spelled Sumatera) is the sixth largest island in the world (approximately 470000 km² and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two Brunei Darussalam, (bruːˈnaɪ in English officially the State of Brunei Abode of Peace (Negara Brunei Darussalam Jawi: برني دارالسلام Bandar Seri Begawan, (Bandar Seri Begawan Jawi: بندر سري بگاوان) estimated population 27285 (as of 2002 is the Capital and largest East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste (officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste) is a country in Southeast Asia. Dili, also spelled Díli, is the Capital and largest city of Timor Leste (formerly called East Timor. The Republic of Indonesia ( (Republik Indonesia is a Country in Southeast Asia. Jakarta (also DKI Jakarta) is the Capital and largest city of Indonesia. For the biogeographical region see Malesia Malaysia (məˈleɪʒə or /məˈleɪziə/ is a country that consists of thirteen states and Kuching is the capital of the East Malaysian state of Sarawak. Kuala Lumpur (ˈkwɑːləlʊmˈpʊər Malay /kwɑlɑlʊmpʊ/ and locally /kwɑləlʊmpɔ/ or even /kɔlɔmpɔ/ or often abbreviated as K The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP Metropolitan Manila ( Filipino: Kalakhang Maynila, Kamaynilaan) or the National Capital Region (NCR ( Filipino: Pambansang Singapore Singapore An archipelago (ɑrkəˈpɛləgoʊ is a chain or cluster of Islands The word archipelago literally means "chief Sea " from Italian Indochina, or the Indochinese Peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Straddling the Indian and Pacific Oceans, this group of some 20,000 islands, the world's largest archipelago by area, constitutes the territories of Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, East Timor, and most of Papua New Guinea. The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's Oceanic divisions covering about 20% of the water on the Earth 's surface The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions An island (ˈaɪlənd or isle (/ˈaɪl/ is any piece of land that is completely surrounded by water in two dimensions above high tide and isolated from other significant The Republic of Indonesia ( (Republik Indonesia is a Country in Southeast Asia. The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP Singapore Brunei Darussalam, (bruːˈnaɪ in English officially the State of Brunei Abode of Peace (Negara Brunei Darussalam Jawi: برني دارالسلام For the biogeographical region see Malesia Malaysia (məˈleɪʒə or /məˈleɪziə/ is a country that consists of thirteen states and East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste (officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste) is a country in Southeast Asia. Papua New Guinea (or ˈpæpjuːə in Tok Pisin: Papua Niugini) officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania There are, however, arguments for excluding the last-named country 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 (continent)). New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the world's second largest island, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known Geologically, the Sunda Shelf is an extension of the Continental shelf of Southeast Asia, covered during Interglacials by the South China

The archipelago is sometimes also known as the East Indies, but some authorities apply a much broader meaning to this term by including Indochina, the Indian subcontinent, and even areas as far west as Iranian Baluchistan. The Indies or East Indies (or East India) is a term often used to refer to the islands of SE Asia, especially the Malay Archipelago Indochina, or the Indochinese Peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia For geopolitical treatments see South Asia. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. Sistān o Balūchestān ( Persian: استان سیستان و بلوچستان is one of the 30 provinces of Iran.

The Malay Archipelago encompasses many groups which may be considered archipelagoes in their own right. The major ones are:

The archipelago's area is more than 2 million km², and its total population is more than 300,000,000+. The Sunda Islands are a group of Islands in the western part of the Malay Archipelago. The Greater Sunda Islands are a group of Islands within the Malay Archipelago. The Nusa Tenggara (lit Southeast Islands or Lesser Sunda Islands, are a group of Islands in the middle-south part of the Malay Archipelago. The Maluku Islands (also known as the Moluccas, Moluccan Islands, the Spice Islands or simply Maluku) are an Archipelago The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP The biggest islands in the archipelago are New Guinea (if included), Borneo, and Sumatra. New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the world's second largest island, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Sumatra (also spelled Sumatera) is the sixth largest island in the world (approximately 470000 km² and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two The most heavily populated island is Java. Java (Jawa is an Island of Indonesia and the site of its Capital city Jakarta.

Geologically the archipelago is very interesting, being one of the most active volcanic regions in the world. Plate tectonics and hotspots Divergent plate boundaries At the Geological uplifts in the region have also produced some impressive mountains, culminating in Mount Kinabalu in Sabah with a height of 4 101 m (or Puncak Jaya in Papua at 4 884 m, if New Guinea is included). Geology (from Greek γη gê, "earth" and λόγος Logos, "speech" lit Tectonic uplift is a geological process most often caused by Plate tectonics which increases elevation Mount Kinabalu ( Gunung Kinabalu) is a prominent Mountain in Southeast Asia. Sabah is a Malaysian state located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. Puncak Jaya (ˈpʊntʃak ˈdʒaja sometimes called Mount Carstensz or the Carstensz Pyramid, is a mountain in the Sudirman Range, the western central Papua is the largest province of Indonesia, comprising a majority part of the western half of the island of New Guinea and nearby islands (see also

The climate throughout the archipelago, owing to its position astride the equator, is tropical. The equator (sometimes referred to colloquially as "the Line") is the intersection of the Earth 's surface with the plane perpendicular to the It is notably rainier in the west than in the east, however.

The region known as Maritime Southeast Asia is more or less coextensive with the Malay Archipelago. The Malay Archipelago is a name given to the Archipelago located between mainland Southeastern Asia ( Indochina) and Australia.

Maritime Southeast Asia

Maritime Southeast Asia is the name given to the island nations in Southeast Asia, collectively known as the Malay archipelago. The Malay Archipelago is a name given to the Archipelago located between mainland Southeastern Asia ( Indochina) and Australia. Nations in this region include:

In terms of the demography of this region, people are predominantly from Austronesian subgroupings (with the exception of Singapore), and all correspondingly speak western Malayo-Polynesian languages. The Austronesian people or Austronesian-speaking people, are a population group present in Oceania and Southeast Asia who speak or had ancestors who spoke The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 351 million speakers Also, this region of Southeast Asia shares more social and cultural ties with other Austronesian peoples in the Pacific than with the peoples of Mainland Southeast Asia. Indochina, or the Indochinese Peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia.

Often, the mainland part of Malaysia, which is known as Malaya, is included as part of Maritime Southeast Asia in order that all the non-Oceanian Austronesian peoples can be included together in one cultural region. Peninsular Malaysia ( Semenanjung Malaysia) also known as Malaya or West Malaysia, is the part of Malaysia which lies on

The main religions in this region are Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and traditional Animism. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Animism (from Latin anima ( Soul, Life) commonly refers to a religious belief that Souls or Spirits exist in Animals

Sources

See also

Austronesia, in historical terms refers to the homeland of the people who speak Austronesian languages, to which Malay, Filipino, Indonesian Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the boundary of the Indomalaya and Australasia ecozones Malesia was first identified as a Floristic Nusantara is a traditional geographical concept of the Malay world that encompasses the Indonesian lands from Sabang in the West to Manokwari The Malay Archipelago is a book by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace that chronicles his scientific exploration during the eight year period 1854 Alfred Russel Wallace OM, FRS (8 January 1823 &ndash 7 November 1913 was an British naturalist, Explorer, Geographer Wallacea is a biogeographical designation for a group of Indonesian islands separated by deep water Straits from the Asian and Australian
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