Malay Peninsula

The Malaysian Peninsula, Malay Peninsula or Malaysian Peninsula (also known as the Kra Peninsula) (in Malay, Semenanjung Tanah Melayu), is a long, narrow appendage of the Asian continent, constituting the southernmost point of mainland Asia. Its narrowest point is the Isthmus of Kra.

The southwest coast is separated from the island of Sumatra by the Malacca Strait. To the east, in the South China Sea, is the island of Borneo. The southern coast is separated from the island of Singapore by the Strait of Johor. Singapore, being an island, is not part of the Malay Peninsula. Politically it is divided into territories belonging to Burma, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore:

• The northwest is the southernmost part of Burma.
• The central and north-east region is the southern part of Thailand.
• The south is a part of Malaysia called Peninsular Malaysia or Western Malaysia (sometimes confused with the peninsula itself).

The Malay term "Tanah Melayu" to call for unity to the peoples of the peninsula under a single Malay nation. Although this unity was achieved with the creation of Malaysia, there is still a majority Malay population in the southern part of Thailand, an area that was part of the Malay kingdom of Pattani. There is also a Malay minority on the island of Singapore, with a majority Chinese population, which was acquired by the British (Thomas Stamford Raffles) from the Johor Sultanate in 1819.

Etymology

The Malay term Tanah Melayu derives from the word Tanah (earth) and Melayu (Malays), meaning "the Malay land". The term is found in several Malay texts, the earliest of which dates to the early 17th century century. frequently in the Hikayat Hang Tuah, a well-known classic tale associated with the legendary heroes of the Malacca Sultanate. Tanah Melayu in the text is systematically used to refer to the area under Malacitan rule.

In the early 16th century, Tomé Pires, a Portuguese apothecary who stayed in Malacca from 1512 to 1515, used a an almost identical term, Terra de Tana Malaio, with which he referred to the southeastern part of Sumatra, where the deposed sultan of Malacca, Mahmud Shah, established his government in exile. The account of the 17th century Portuguese historian, Emanuel Godinho de Erédia, pointed to the region of Malaios surrounded by the Andaman Sea in the north, the entire Malacca Strait in the center, a part of the Sunda Strait in the south, and the western part of the South China Sea in the east.

Before the founding of Malacca, there are ancient and medieval references to a Malay peninsula in various foreign sources. According to several Indian scholars, the word Malayadvipa ("mountainous-island continent"), mentioned in the ancient Indian text, Vayu Purana, possibly refers to the Malay Peninsula. Another Indian source, an inscription on the southern wall of the Brihadeeswarar Temple, recorded the word Malaiur, referring to a kingdom on the Malay Peninsula that had a strong mountain as a wall". Ptolemy's Geographia named a geographical region of the Golden Chersonese as Maleu-kolon, a term believed to derive from Sanskrit < i>malayakolam or malaikurram. While the Chinese chronicle of the Yuan dynasty mentioned the word Ma-li-yu-er, referring to a nation on the Malay Peninsula that was threatened by the southward expansion of the Kingdom of Sukhothai under King Ram Khamhaeng. Around the same time, Marco Polo made a reference to Malawuir in his travelogue, as a kingdom situated on the Malay peninsula, possibly similar to the one mentioned in the Yuan chronicle. The Malay Peninsula was confused with Persia in ancient Japan, and was known by the same name.

In the early 20th century, the term Tanah Melayu was widely used by Malays of the peninsula during the rise of Malay Nationalism to describe the union of all Malaya on the peninsula under one Malay nation, and this ambition was largely realized with the formation of Persekutuan Tanah Melayu (Malay for "Federation of Malaya") in 1948.

History

The Malay Peninsula has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Archaeological remains have been found in several caves, some used as habitats, others also as burial places. The oldest remains were found in the Lang Rongrien cave and date from 38,000 to 27,000 years ago, as well as in the Moh Khiew grotto.

Chinese chronicles from the first millennium mention several coastal cities or city-states, although their exact geographic locations are not given, so identification of these cities with later historical cities is difficult. Of these states, the most important were Langkasuka, generally considered a forerunner of the Pattani kingdom; Tambralinga, probable forerunner of the kingdom of Nakhon Si Thammarat, or P'an-p'an, probably situated in Bandon Bay. The cities were heavily influenced by the Hindu culture and adopted the Brahmin or Buddhist religion. As Srivijaya extended its sphere of influence, these cities became tributary states of Srivijaya.

After Srivijaya lost its influence, Nakhon Si Thammarat became the dominant kingdom in the area. During the reign of Ramkhamhaeng the Great of Sukhothai, Thai influence first reached Nakhon Si Thammarat. According to the Ramkhamhaeng inscription, Nakhon was even a tributary state of Sukhothai. For most of its later history Nakhon was a tributary of Ayutthaya.

The deep south belonged to the Malay sultanates of Pattani and Kedah, while the northern part of the peninsula was under direct control of Bangkok.

Colonial Period

Federation of Malaya

Geography

South Thailand

Peninsular Malaysia

Singapore

Strait of Malacca

Kra Isthmus

Location of the Kra Isthmus

The strait extends in a SE-NW direction and is approximately 930 km long, with a width between 38 km and 393 km. In its middle part is its minimum depth which conditions the draft of the ships that cross it (proximities of Port Kelang, One Fathom Bank). In the southeastern part, the strait communicates with the Singapore Strait and is closed by several islands of the Riau archipelago group that allow navigation through various passage channels.

It has acquired an important strategic role, being the main oil supply channel for two of the world's main consumers, Japan and China. On average, 150 ships pass through the strait every day, which is a very important shipping route, as it links the entire South China Sea with the Indian Ocean and with Europe via the Suez Canal. The most important ports are Malacca (Malaysia) and Singapore, at the southern end of this strait, one of the largest in the world in terms of annual cargo volume, although Singapore is on the shores of another independent strait, the Singapore Strait.

Proposal to relieve the crossing of the Strait

Ecology

The Malay Peninsula is covered in tropical moist forests. Lowland forests are dominated by dipterocarp trees, while montane forests grow evergreens of the beech family (Fagaceae), myrtle family (Myrtaceae), laurel family (Lauraceae), tropical conifers and other plant families.

The peninsula's forests are home to thousands of species of animals and plants. Several large endangered mammals inhabit the peninsula: the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), gaur (Bos gaurus), tiger (Panthera tigris), sun bear (Helarctos malayanus), Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus), clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), and siamang (< i>Symphalangus syndactylus). The Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) once inhabited the forests, but the last Malaysian rhinos died in 2019, and the few remaining members of the the species only survive on Sumatra.

The peninsula is home to several different ecoregions. The Tenasserim-South Thailand semi-permanent moist forests cover the northern part of the peninsula, including the Tenasserim Hills and the Kra Isthmus, and extend to the coast on both sides of the isthmus.

The Kangar-Pattani floristic boundary cuts across the peninsula in southern Thailand and in the far north of Malaysia, marking the boundary between the large biogeographic regions of Indochina to the north and Sundaland and Malesia to the south. Forests north of the border are characterized by having seasonal deciduous trees, while Sundaland forests have more rainfall throughout the year and the trees are mostly evergreen. Peninsular Malaysia is home to three terrestrial ecoregions. The Peninsular Malaysia montane moist forests ecoregion covers mountains above 1000 meters elevation. Lowlands and foothills are in the Peninsular Malaysian Moist Forests ecoregion. The peat swamp forests of Peninsular Malaysia include characteristic flooded forests in the lowlands on both sides of the peninsula.

Extensive mangroves line both coasts. The mangroves of the coast of Myanmar are on the western shore of the peninsula, and the mangroves of Indochina on the eastern.

Additional bibliography

• editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Malay Peninsula". Encyclopedia Britannica (in English). Consultation on 22 May 2018.
• editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Isthmus of Kra." Encyclopedia Britannica (in English). Consultation on 22 May 2018.