Malay Peninsula
From Free net encyclopedia
Image:LocationMalayPeninsula.png The Malay Peninsula (Malay: Semenanjung Tanah Melayu) is a major peninsula located in Southeast Asia. It runs approximately north-south and contains the most southerly point of the Asian mainland. Its narrowest point is the Isthmus of Kra. The south-west coast is separated from the island of Sumatra by the Straits of Malacca. To the east across the South China Sea lies the island of Borneo. The south coast is separated from the island of Singapore by the Straits of Johor. Singapore is not part of the Malay peninsula as it is an island.
The area is divided politically:
- the northwest is the extreme south part of Myanmar
- the central region and northeast is the south part of Thailand
- the south is the part of Malaysia called Peninsular Malaysia or West Malaysia (which should not be confused with the larger Malay Peninsula).
The Malay term Tanah Melayu is still occasionally used in political discourse to describe uniting all Malay people on the peninsula under one Malay nation, although this ambition was largely realized with the creation of Malaysia. There however remains a Malay majority in southern Thailand, as the area was formerly part of the Pattani kingdom, a Malay kingdom. There is also a Malay minority in the predominantly Chinese island of Singapore, which the British leased from the Sultanate of Johor in 1819.
The west coast of the peninsula was especially popular among seafaring Bugis, Chinese and Indian as a stopover, leading to increased migration of the people to set up visible coastal settlements in the thirteenth century.
See also
es:Península de Malaca fr:Péninsule malaise ko:말레이 반도 id:Semenanjung Melayu is:Malakkaskagi nl:Maleisisch schiereiland ja:マレー半島 no:Malayahalvøya pl:Półwysep Indochiński pt:Península da Malásia fi:Malakan niemimaa th:คาบสมุทรมลายู simple:Malay Peninsula zh:马来半岛