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// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs the Malay Archipelago a peninsula? No, it's a chain reaction.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Insulindia)
Malay Archipelago
World map highlighting Malay Archipelago
Map
Interactive map of Malay Archipelago
Geography
LocationMaritime Southeast Asia, Melanesia
Total islands25,000
Major islandsJava, Luzon, Borneo, Mindanao, New Guinea, Sulawesi, Sumatra
Area2,870,000 km2 (1,110,000 sq mi)[1]
Brunei
Largest settlementBandar Seri Begawan
East Timor
Largest settlementDili
Indonesia
Largest settlementJakarta
Malaysia
Largest settlementKota Kinabalu
Papua New Guinea
Largest settlementPort Moresby
Philippines
Largest settlementQuezon City
Singapore
Largest settlementSingapore
Demographics
Population380,000,000 [2]
Ethnic groupsPredominantly Austronesians, with minorities of Negritoes, Papuans, Melanesians, Overseas Chinese, Arab descendants, and Overseas Indians

The Malay Archipelago is the archipelago between Mainland Southeast Asia and Australia, and is also called Insulindia or the Indo-Australian Archipelago. The name was taken from the 19th-century European concept of a Malay race, later based on the distribution of Austronesian languages. It has also been called the "Malay world", "Nusantara", and the "East Indies" over time. The name is controversial in Indonesia due to its ethnic connotations and colonial undertones, which can overshadow the country's diverse cultures.

Situated between the Indian and Pacific oceans, the archipelago of over 25,000 islands and islets is the largest archipelago by area and fifth by number of islands in the world. It includes Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia (specifically East Malaysia), Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Singapore.[3][4][5] The term is largely synonymous with Maritime Southeast Asia.[6]

Etymology and terminology

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Malay archipelago

[edit]

The term "Malay Archipelago" was derived from the European concept of a "Malay race" (a culturally-similar non-Oceanian subset of the Austronesian peoples),[7][dubious – discuss] an outdated racial concept proposed by European explorers.[8]

Pinisi sailing ship exploring Komodo island, part of Lesser Sunda Islands

The 19th-century naturalist Alfred Wallace used the term "Malay Archipelago" as the title of his influential book documenting his studies in the region. Wallace also referred to the area as the "Indian Archipelago" and the "Indo-Australian Archipelago".[9][10] He included the Solomon Islands and Malay Peninsula in the region due to physiographic similarities.[7] As Wallace noted,[11] 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 it is geologically not part of the continent of Asia, like the islands of the Sunda Shelf are (see Australia).

Nusantara

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Nusantara is an ancient term originally used by one of the native ethnic groups of the archipelago. The term first appeared in historical records through the Mula Malurung inscription (1255 CE), where it was used as a title for the territories under the authority of the King of Singhasari[12]. The term resurfaced in the Pararaton , which records the Sumpah Palapa (Palapa Oath) sworn by Prime Minister Gajah Mada to expand the territorial reach of the Majapahit Empire. Later, the Nagarakretagama detailed the names of the various Nusantara regions brought under Majapahit rule.

Following the fall of Majapahit, the term remained in usage. In Classical Malay literature, Nusantara appears in the episode "Peristiwa Tatal dan Menarah Kepala Anak" within the Sulalatus Salatin (Malay Annals), written in 1612 CE.[13]

In modern usage, Nusantara has become synonymous with the Indonesian archipelago and serves as a term of resistance against colonial-era terminology.

Insulindia and East Indies

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Insulindia is a somewhat archaic geographical term[14][15][16] for Maritime Southeast Asia, sometimes extending as far as Australasia.[17] More common in Portuguese and Spanish,[18][19][20] it is also sometimes used in art history or anthropology to describe the interface zone between the cultures of Oceania and Southeast Asia.[21]

Insulindia is used as a geopolitical term in academic discussions of the former European colonial possessions within Maritime Southeast Asia, especially Dutch East Indies and Portuguese East Indies ("Portuguese Insulindia")[22] much as former French colonial possessions in Southeast Asia are still termed French Indochina.[23] It is also used to describe and locate the Chinese cultural diaspora (the "insulindian Chinese")[24] across the islands of Southeast Asia.[25]

The archipelago was called the "East Indies"[26] from the late 16th century and throughout the European colonial era. It is still sometimes referred to as such,[3] but broader usages of the "East Indies" term had included Indochina and the Indian subcontinent.

Jazirah Al-Jawi

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Arab merchants and cartographers referred to this archipelago as Jazirah Al-Jawi or Java Archipelago.[27][28] People originating from this region were commonly identified by the name 'Al-Jawi'.[29] The term 'Jawi' was subsequently applied to the Jawi script, referring to the modified Arabic alphabet used to write the Malay language.[30]

Maritime Southeast Asia, Island Southeast Asia, and Insular Southeast Asia

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The term "Maritime Southeast Asia" is largely synonymous, covering both the islands in Southeast Asia and nearby island-like communities, such as those found on the Malay Peninsula.[31]

Geography

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One of the majority of uninhabited islands of the Philippines.

The land and sea area of the archipelago exceeds 2 million km2.[1] The more than 25,000 islands of the archipelago consist of many smaller archipelagoes.[32]

The major island groupings in the Indonesian Archipelago include the Maluku Islands, New Guinea, and the Sunda Islands. The Sunda Islands comprise two island groups: the Greater Sunda Islands and the Lesser Sunda Islands.

The major island groupings in the Philippine Archipelago include Luzon, Mindanao, and the Visayan Islands.

The seven largest islands are New Guinea, Borneo, Sumatra, Sulawesi and Java in Indonesia; and Luzon and Mindanao in the Philippines.

Geologically, the archipelago is one of the most active volcanic regions in the world. Producing many volcanoes especially in Java, Sumatra and Lesser Sunda Islands region where most volcanoes over 3,000 m (9,843 ft) high are situated. Tectonic uplifts also produce large mountains, including the highest, Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia, with a height of 4,095.2 m (13,436 ft) and Puncak Jaya on Papua, Indonesia at 4,884 m (16,024 ft). Other high mountains in the archipelago include Puncak Mandala, Indonesia at 4,760 m (15,617 ft) and Puncak Trikora, Indonesia, at 4,750 m (15,584 ft).

The climate throughout the archipelago is tropical, owing to its position on the equator.

Biogeography

[edit]

Wallace used the term Malay Archipelago as the title of his influential book documenting his studies in the region. He proposed what would come to be known as the "Wallace Line", a boundary that separated the flora and fauna of Asia and Australia. The ice age boundary was formed by the deep water straits between Borneo and Sulawesi; and through the Lombok Strait between Bali and Lombok. This is now considered the western border of the Wallacea transition zone between the zoogeographical regions of Asia and Australia. The zone has a mixture of species of Asian and Australian origin, and its own endemic species.

See also

[edit]

Notes

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  1. 1 2 Moores, Eldridge M.; Fairbridge, Rhodes Whitmore (1997). Encyclopedia of European and Asian regional geology. Springer. p. 377. ISBN 0-412-74040-0. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  2. ↑ Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division (2006). World Population Prospects (PDF). 2006 revision. United Nations. pp. 37–42, Table A.2.
  3. 1 2 "Malay Archipelago". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006.
  4. ↑ "The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan and the bird of paradise : a narrative of travel, with studies of man and nature" (PDF). Wallace Online. 1890. Archived from the original on 24 February 2025. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
  5. ↑ https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2530/2530-h/2530-h.htm
  6. ↑ "Maritime Southeast Asia Archived 2007-06-13 at the Wayback Machine." Worldworx Travel. Accessed 26 May 2009.
  7. 1 2 Wallace, Alfred Russel (1869). The Malay Archipelago. London: Macmillan and Co. p. 1.
  8. ↑ Reid, Anthony. Understanding Melayu (Malay) as a Source of Diverse Modern Identities. Origins of Malayness, Cambridge University Press, 2001. Retrieved on March 2, 2009.
  9. ↑ Wallace, Alfred Russel (1863). "On the Physical Geography of the Malay Archipelago". Archived from the original on 17 January 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  10. ↑ Wallace, Alfred Russel (1869). The Malay Archipelago. London: Macmillan and Co. p. 2.
  11. ↑ Wallace, Alfred Russel (1869). "40: The Races of Man in the Malay Archipelago". The Malay Archipelago. Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
    "If we draw a line ... commencing along the western coast of Gilolo, through the island of Bouru, and curving round the west end of Mores, then bending back by Sandalwood Island to take in Rotti, we shall divide the Archipelago into two portions, the races of which have strongly marked distinctive peculiarities. This line will separate the Malayan and all the Asiatic races, from the Papuans and all that inhabit the Pacific; and though along the line of junction intermigration and commixture have taken place, yet the division is on the whole almost as well defined and strongly contrasted, as is the corresponding zoological division of the Archipelago, into an Indo-Malayan and Austro-Malayan region."
  12. ↑ Isnaeni, Hendri F. (2022-01-17). "Kertanagara dan Nusantara". Historia.ID (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2026-08-01.
  13. ↑ Ahmad, A. Samad (1979). Sulalatus salatin (Sejarah Melayu) (in Malay). Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kementerian Pelajaran, Malaysia.
  14. ↑ T. Barbour. Reptiles in the East and West Indies- and Some Digression. The American Naturalist, Vol. 57, No. 649 (Mar. - Apr., 1923), pp. 125-128
  15. ↑ Review: The Tongking Delta and the Annamite House. Geographical Review, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Jul., 1937), pp. 519-520
  16. ↑ A. Aiyappan. Pottery Braziers of Mohenjo-Daro. Man, Vol. 39, (May, 1939), pp. 71-72
  17. ↑ Donald F. Lach, Edwin J. Van Kley (eds.) Asia in the making of Europe: Volume III, A century of advance. University of Chicago Press, 1993. ISBN 978-0-226-46757-3 pp. 1301-1396
  18. ↑ Portugal. Embaixada (Indonesia). Sukarno and Portugal. Embaixada de Portugal em Jacarta, 2002 pp. 61-62
  19. ↑ António Augusto Mendes Correa. Timor português: contribuïções para o seu estudo antropológico. Volume 1 of Memórias : Série antropológica e etnológica, Portugal Junta de Investigações do Ultramar. Imprensa Nacional de Lisboa, 1944
  20. ↑ Jules Sion, Luis Villanueva López-Moreno (tr.). Asia monzónica: India, Indochina, Insulindia. Volume 13 of Geografía Universal. Montaner y Simón, 1948
  21. ↑ Archived 2011-07-18 at the Wayback Machine Insulindia: musée du quai Branly, France
  22. ↑ Insulindia Portuguea. Divisao de Publicacoes e Biblioteca Agencia Geral das Colonias. Clamagirand (-Renard), Brigitte. 1971
  23. ↑ Christian Pelras . Indonesian Studies in France: Retrospect, Situation and Prospects. Archipel, 1978, Volume 16, Issue 16, pp. 7-20
  24. ↑ Leo Suryadinata. The Ethnic Chinese in the ASEAN states: bibliographical essays. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1989, ISBN 978-981-3035-11-9 p. 54
  25. ↑ Claudine Salmon. Cultural links between insulindian Chinese and Fujian as reflected in two late 17th-century epigraphs. Archipel, 2007, Issue 73, pp. 167-194
  26. ↑ OED first edition A geographical term, including Hindostan, Further India, and the islands beyond with first found usage 1598
  27. ↑ Qurtuby, Sumanto Al (2021-07-27). "Saudi Arabia and Indonesian Networks: On Islamic and Muslim Scholars". Islam Nusantara: Journal for the Study of Islamic History and Culture. 2 (2): 17–44. doi:10.47776/islamnusantara.v3i1.118. ISSN 2722-8975.
  28. ↑ Karyadi, Fathurrochman (2025-01-25). "Jejak Jalur Rempah Nusantara dalam Catatan Sejarah Qatar". Islam Nusantara: Journal for the Study of Islamic History and Culture. 6 (1): 132–140. doi:10.47776/5p6wpx14. ISSN 2722-8975.
  29. ↑ Feener, R. Michael; Laffan, Michael F. (2005). "Sufi Scents Across the Indian Ocean : Yemeni Hagiography and the Earliest History of Southeast Asian Islam". Archipel. 70 (1): 185–208. doi:10.3406/arch.2005.3978.
  30. ↑ Harun, Makmur Haji (2019-12-09). "The concept of Arabic Absorption Patterns in Indonesian and Malay Language". AJIS: Academic Journal of Islamic Studies. 4 (2): 151–180. doi:10.29240/ajis.v4i2.968. ISSN 2548-3285.
  31. ↑ Shaffer, Lynda (1996). Maritime Southeast Asia to 1500. M.E. Sharpe. p. xi. ISBN 1-56324-144-7.
  32. ↑ Philippines : General Information. Government of the Philippines. Retrieved 2009-11-06; "World Economic Outlook Database" (Press release). International Monetary Fund. April 2006. Retrieved 2006-10-05.; "Indonesia Regions". Indonesia Business Directory. Archived from the original on 2005-12-28. Retrieved 2007-04-24.
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