Malay Peninsula

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Malay Peninsula
Geographical location
Map of Malay Peninsula
Coordinates 5 ° 0 ′ 0 ″  N , 101 ° 18 ′ 0 ″  E Coordinates: 5 ° 0 ′ 0 ″  N , 101 ° 18 ′ 0 ″  E
Waters 1 Gulf of Thailand
Waters 2 South China Sea
Waters 3 Strait of Malacca
Waters 4 Andaman Sea

The Malay Peninsula , also Malay Peninsula , is a long narrow continuation of the mainland of Southeast Asia or the southern end of the rear Indian peninsula . The southern part of the Malay Peninsula is called the Malacca Peninsula (or Malacca Peninsula ).

geography

The Malay Peninsula lies between the Gulf of Thailand in the northeast, the South China Sea in the east, the Strait of Singapore and Strait of Johor in the south, the Strait of Malacca in the southwest and the Andaman Sea in the west; thus it separates the north-eastern areas of the Indic from the western part of the Pacific .

Parts of the national territories of Myanmar , Thailand and Malaysia (viewed from north to south) lie on the peninsula .

In the north the Malay Peninsula is about 13 north latitude in the actual Asian continent and the main area of Indochina over, to the east and the neighboring Indochinese peninsula adjacent. Its northern boundary corresponds roughly to the imaginary straight line from Tavoy (about 14 ° north latitude) in Myanmar to Bangkok (13.73 ° N) in Thailand. In the south it extends to about 1 ° north latitude on the Strait of Johor near the Malaysian city of Johor Bahru , which is almost on the equator ; the southern part of the peninsula is called the Malacca or Malacca Peninsula .

The length of the so-called center line of the entire Malay Peninsula from Tavoy to Johor Baharu is 1555 km. The narrowest point is the Isthmus of Kra in Thailand with a width of 44 km.

To the southwest of the Strait of Malacca lies the Indonesian island of Sumatra , which, like Borneo further east, is part of the Great Sunda Islands . South of the Strait of Johor is the island and city-state of Singapore , and south of the Strait of Singapore is the Indonesian Riau Islands .

Landscape image

The surface of the earth on the Malay Peninsula is diverse. Mountain regions alternate with plains , lakes and beaches as well as the rainforest areas typical of areas near the equator .

Mountain world

The southern continuation of the rear Indian central chain , to which the Perak chain also belongs, runs on the peninsula . In this mountain range , which lies in the south of the peninsula, is the highest point, the 2187  m high Gunung Tahan and in a mountain range a little further to the west, the 2184  m high Gunung Korbu ( Malaysia ). In the extreme south of the Malacca Peninsula which lies 1,010  m towering Gunung Belumut (Malaysia). The central part is structured much flatter , especially south of the Isthmus of Kra . Nevertheless, the 1786  m high Khao Luang ( Thailand ) rises from this lowland . In the north, the Recho Taung ( Myanmar / Thailand) rises 1330  m .

Rainforest and bodies of water

The west coast of the peninsula is economically more developed than its east coast. Remnants of the rainforest can still be found inland . In Taman Negara , the national park in the north of the Malaysian part of the peninsula, there is still primeval forest . To the south of it is difficult to access Lake Chini ( tasek Chini ), a legendary swamp lake in which an old city is said to have sunk. Lake Songkhla ( Thai : ทะเลสาบ สงขลา ), a fish-rich lagoon not far from the east coast, is located in the central part of the peninsula . The Linggiu reservoir was completed in 1994.

history

Map of Southeast Asia (detail), manuscript from the 15th century. The name Aurea chersonesus for the Malay Peninsula (below, next to the scale) means "Golden Peninsula" and goes back to Ptolemy .

The Malay Peninsula was already known to the Greek geographer Ptolemy (1st century AD). In his world atlas Geographike Hyphegesis he called it the Golden Peninsula (Greek Χρυσή χερσόνησος Chrysḗ chersónēsos ). Later cartographers adopted this name in the Latin translation Aurea chersonesus or Chersonesus aurea .

The Orang Asli , the indigenous people of the Malay Peninsula , still live on Lake Chini . From 1293 to the end of the 15th century, Majapahit was the last great Hindu empire in the Malay Archipelago , which at the time of its greatest expansion also included other parts of the Malay Peninsula.

In the course of colonization , the peninsula was fought over for a long time between the rival European powers Portugal , England and the Netherlands , as the Strait of Malacca formed an important passage on the spice route and the gateway to the Chinese trade. Founded in the 15th century, Malacca became Portuguese in 1511, Dutch in 1641 and British in 1824.

The Japanese army captured the peninsula during World War II . After the end of the war, Singapore received the status of a crown colony with self-government. In the other sub-areas a guerrilla fight against the British took place.

On August 31, 1957 , the Malay Confederation became independent from Great Britain and finally united in 1963 with Singapore , Sarawak and Sabah to form the Malaysia Federation , with Singapore later leaving.

climate

Climate diagram Kuala Lumpur
Climate diagram Kuala Terengganu

The peninsula is characterized by three zones, the west coast, the inland and the east coast. These three zones show differences in terms of precipitation.

Seas

The following waters border the Malay Peninsula

Island world

In front of the Malay Peninsula are u. a. the following islands and archipelagos .

Ind with side seas

Pacific with side seas

Political structure

States

On the Malay Peninsula are parts of the following countries :

  • Malaysia - western part of the state
  • Myanmar - extreme southern part of the state
  • Thailand - southern part of the state

Riparian states

Countries bordering the Malay Peninsula are:

Web links

Commons : Malay Peninsula  - collection of images, videos and audio files