Malay Archipelago

Lore & Background

The term 'Malay Archipelago' was popularized by the 19th-century naturalist Alfred Wallace, who used it 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,' and he proposed the Wallace Line, a boundary separating the flora and fauna of Asia and Australia, formed by deep water straits between Borneo and Sulawesi and through the Lombok Strait. The term 'Nusantara' first appeared in the Mula Malurung inscription of 1255, used as a title for territories under the King of Singhasari, and later resurfaced in the Pararaton recording Gajah Mada's Palapa oath to expand the Majapahit Empire. The Nagarakretagama detailed the various Nusantara regions under Majapahit rule. In Classical Malay literature, Nusantara appears in the 1612 Malay Annals episode 'Peristiwa Tatal dan Menarah Kepala Anak'. Arab merchants called the archipelago Jazirah Al-Jawi, and people from the region were identified as 'Al-Jawi', with the term 'Jawi' later applied to the modified Arabic alphabet used to write Malay.

Reader's Guide

The Malay Archipelago includes Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia, East Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Singapore, and is largely synonymous with Maritime Southeast Asia. The seven largest islands are New Guinea, Borneo, Sumatra, Sulawesi, Java, Luzon, and Mindanao. Geologically, it is one of the most active volcanic regions in the world, producing many volcanoes especially in Java, Sumatra, and the Lesser Sunda Islands, where most volcanoes over 3,000 m are situated. Tectonic uplifts produce large mountains, including the highest, Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia at 4,095.2 m, and Puncak Jaya on Papua, Indonesia at 4,884 m. Other high mountains include Puncak Mandala at 4,760 m and Puncak Trikora at 4,750 m. The climate throughout is tropical due to its position on the equator. The Wallace Line, proposed by Alfred Wallace, is a boundary that separated the flora and fauna of Asia and Australia, formed by 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, which has a mixture of Asian and Australian species and its own endemic species.

Did You Know?

• The term 'Malay Archipelago' was taken from the 19th-century European concept of a Malay race, later based on the distribution of Austronesian languages.
• Alfred Wallace's influential book 'The Malay Archipelago' also referred to the area as the 'Indian Archipelago' and the 'Indo-Australian Archipelago'.
• The term 'Nusantara' first appeared in the Mula Malurung inscription of 1255, used as a title for territories under the King of Singhasari.
• Arab merchants called the archipelago Jazirah Al-Jawi, and people from the region were identified as 'Al-Jawi', leading to the term 'Jawi script' for the modified Arabic alphabet used to write Malay.
• The Wallace Line, proposed by Alfred Wallace, is a boundary that separated the flora and fauna of Asia and Australia, formed by deep water straits between Borneo and Sulawesi and through the Lombok Strait.