Malay Peninsula

Lore & Background

The term Tanah Melayu, meaning 'the Malay land,' appears in Malay texts dating to the early 17th century, notably in the Hikayat Hang Tuah, where it refers to the area under Malaccan dominance. The 1365 Negarakertagama manuscript calls the area Hujung Medini. Portuguese apothecary Tomé Pires (1512–1515) used the term Terra de Tana Malaio for southeastern Sumatra, where the exiled sultan of Malacca, Mahmud Shah, established his government. The 17th-century Portuguese historian Emanuel Godinho de Erédia described the region of Malaios bounded by the Andaman Sea in the north, the entire Strait of Malacca in the centre, a part of Sunda Strait in the south, and the western part of South China Sea in the east. Ancient and medieval references include the Indian text Vayu Purana mentioning Malayadvipa, an inscription on the Brihadeeswarar Temple recording Malaiur, and Ptolemy's Geographia naming Maleu-kolon. The Tabula Rogeriana by Muhammad al-Idrisi depicts the peninsula as a long island called Malai. A Yuan dynasty chronicle mentions Ma-li-yu-er, a nation threatened by the Sukhothai Kingdom under King Ram Khamhaeng. Marco Polo referred to Malauir. In early 20th-century Malay nationalism, Tanah Melayu was used to describe uniting all Malay states under one nation, realized with the formation of Persekutuan Tanah Melayu in 1948.

Reader's Guide

The Malay Peninsula is covered with tropical moist broadleaf forests. Lowland forests are dominated by dipterocarp trees, while montane forests are home to evergreen trees in 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 – Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), gaur (Bos gaurus), tiger (Panthera tigris), sun bear (Helarctos malayanus), Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus), clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), and siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus). The Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) once inhabited the forests, but Malaysia's last rhinoceroses died in 2019, and the species' few remaining members survive only in Sumatra. The peninsula is home to several distinct ecoregions: the Tenasserim–South Thailand semi-evergreen rain forests cover the northern peninsula; the Peninsular Malaysian montane rain forests cover mountains above 1,000 meters elevation; the Peninsular Malaysian rain forests cover lowlands and hills; and the Peninsular Malaysian peat swamp forests include waterlogged forests on both sides. The Kangar-Pattani floristic boundary crosses the peninsula in southern Thailand and northernmost Malaysia, marking the boundary between Indochina and Sundaland/Malesia. Extensive mangroves line both coasts: the Myanmar Coast mangroves on the western shore and the Indochina mangroves on the eastern shore.

Did You Know?

• Tanjung Piai is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland.
• The Titiwangsa Mountains form the backbone of the peninsula and are part of the Tenasserim Hills system.
• The Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) once inhabited the peninsula's forests, but Malaysia's last rhinoceroses died in 2019.
• The 1365 Negarakertagama manuscript calls the area Hujung Medini.
• The Federation of Malaya (Persekutuan Tanah Melayu) was formed in 1948.