Maritime Southeast Asia
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Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the Southeast Asian countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor.<ref>Template:Cite book; RAND Corporation Template:Webarchive. (PDF); Template:Cite book; Template:Cite journal</ref>
The terms Island Southeast Asia and Insular Southeast Asia are sometimes given the same meaning as Maritime Southeast Asia.Template:Efn Other definitions restrict Island Southeast Asia to just the islands between mainland Southeast Asia and the continental shelf of Australia and New Guinea. There is some variability as to whether Taiwan is included in this. Peter Bellwood includes Taiwan in his definition,<ref name="Bellwood 2017">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Efn as did Robert Blust,Template:Efn whilst there are examples that do not.Template:Efn
The 16th-century term "East Indies" and the later 19th-century term "Malay Archipelago" are also used to refer to Maritime Southeast Asia.
In Indonesia, the Old Javanese term "Nusantara" is also used as a synonym for Maritime Southeast Asia. The term, however, is nationalistic and has shifting boundaries. It usually only encompasses Peninsular Malaysia, the Sunda Islands, Maluku, and often Western New Guinea and excludes the Philippines.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Stretching for several thousand kilometres, the area features a very large number of islands and boasts some of the richest marine, flora and fauna biodiversity on Earth.
The main demographic difference that sets Maritime Southeast Asia apart from modern Mainland Southeast Asia is that its population predominantly belongs to Austronesian groups. The region contains some of the world's most highly urbanized areas—the Greater Manila Area, Greater Jakarta, Singapore, and Greater Kuala Lumpur—and yet a majority of islands in this vast region remain uninhabited by humans.
Geography
Template:More citations needed The land and sea area of Maritime Southeast Asia exceeds 2 million km2.<ref name="area">Template:Cite book Template:Verify source</ref> These are more than 25,000 islands of the area that comprise many smaller archipelagoes.<ref>Philippines: General Information. Government of the Philippines. Retrieved 2009-11-06; Template:Cite press release; Template:Cite web Template:Verify source</ref>
The major groupings are:
- Peninsular Malaysia<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
- Singapore, Indonesia, East Timor, East Malaysia and Brunei
- Philippines
The seven largest islands are Borneo, Sumatra, Sulawesi and Java in Indonesia; and Luzon and Mindanao in the Philippines.
In the natural sciences, the region is sometimes known as the Maritime Continent. It also corresponds to the biogeographical region of Malesia (not to be confused with "Malaysia"), with shared tropical flora and fauna.
Geologically, the archipelago is one of the most active volcanic regions in the world, producing many volcanoes, especially in Java, Sumatra, and the Lesser Sunda Islands region, where most volcanoes over Template:Cvt are situated. Tectonic uplifts also produced large mountains, including the highest in Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia, with a height of Template:Cvt and Puncak Jaya on Papua, Indonesia at Template:Cvt. Other high mountains in the archipelago include Puncak Mandala, Indonesia at Template:Cvt and Puncak Trikora, Indonesia, at Template:Cvt.
The climate throughout the archipelago is tropical, owing to its position on the Equator.
Biogeography
Island Southeast Asia is crossed by the Wallace Line. This line divides the flora and fauna of Asia from that of Australia and New Guinea with stretches of water that have always been too wide for plant and animal species to cross readily. The gaps are considered to be large enough to make accidental rafting from one side to another to be unlikely events. Apart from birds, species that have managed to cross this line include those that have been moved by humans. There is a transitional zone adjacent to the Wallace Line that is termed Wallacea. This is a zone where examples of animal and plant species from both sides can be found, but, particularly on smaller islands, there may be a greatly reduced number of terrestrial species.Template:R
The biographical division of the region is important for understanding the spread of both modern and archaic humans into the region. The Wallace Line represents a sea barrier that has persisted, as far as is known, even at the lowest sea levels of glacial maxima of the Pleistocene and the Holocene. Therefore it is known when watercraft of some (admittedly unknown) description must have been used by humans to cross the sea.Template:R
A portion of the region also forms the western half of the Coral Triangle, which is home to over half of the world's coral species.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Culture and demographics
Template:See also As of 2017, there were over 540 million people living in the region, with the most populated island being Java. The people living there are predominantly from Austronesian subgroupings and correspondingly speak western Malayo-Polynesian languages. This region of Southeast Asia shares social and cultural ties with both the peoples of mainland Southeast Asia and with other Austronesian peoples in the Pacific. Islam is the predominant religion, with Christianity being the dominant religion in the Philippines and East Timor. Buddhism, Hinduism, and traditional Animism are also practiced among large populations.Template:Citation needed
Historically, the region has been referred to as part of Greater India, as seen in Coedes' Indianized States of Southeast Asia, which refers to it as "Island Southeast Asia";<ref>Coedes, G. (1968) The Indianized States of Southeast Asia Edited by Walter F. Vella. Translated by Susan Brown Cowing. Canberra: Australian National University Press. Introduction... The geographic area here called Farther India consists of Indonesia, or island Southeast Asia....</ref> and within Austronesia or Oceania, due to shared ethnolinguistic and historical origins of the latter groups (Micronesian and Polynesian groups) being from this region.<ref>See the cultural macroregions of the world table below.</ref>
History
The maritime connectivity within the region has been linked to it becoming a distinct cultural and economic area, when compared to the 'mainland' societies in the rest of Southeast Asia.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> This region stretches from the Yangtze delta in China down to the Malay Peninsula, including the South China Sea, Gulf of Thailand and Java Sea. The region was dominated by the thalassocratic cultures of the Austronesian peoples.<ref name="Manguin2016"/><ref name=":4">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Mahdi1999">Template:Cite book</ref>
Ancient Indian Ocean trade
The first true long-distance maritime trade network in the Indian Ocean was by the Austronesian peoples of Island Southeast Asia.<ref name="Manguin2016"/><ref name="Sen">Template:Cite journal</ref> They established trade routes with Southern India and Sri Lanka as early as 1500 BCE, ushering an exchange of material culture (like catamarans, outrigger boats, lashed-lug and sewn-plank boats, and paan) and cultigens (like coconuts, sandalwood, and sugarcane); as well as connecting the material cultures of India and China. Indonesians, in particular were trading in spices (mainly cinnamon and cassia) with East Africa using catamaran and outrigger boats and sailing with the help of the Westerlies in the Indian Ocean. This trade network expanded to reach as far as Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, resulting in the Austronesian colonization of Madagascar by the first half of the first millennium CE. It continued up to historic times.<ref name="Manguin2016"/><ref name="Mahdi1999"/><ref name="Doran1974">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Doran1981">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="BlenchFruits">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Maritime Silk Road
Template:Main By around the 2nd century BCE, the Neolithic Austronesian trade networks in Southeast Asia connected with the maritime trade routes of South Asia, the Middle East, eastern Africa, and the Mediterranean, becoming what is now known as the Maritime Silk Route (or Maritime Silk Road). In addition to Austronesian sailors, the route was also heavily used by Tamil, Persian, and Arab sailors.<ref name="Guan">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=Billé/> It allowed the exchange of goods from East and Southeast Asia on one end, all the way to Europe and eastern Africa on the other.<ref name=Billé/>
Although usually spoken of in modern times in the context of Eurocentric and Sinocentric luxury goods, the goods carried by the trading ships varied by which product was in demand by region and port. They included ceramics, glass, beads, gems, ivory, fragrant wood, metals (both raw and finished goods), textiles (including silk), food (including grain, wine, and spices), aromatics, and animals, among others. Ivory, in particular, was a significant export of east Africa, leading some authors to label the western leg of the trade route as the "Maritime Ivory Route".<ref name="Billé">Template:Cite book</ref>
The Maritime Silk Route flourished until around the 15th century CE. Han and Tang dynasty records mention large Southeast Asian ships (that they called the kunlun po, 崑崙舶, "ships of the kunlun") visiting coastal Chinese cities regularly to trade from as early as the 3rd century CE.<ref name="Flecker">Template:Cite journal</ref>
By around 900 to 1000 CE, the Song dynasty passed decrees enabling private trade fleets. Demand for Southeast Asian products and trade was partially driven by the increase in China's population in this era, whereby it doubled from 75 to 150 million,<ref name=":8">Template:Cite book</ref> as well as the loss of access to the northern Silk Road.<ref name="Flecker"/> The first record of Chinese trading ships venturing to Southeast Asia (which they called Nan Hai) appear by the 11th century, though the trade routes during this period remained dominated by Srivijaya.<ref name="Flecker"/> The Chinese development of their own maritime technologies led to the establishment of Chinese trading colonies in Southeast Asia, a boom in the maritime trade, and the emergence of the ports of "Chinchew" (Quanzhou) and "Canton" (Guangzhou) as regional trade centers in China.<ref name="Guan"/> Chinese trade was strictly controlled by the Imperial Court, but the Hokkien diaspora facilitated informal trade and cultural exchange with Southeast Asia, settling among Southeast Asian polities during this time period. Despite not having the official sanction of the Chinese government these communities formed business and trade networks between cities such as Melaka, Hội An and Ayutthaya.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=":2">Template:Cite journal</ref> Many of these Chinese businesspeople integrated into their new countries, becoming political officials and diplomats.<ref name=":7">Template:Cite book</ref>
Trade with China ceased after the collapse of the Song dynasty due to invasions and famine. It was restored during the Ming dynasty from the 14th to 16th centuries.<ref name=":6">Template:Cite journal</ref> The naval expeditions of Zheng He between 1405 and 1431 also played a critical role in opening up of China to increased trade with Southeast Asian polities.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite book</ref>
The Maritime Silk Route was disrupted by the colonial era in the 15th century, essentially being replaced with European trade routes.<ref name=Billé/> Shipbuilding of the formerly dominant Southeast Asian trading ships (jong, the source of the English term "junk") declined until it ceased entirely by the 17th century. Although Chinese-built chuán survived until modern times.<ref name="jong">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Manguin1980">Template:Cite journal</ref> There was new demand for spices from Southeast Asia and textiles from India and China, but these were now linked with direct trade routes to the European market, instead of passing through regional ports of the Indian Ocean Maritime Silk Road.<ref name=Billé/><ref name="Guan"/>
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See also
- Southeast Asia
- Brunei Darussalam–Indonesia–Malaysia–Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area
- Philippine archipelago
- Indonesian archipelago
- Farther India
- Greater India
- Greater Indonesia
- Maritime Continent
- Malay race
- Malay world
- Malesia
- Maphilindo
- Nanyang
- Peninsular Malaysia
- Domesticated plants and animals of Austronesia
Notes
References
External links
- Art of Island Southeast Asia, a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art