View source for Maritime Southeast Asia

{{Short description|Cultural and economic area within Southeast Asia}}
{{Distinguish|text=the [[Malay Archipelago]]}}
{{Infobox islands
| name               = Maritime Southeast Asia
| image_name         = File:WGSRPD Malesia.svg
| image_caption      = The biogeographical region of [[Malesia]] corresponds to Maritime Southeast Asia
| location           = [[List of islands of Indonesia|Indonesian Archipelago]]<br/>[[List of islands of the Philippines|Philippine Archipelago]]<br/>[[Peninsular Malaysia]]<br/>[[East Malaysia]]<br/>[[Singapore]]
| area_km2           = 2870000
| area_footnotes     = <ref name="area"/>
| total_islands      = 25,000
| major_islands      = [[Borneo]], [[Java]], [[Luzon]], [[Mindanao]], [[Sulawesi]], [[Sumatra]]
| highest_mount      = [[Mount Kinabalu]]
| elevation_m        = 4095
| country1           = {{flag|Brunei}}
| country1_largest_city = [[Bandar Seri Begawan]]
| country2           = {{flag|East Timor}}
| country2_largest_city = [[Dili]]
| country3           = {{flag|Indonesia}}
| country3_largest_city = [[Jakarta]]
| country4           = {{flag|Malaysia}}
| country4_largest_city = [[Kuala Lumpur]]
| country5           = {{flag|Philippines}}
| country5_largest_city = [[Quezon City]]
| country6           = {{flag|Singapore}}
| country6_largest_city = [[Singapore]]
| density_km2        = 
| population         = 380 million
| population_footnotes = <ref name=unpop>{{Cite web| url=https://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2006/WPP2006_Highlights_rev.pdf | title=World Population Prospects, Table A.2 | version=2006 revision | pages=37–42 | publisher=United Nations | author=Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division | year=2006 | access-date=2007-06-30 | archive-date=2017-10-31 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171031153622/http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2006/WPP2006_Highlights_rev.pdf }}</ref>
| ethnic_groups      = Predominantly [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesians]], with minorities of [[Negrito]]es, [[Indigenous people of New Guinea|Papuans]], [[Melanesians]], descendants of [[Overseas Chinese|Chinese]] (including [[Peranakans]]), [[Arab diaspora|Arab descendants]], [[Eurasian (mixed ancestry)|Eurasians]], [[Filipino mestizo|Mestizos]], [[Orang Asli]] and descendants of [[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin|Overseas Indians]] and Sri Lankans
}}

'''Maritime Southeast Asia''' comprises the [[Southeast Asia]]n countries of [[Brunei]], [[Indonesia]], [[Malaysia]], the [[Philippines]], [[Singapore]], and [[East Timor]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SNn0YmDMiUgC&q=Maritime+Southeast+Asia&pg=PA304 |title=The Cambridge history of Southeast Asia, Volume 1, Part 1 |last=Tarling |first=Nicholas |author-link=Nicholas Tarling |edition=2nd |page=304 |year=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-66369-4 }};  [https://www.rand.org/pubs/reprints/2006/RAND_RP1219.pdf RAND Corporation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005065117/https://www.rand.org/pubs/reprints/2006/RAND_RP1219.pdf |date=2012-10-05 }}. ([[Portable Document Format|PDF]]);  {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NDb3Exn6JcsC&q=Maritime+Southeast+Asia&pg=PA131 |title=The Limits of Alignment: Southeast Asia and the Great Powers Since 197 |last=Ciorciar |first=John David |page=135 |year=2010 |publisher=Georgetown Univeffrsity Press |isbn=978-1589016262 }}; {{cite journal |url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/reprints/RP1219.html |last1=Nichiporuk |first1=Brian |last2=Grammich |first2=Clifford |last3=Rabasa |first3=Angel |last4=DaVanzo |first4=Julie |title=Demographics and Security in Maritime Southeast Asia |journal=Georgetown Journal of International Affairs |date=2006 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=83–91 |access-date=2020-08-11 |archive-date=2020-08-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815101108/https://www.rand.org/pubs/reprints/RP1219.html |url-status=live }}</ref> 

The terms '''Island Southeast Asia''' and '''Insular Southeast Asia''' are sometimes given the same meaning as Maritime Southeast Asia.{{efn|For instance Tom Hoogervorst's chapter in ''The Routledge Handbook of Archaeology and Globalization'': "I use Island Southeast Asia and Maritime Southeast Asia interchangeably."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hoorgervorst |first1=Tom |editor-last=Hodos |editor-first=Tamar |title=The Routledge handbook of archaeology and globalization |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |location=London New York |isbn=9781315449005 |page=751 |chapter=8.4}}</ref>}} 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">{{cite book |last1=Bellwood |first1=Peter S. |title=First islanders: prehistory and human migration in Island Southeast Asia |date=2017 |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |location=Hoboken |isbn=9781119251552 |edition=First}}</ref>{{efn|Bellwood's definition: "Island Southeast Asia includes Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei and the Sarawak and Sabah provinces of East Malaysia (northern Borneo), and all of the islands of Indonesia to the west of New Guinea."}} as did [[Robert Blust]],{{efn|Robert Blust: "The major western island groups include the great Indonesian, or Malay Archipelago, to its north the smaller and more compact Philippine Archipelago, and still further north at 22 to 25 degrees north latitude and some 150 kilometres from the coast of China, the island of Taiwan (Formosa). Together these island groups constitute insular (or island) Southeast Asia."}} whilst there are examples that do not.{{efn|"Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) comprises the tropical islands lying in between mainland East Asia and Taiwan to the northwest and Australia and New Guinea to the southeast."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bulbeck |first1=David |title=Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology |chapter=Island Southeast Asia: Neolithic |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_866 |website=Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology |publisher=Springer |access-date=16 July 2023 |pages=4090–4096 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_866 |date=2014|isbn=978-1-4419-0426-3 }}</ref>}} 

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 [[Kawi language|Old Javanese]] term "[[Nusantara (archipelago)|Nusantara]]" is also used as a synonym for Maritime Southeast Asia. The term, however, is [[nationalism|nationalistic]] and has shifting boundaries. It usually only encompasses [[Peninsular Malaysia]], the [[Sunda Islands]], [[Maluku Islands|Maluku]], and often [[Western New Guinea]] and excludes the [[Philippines]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Evers |first1=Hans-Dieter |title=Nusantara: History of a Concept |journal=Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society |date=2016 |volume=89 |issue=1 |pages=3–14 |doi=10.1353/ras.2016.0004|s2cid=163375995 }}</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 peoples|Austronesian]] groups. The region contains some of the world's most highly urbanized areas—the [[Greater Manila Area]], [[Jakarta metropolitan area|Greater Jakarta]], [[Singapore]], and [[Greater Kuala Lumpur]]—and yet a majority of islands in this vast region remain uninhabited by humans.

==Geography==
{{More citations needed|section|date=February 2022}}
The land and sea area of Maritime Southeast Asia exceeds 2 million km<sup>2</sup>.<ref name="area">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aYRup5mRcGsC&q=%22malay+archipelago%22+2+million+km%C2%B2&pg=PA377 |title=Encyclopedia of European and Asian regional geology |publisher=Springer |year=1997 |isbn=0-412-74040-0 |editor-last=Moores |editor-first=Eldridge M. |editor-link=Eldridge M. Moores |page=377 |access-date=30 November 2009 |editor-last2=Fairbridge |editor-first2=Rhodes Whitmore |editor-link2=Rhodes Fairbridge}} {{verify source|date=September 2019|reason=This ref was deleted Special:Diff/893682793 by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite located at Special:Permalink/889440452 cite #1 - verify the cite is accurate and delete this template. [[User:GreenC bot/Job 18]]}}</ref> These are more than 25,000 islands of the area that comprise many smaller archipelagoes.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071022221129/http://www.gov.ph/aboutphil/general.asp Philippines: General Information]. Government of the Philippines. Retrieved 2009-11-06; {{cite press release|publisher=[[International Monetary Fund]] |url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2006/01/data/dbcoutm.cfm?SD=2005&ED=2005&R1=1&R2=1&CS=3&SS=2&OS=C&DD=0&OUT=1&C=536&S=PPPWGT-PPPPC&RequestTimeout=120&CMP=0&x=45&y=5 |access-date=2006-10-05 |title=World Economic Outlook Database |date=April 2006 }}; {{cite web |title=Indonesia Regions |publisher=Indonesia Business Directory |url=http://www.indonext.com/Regions/ |access-date=2007-04-24 |archive-date=2005-12-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051228011848/http://www.indonext.com/Regions/ |url-status=live }} {{verify source |date=September 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted Special:Diff/893682793 by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite located at Special:Permalink/889440452 cite #16 - verify the cite is accurate and delete this template. [[User:GreenC bot/Job 18]]}}</ref>

The major groupings are:

* [[Peninsular Malaysia]]<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gaynor |first=Jennifer L. |date=2014 |title=Maritime Southeast Asia, Not Just a Crossroads |url=https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/maritime-southeast-asia-not-just-a-crossroads/#:~:text=Southeast%20Asia%20is%20widely%20known,procurement%20of%20resources%20and%20labor |journal=Education About Asia |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=16 |doi= |access-date=April 25, 2021 |archive-date=April 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425062806/https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/maritime-southeast-asia-not-just-a-crossroads/#:~:text=Southeast%20Asia%20is%20widely%20known,procurement%20of%20resources%20and%20labor |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Singapore]], [[Indonesia]], [[East Timor]], [[East Malaysia]] and [[Brunei]]
** [[Sunda Islands]]
*** [[Greater Sunda Islands]]
*** [[Lesser Sunda Islands]]
** [[Maluku Islands]]
* [[Philippines]]
** [[Visayan Islands]]
** [[Sulu Archipelago]]

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 [[list of volcanoes in Indonesia|many volcanoes]], especially in [[Java]], [[Sumatra]], and the [[Lesser Sunda Islands]] region, where most volcanoes over {{cvt|3000|m}} are situated. [[Tectonic uplift]]s also produced large mountains, including the highest in [[Mount Kinabalu]] in [[Sabah]], Malaysia, with a height of {{cvt|4095.2|m}} and [[Puncak Jaya]] on Papua, Indonesia at {{cvt|4884|m}}. Other high mountains in the archipelago include [[Puncak Mandala]], Indonesia at {{cvt|4760|m}} and [[Puncak Trikora]], Indonesia, at {{cvt|4750|m}}.

The climate throughout the archipelago is tropical, owing to its position on the [[Equator]].

==Biogeography==
[[File:Philippines Bohol Virgin Island.JPG|thumb|upright=1.35|One of the majority of uninhabited islands of the [[Philippines]]. Maritime Southeast Asia is made up of the world's two largest archipelagos situated between the Indian Ocean, the [[South China Sea]] and the Western [[Pacific]].]]

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.{{r|Bellwood 2017|pp=1-15}}

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.{{r|Bellwood 2017|p=15}}

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>{{Cite book|url = http://awsassets.wwf.org.au/downloads/mo017_the_coral_triangle_and_climate_change_1may09.pdf|title = The Coral Triangle and Climate Change: Ecosystems, People, and Societies at Risk|last = Hoegh-Guldberg|first = O|publisher = WWF Australia|year = 2009|isbn = 978-1-921031-35-9|location = Sydney|access-date = 2016-03-30|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170117021230/http://awsassets.wwf.org.au/downloads/mo017_the_coral_triangle_and_climate_change_1may09.pdf|archive-date = 2017-01-17|url-status = dead}}</ref>

== Culture and demographics==
{{See also|Demographics of Southeast Asia}}
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 peoples|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.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}}

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 ==
{{See also|History of Southeast Asia}}
[[File:The proposed route of Austroasiatic and Austronesian migration into Indonesia and the geographic distribution of sites that have produced red-slipped and cord-marked pottery.png|thumb|Proposed routes of [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]] and [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]] migrations into Maritime Southeast Asia]]
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>{{Cite journal|last=Sutherland|first=Heather|date=2003|title=Southeast Asian History and the Mediterranean Analogy|journal=Journal of Southeast Asian Studies|volume=34|issue=1|pages=1–20|jstor=20072472|doi=10.1017/S0022463403000018|s2cid=55467229|url=https://research.vu.nl/ws/files/1903744/157026.pdf|access-date=2019-12-10|archive-date=2021-01-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117170655/https://research.vu.nl/ws/files/1903744/157026.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> This region stretches from the [[Yangtze River Delta|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">{{Cite book|title=Brides of the sea: port cities of Asia from the 16th-20th centuries|date=1989|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|others=Broeze, Frank|isbn=978-0824812669|location=Honolulu|oclc=19554419}}</ref><ref name="Mahdi1999">{{cite book |last=Mahdi |first=Waruno |title=Archaeology and Language III: Artefacts languages, and texts |publisher=Routledge |year=1999 |isbn=0415100542 |editor=Blench, Roger |series=One World Archaeology |volume=34 |pages=144–179 |chapter=The Dispersal of Austronesian boat forms in the Indian Ocean |editor2=Spriggs, Matthew}}</ref>

===Ancient Indian Ocean trade===
[[File:Austronesian maritime trade network in the Indian Ocean.png|thumb|[[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]] [[Spice trade|proto-historic]] and [[Maritime Silk Road|historic]] maritime trade network in the [[Indian Ocean]]<ref name="Manguin2016">{{cite book|first =Pierre-Yves|last =Manguin|editor-first =Gwyn|editor-last =Campbell|title =Early Exchange between Africa and the Wider Indian Ocean World|chapter =Austronesian Shipping in the Indian Ocean: From Outrigger Boats to Trading Ships|publisher =Palgrave Macmillan|year =2016|pages =51–76|isbn =9783319338224|chapter-url =https://books.google.com/books?id=XsvDDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA50|access-date =2020-11-27|archive-date =2023-03-26|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20230326195021/https://books.google.com/books?id=XsvDDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA50|url-status =live}}</ref>]]
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">{{cite journal |last=Sen |first=Tansen |title=Maritime Southeast Asia Between South Asia and China to the Sixteenth Century |journal=TRaNS: Trans-Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia |date=January 2014 |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=31–59 |doi=10.1017/trn.2013.15}}</ref> They established trade routes with [[Southern India]] and [[Sri Lanka]] as early as 1500&nbsp;BCE, ushering an exchange of material culture (like [[catamaran]]s, [[outrigger boat]]s, [[lashed-lug]] and [[sewn-plank boat]]s, and [[paan]]) and [[cultigen]]s (like [[coconut]]s, [[sandalwood]], and [[sugarcane]]); as well as connecting the material cultures of India and China. [[Ethnic groups in Indonesia|Indonesians]], in particular were trading in spices (mainly [[cinnamon]] and [[Cassia bark|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">{{cite journal |last=Doran |first=Edwin Jr. |title=Outrigger Ages |journal=The Journal of the Polynesian Society |date=1974 |volume=83 |issue=2 |pages=130–140 |url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_83_1974/Volume_83%2C_No._2/Outrigger_ages%2C_by_Edwin_Doran_Jnr.%2C_p_130-140/p1 |access-date=2019-07-14 |archive-date=2019-06-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608182436/http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_83_1974/Volume_83,_No._2/Outrigger_ages,_by_Edwin_Doran_Jnr.,_p_130-140/p1 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Doran1981">{{cite book |last=Doran |first=Edwin B. |title=Wangka: Austronesian Canoe Origins |date=1981 |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |isbn=9780890961070}}</ref><ref name="BlenchFruits">{{cite journal |last=Blench |first=Roger |title=Fruits and arboriculture in the Indo-Pacific region |journal=Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association |date=2004 |volume=24 |issue=The Taipei Papers (Volume 2) |pages=31–50 |url=https://journals.lib.washington.edu/index.php/BIPPA/article/viewFile/11869/10496 |access-date=2019-07-14 |archive-date=2021-03-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308161216/https://journals.lib.washington.edu/index.php/BIPPA/article/viewFile/11869/10496 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Maritime Silk Road ===
{{Main|Maritime Silk Road}}
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 [[Tamils|Tamil]], [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian]], and [[Arabs|Arab]] sailors.<ref name="Guan">{{cite journal |last=Guan |first=Kwa Chong |title=The Maritime Silk Road: History of an Idea |journal=NSC Working Paper |date=2016 |issue=23 |pages=1–30 |url=https://www.iseas.edu.sg/images/pdf/nscwps23.pdf}}</ref><ref name=Billé/> It allowed the exchange of goods from [[East Asia|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">{{cite book |url=https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/689adfe3-2dfa-4a0d-b04b-3a5f60cb7fad/9789048552429.pdf |title=The Maritime Silk Road |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |year=2022 |isbn=978-90-4855-242-9 |editor-last1=Billé |editor-first=Franck |editor-last2=Mehendale |editor-first2=Sanjyot |editor-last3=Lankton |editor-first3=James W.}}</ref>

The Maritime Silk Route flourished until around the 15th century CE. [[Han dynasty|Han]] and [[Tang dynasty]] records mention large Southeast Asian ships (that they called the ''[[kunlun po]]'', 崑崙舶, "ships of the [[Kunlun Nu|kunlun]]") visiting coastal Chinese cities regularly to trade from as early as the 3rd century CE.<ref name="Flecker">{{Cite journal |last=Flecker |first=Michael |date=August 2015 |title=Early Voyaging in the South China Sea: Implications on Territorial Claims |journal=Nalanda-Sriwijaya Center Working Paper Series |volume=19 |pages=1–53}}</ref>

By around 900 to 1000&nbsp;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">{{Cite book |last=Lieberman |first=Victor B. |title=Strange parallels: Southeast Asia in global context, c 800-1830 |date=2003–2009 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521800860 |location=New York |oclc=49820972}}</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 culture|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 [[Malacca City|Melaka]], [[Hội An]] and [[Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya (city)|Ayutthaya]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Yokkaichi |first=Yasuhiro |editor-last=Schottenhammer |editor-first=Angela |title=Chinese and Muslim Diasporas and Indian Ocean Trade under the Mongol Hegemony |url=https://www.academia.edu/3648289 |url-status=live |journal=The East Asian Mediterranean: Maritime Crossroads of Culture, Commerce, and Human Migration. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411053334/https://www.academia.edu/3648289 |archive-date=2022-04-11 |access-date=2018-07-29}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Lockard|first=Craig A.|date=2010-08-01|title="The Sea Common to All": Maritime Frontiers, Port Cities, and Chinese Traders in the Southeast Asian Age of Commerce, ca. 1400–1750|journal=Journal of World History|language=en|volume=21|issue=2|pages=219–247|doi=10.1353/jwh.0.0127|s2cid=162282960|issn=1527-8050}}</ref> Many of these Chinese businesspeople integrated into their new countries, becoming political officials and diplomats.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|title=Sojourners and settlers: histories of Southeast Asia and the Chinese|date=2001|publisher=University of Hawai'i Press|others= Anthony Reid, Kristine Alilunas-Rodgers|isbn=978-0824824464|location=Honolulu|oclc=45791365}}</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">{{Cite journal|last=Sen|first=Tansen|date=2006|title=The Formation of Chinese Maritime Networks to Southern Asia, 1200-1450|journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient|volume=49|issue=4|pages=421–453|jstor=25165168|doi=10.1163/156852006779048372}}</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">{{Cite book |last=Reid |first=Anthony |title=Southeast Asia in the age of commerce, 1450-1680 |date=1988–1993 |publisher=Yale University Press |others=Rogers D. Spotswood Collection. |isbn=978-0300039214 |location=New Haven |oclc=16646158}}</ref>

The Maritime Silk Route was disrupted by the [[Western imperialism in Asia|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 (''[[djong|jong]]'', the source of the English term "junk") declined until it ceased entirely by the 17th century. Although Chinese-built ''[[Junk (ship)|chuán]]'' survived until modern times.<ref name="jong">{{cite book |last=Manguin |first=Pierre-Yves |editor1-last=Reid |editor1-first=Anthony |chapter=The Vanishing Jong: Insular Southeast Asian Fleets in Trade and War (Fifteenth to Seventeenth Centuries) |date=1993 |publisher=Cornell University Press |pages=197–213 |title=Southeast Asia in the Early Modern Era |jstor=10.7591/j.ctv2n7gng.15 |isbn=978-0-8014-8093-5 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctv2n7gng.15}}</ref><ref name="Manguin1980">{{cite journal |last=Manguin |first=Pierre-Yves |title=The Southeast Asian Ship: An Historical Approach |journal=Journal of Southeast Asian Studies |date=September 1980 |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=266–276 |doi=10.1017/S002246340000446X}}</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"/>

{{Oceans and seas in Southeast Asia}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Geography|Asia|Timor-Leste|Indonesia|Malaysia|Philippines|Singapore}}
* [[Southeast Asia]]
** [[Mainland 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 (region)|Nanyang]]
* [[Peninsular Malaysia]]
* [[Domesticated plants and animals of Austronesia]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{portalbar|Asia}}
* [http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/42850/rec/1 Art of Island Southeast Asia], a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art

[[Category:Maritime Southeast Asia| ]]
[[Category:Geography of Southeast Asia]]
[[Category:Regions of Southeast Asia]]