Malay Peninsula
 Location of the Malay Peninsula | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Southeast Asia |
| Coordinates | 7°00′N 100°00′E / 7.000°N 100.000°E |
| Adjacent to | Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean |
| Area | 242,363.8 km2 (93,577.2 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 2,187 m (7175 ft) |
| Highest point | Mount Tahan |
| Administration | |
| Peninsular Malaysia | |
| Largest settlement | Kuala Lumpur |
| Region | Tanintharyi |
| District | Kawthaung |
| Largest settlement | Kawthaung |
| Southern Thailand | |
| Largest settlement | Hat Yai |
The Malay Peninsula[a] is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Thailand, and the southernmost tip of Myanmar (Kawthaung). The island country of Singapore also has historical and cultural ties with the region. The indigenous people of the peninsula are Orang Asli and Malays, an Austronesian people.
The Titiwangsa Mountains are part of the Tenasserim Hills system and form the backbone of the peninsula and the southernmost section of the central cordillera, which runs from Tibet through the Kra Isthmus, the peninsula's narrowest point, into the Malay Peninsula.[1] The Strait of Malacca separates the Malay Peninsula from the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and the south coast is separated from the island of Singapore by the Straits of Johor.
Etymology
The Malay term Tanah Melayu is derived from the word Tanah (land) and Melayu (Malays), thus it means "the Malay land". The term can be found in various Malay texts, of which the oldest dating back to the early 17th century. It is frequently mentioned in the Hikayat Hang Tuah, a well-known classic tale associated with the legendary heroes of Malacca Sultanate. Tanah Melayu in the text is consistently employed to refer to the area under Malaccan dominance.[2]
In the early 16th century,
Prior to the foundation of Malacca, ancient and medieval references to a Malay peninsula exist in various foreign sources. According to several Indian scholars, the word
In the early 20th century, the term Tanah Melayu was generally used by the Malays of the peninsula during the rise of Malay nationalism to describe uniting all Malay states on the peninsula under one Malay nation, and this ambition was largely realised with the formation of Persekutuan Tanah Melayu (Malay for "Federation of Malaya") in 1948.[15]
Ecology
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).[16] 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.[17]
The peninsula is home to several distinct ecoregions. The Tenasserim–South Thailand semi-evergreen rain forests cover the northern peninsula, including the Tenasserim Hills and the Isthmus of Kra, and extend to the coast on both sides of the isthmus.
The Kangar-Pattani floristic boundary crosses the peninsula in southern Thailand and northernmost Malaysia, marking the boundary between the large biogeographic regions of Indochina to the north and Sundaland and Malesia to the south. The forests north of the boundary are characterized by seasonally-deciduous trees, while the Sundaland forests have more year-round rainfall and the trees are mostly evergreen. Peninsular Malaysia is home to three terrestrial ecoregions. The Peninsular Malaysian montane rain forests ecoregion covers the mountains above 1,000 meters elevation. The lowlands and hills are in the Peninsular Malaysian rain forests ecoregion. The Peninsular Malaysian peat swamp forests include distinctive waterlogged forests in the lowlands on both sides of the peninsula.[18]
Extensive mangroves line both coasts. The Myanmar Coast mangroves are on the western shore of the peninsula, and the Indochina mangroves on the eastern shore.
List of areas by country
Malaysia
| Flag | Emblem / Achievement |
State | Capital | Royal Capital | Area (km2)[19] | Head of State | Head of Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
Johor | Johor Bahru | Muar | 19,166 | Sultan | Menteri Besar
|
 |
 |
Kedah | Alor Setar | Anak Bukit | 9,492 | Sultan | Menteri Besar
|
 |
 |
Kelantan | Kota Bharu | Kubang Kerian | 15,040 | Sultan | Menteri Besar
|
 |
 |
Malacca | Malacca City | — | 1,712 | Yang di-Pertua Negeri (Governor) |
Chief Minister
|
 |
 |
Negeri Sembilan | Seremban | Seri Menanti | 6,658 | Yang di-Pertuan Besar (Grand Ruler) |
Menteri Besar
|
 |
 |
Pahang | Kuantan | Pekan | 35,965 | Sultan | Menteri Besar
|
 |
 |
Penang | George Town | — | 1,049 | Yang di-Pertua Negeri (Governor) |
Chief Minister
|
 |
 |
Perak | Ipoh | Kuala Kangsar
|
21,146 | Sultan | Menteri Besar
|
 |
 |
Perlis | Kangar | Arau | 819 | Raja | Menteri Besar
|
 |
 |
Selangor* | Shah Alam | Klang | 7,951 | Sultan | Menteri Besar
|
 |
 |
Terengganu | Kuala Terengganu | Kuala Terengganu | 12,958 | Sultan | Menteri Besar
|
* Two federal territories are embedded within Selangor, which are Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.
Myanmar
Thailand
- Chumphon
- Krabi
- Nakhon Si Thammarat
- Narathiwat
- Pattani
- Phang Nga
- Phatthalung
- Phuket
- Ranong
- Satun
- Songkhla
- Surat Thani
- Trang
- Yala
See also
- Extreme points of Asia
- Geography of Malaysia
- Golden Chersonese
- Malay Archipelago
- Malaya (disambiguation)
- Malaysia–Thailand border
- Tenasserim Hills
Notes
References
- ^ The Physical Geography of Southeast Asia, Avijit Gupta
- ISBN 978-0-521-87237-9.
- Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. pp. 28–30. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
- ISBN 978-81-87586-24-1.
- ISBN 978-81-215-0114-9.
- ASIN B000PFNF5C.
- ISBN 978-0-395-13592-1.
- ISBN 978-81-87586-09-8.
- ISBN 81-7069-036-6.
- ^ Guoxue (2003). "Chronicle of Mongol Yuan".
- ISBN 978-0-333-24163-9.
- ISBN 978-1-110-77685-6.
- ISBN 978-1-4191-8573-1.
- ^ Ziro Uraki, Utsuho Monogatari footnotes, p. 2
- ISBN 0-415-30279-X.
- ^ Wikramanayake, Eric; Eric Dinerstein; Colby J. Loucks; et al. (2002). Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a Conservation Assessment. Washington, DC: Island Press.
- ^ Williams, David; Ko, Stella (24 November 2019). "The last Sumatran rhino in Malaysia has died and there are less than 80 left in the world". CNN. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
- ^ Wikramanayake, Eric; Eric Dinerstein; Colby J. Loucks; et al. (2002). Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a Conservation Assessment. Washington, DC: Island Press.
- ^ "Laporan Kiraan Permulaan 2010". Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia. p. 27. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
External links
Media related to Malay Peninsula at Wikimedia Commons
- . . 1914.
