Maritime Southeast Asia

Maritime Southeast Asiacomprises theSoutheast Asiancountries ofBrunei,Indonesia,Malaysia, thePhilippines,Singapore, andEast Timor.
The termsIsland Southeast AsiaandInsular Southeast Asiaare sometimes given the same meaning as Maritime Southeast Asia.Other definitions restrict Island Southeast Asia to just the islands between mainlandSoutheast Asiaand the continental shelf of Australia and New Guinea. There is some variability as to whetherTaiwanis included in this.Peter Bellwoodincludes Taiwan in his definition,as didRobert Blust,whilst there are examples that do not.
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, theOld Javaneseterm "Nusantara" is also used as a synonym for Maritime Southeast Asia. The term, however, isnationalisticand has shifting boundaries. It usually only encompassesPeninsular Malaysia, theSunda Islands,Maluku, and oftenWestern New Guineaand excludes thePhilippines.
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 modernMainland Southeast Asiais that its population predominantly belongs toAustronesiangroups. The region contains some of the world's most highly urbanized areas—theGreater Manila Area,Greater Jakarta,Singapore, andGreater Kuala Lumpur—and yet a majority of islands in this vast region remain uninhabited by humans.
The land and sea area of Maritime Southeast Asia exceeds 2 million km.These are more than 25,000 islands of the area that comprise many smaller archipelagoes.
The major groupings are:
The seven largest islands areBorneo,Sumatra,SulawesiandJavain Indonesia; andLuzonandMindanaoin the Philippines.
In the natural sciences, the region is sometimes known as theMaritime Continent. It also corresponds to thebiogeographicalregion ofMalesia(not to be confused with "Malaysia"), with shared tropicalfloraandfauna.
Geologically, the archipelago is one of the most activevolcanicregions in the world, producingmany volcanoes, especially inJava,Sumatra, and theLesser Sunda Islandsregion, where most volcanoes over 3,000 m (9,800 ft) are situated.Tectonic upliftsalso produced large mountains, including the highest inMount KinabaluinSabah, Malaysia, with a height of 4,095.2 m (13,436 ft) andPuncak Jayaon Papua, Indonesia at 4,884 m (16,024 ft). Other high mountains in the archipelago includePuncak Mandala, Indonesia at 4,760 m (15,620 ft) andPuncak Trikora, Indonesia, at 4,750 m (15,580 ft).
The climate throughout the archipelago is tropical, owing to its position on theEquator.
Island Southeast Asia is crossed by theWallace 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 termedWallacea. 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.
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 thePleistoceneand theHolocene. Therefore we know when watercraft of some (admittedly unknown) description must have been used by humans to cross the sea.
As of 2017, there were over 540 million people living in the region, with the most populated island beingJava. The people living there are predominantly fromAustronesiansubgroupings and correspondingly speak westernMalayo-Polynesian languages. This region of Southeast Asia shares social and cultural ties with both the peoples ofmainland Southeast Asiaand with other Austronesian peoples in thePacific.Islamis the predominant religion, withChristianitybeing the dominant religion in the Philippines and East Timor.Buddhism,Hinduism, and traditionalAnimismare also practiced among large populations.
Historically, the region has been referred to as part ofGreater India, as seen in Coedes'Indianized States of Southeast Asia, which refers to it as "Island Southeast Asia";and withinAustronesiaorOceania, due to shared ethnolinguistic and historical origins of the latter groups (Micronesian and Polynesian groups) being from this region.
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.This region stretches from theYangtze deltain China down to theMalay Peninsula, including theSouth China Sea,Gulf of ThailandandJava Sea. The region was dominated by thethalassocraticcultures of theAustronesian peoples.
The first true long-distance maritime trade network in the Indian Ocean was by theAustronesian peoplesof Island Southeast Asia.They established trade routes withSouthern IndiaandSri Lankaas early as 1500 BCE, ushering an exchange of material culture (likecatamarans,outrigger boats,lashed-lugandsewn-plank boats, andpaan) andcultigens(likecoconuts,sandalwood, andsugarcane); as well as connecting the material cultures of India and China.Indonesians, in particular were trading in spices (mainlycinnamonandcassia) withEast Africausingcatamaranand outrigger boats and sailing with the help of theWesterliesin the Indian Ocean. This trade network expanded to reach as far as Africa and theArabian Peninsula, resulting in the Austronesian colonization ofMadagascarby the first half of the first millennium CE. It continued up to historic times.
By around the 2nd century BCE, theNeolithicAustronesian trade networks in Southeast Asia connected with the maritime trade routes ofSouth Asia, theMiddle East, easternAfrica, and theMediterranean, becoming what is now known as theMaritime Silk Route(or Maritime Silk Road). In addition to Austronesian sailors, the route was also heavily used byTamil,Persian, andArabsailors.It allowed the exchange of goods fromEastand Southeast Asia on one end, all the way toEuropeand eastern Africa on the other.
Although usually spoken of in modern times in the context ofEurocentricandSinocentricluxury 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".
The Maritime Silk Route flourished until around the 15th century CE.HanandTang dynastyrecords mention large Southeast Asian ships (that they called thekunlun po,  崑崙舶, "ships of thekunlun") visiting coastal Chinese cities regularly to trade from as early as 3rd century CE.
By around 900 to 1000 CE, theSong dynastypassed 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,as well as the loss of access to the northernSilk Road.The first record of Chinese trading ships venturing to Southeast Asia (which they calledNan Hai) appear by the 11th century, though the trade routes during this period remained dominated bySrivijaya.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.Chinese trade was strictly controlled by the Imperial Court, but theHokkiendiaspora 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 asMelaka,Hội AnandAyutthaya.Many of these Chinese businesspeople integrated into their new countries, becoming political officials and diplomats.
Trade with China ceased after the collapse of the Song dynasty due to invasions and famine. It was restored during theMing dynastyfrom the 14th to 16th centuries.The naval expeditions ofZheng Hebetween 1405 and 1431 also played a critical role in opening up of China to increased trade with Southeast Asian polities.
The Maritime Silk Route was disrupted by thecolonial erain the 15th century, essentially being replaced with European trade routes.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-builtchuánsurvived until modern times.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 theIndian OceanMaritime Silk Road.