Malay Archipelago
The Malay Archipelago (Indonesian/Malay: Kepulauan Melayu, Filipino: Kapuluang Malayo) also called Insulindia or the Indo-Australian Archipelago is the archipelago between Mainland Southeast Asia and Australia. It has also been called the "Malay world," "Nusantara", "East Indies", and other names over time. The name was taken from the 19th-century European concept of a Malay race, later based on the distribution of Austronesian languages. The term is controversial in Indonesia due to its ethnic connotations and colonial undertones, which can overshadow the country's diverse cultures.
This article is about the archipelago. For the book, see The Malay Archipelago.Geography
25,000
2,870,000 km2 (1,110,000 sq mi)[1]
Kota Kinabalu (largest in the Malay Archipelago)
380,000,000 [2]
Predominantly Austronesians, with minorities of Negritoes, Papuans, Melanesians, Overseas Chinese, Arab descendants, and Overseas Indians
Situated between the Indian and Pacific oceans, the archipelago of over 25,000 islands and islets is the largest archipelago by area and fifth by number of islands in the world. It includes Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia (specifically East Malaysia), Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines.[3][4] The term is largely synonymous with Maritime Southeast Asia.[5]