82.132.228.16: enhance details for consistency and cleaned formatting per sources

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enhance details for consistency and cleaned formatting per sources

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{{Short description|Peninsula in Southeast Asia}}
{{Distinguish|Peninsular Malaysia}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}

{{Infobox peninsulas
| name = Malay Peninsula
| native_name = {{native name|ms|Semenanjung Tanah Melayu}}<br> {{native name|ms-ar|سمننجوڠ تانه ملايو}} <br/>{{native name|my|လေး ကျွန်းဆွယ်}}<br/>{{native name|th|คาบสมุทรมลายู}}
| native_name_lang =
| sobriquet = 
| image_size =
| image_alt =
| image_map = Semenanjung Malaka.png
| map_alt =
| map_size =
| map_caption = Location of the Malay Peninsula
| pushpin_map =
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| coordinates = {{Coord|7|00|N|100|00|E|source:kolossus-ruwiki|display=inline,title}}
| etymology =
| location = [[Southeast Asia]]
| GridReference = 
| archipelago =
| waterbody = [[Indian Ocean]], [[Pacific Ocean]]
| total_islands =
| major_islands =
| area_km2 = 242,363.8
| area_footnotes =
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| elevation_m = 2187
| elevation_footnotes =
| highest_mount = [[Mount Tahan]]
| country = [[Malaysia]]
| country_admin_divisions_title =
| country_admin_divisions = [[Peninsular Malaysia]]
| country_largest_city = [[Kuala Lumpur]]
| country1 = [[Myanmar]]
| country1_admin_divisions_title = Region
| country1_admin_divisions = [[Tanintharyi Region|Tanintharyi]]
| country1_admin_divisions_title_1 = District
| country1_admin_divisions_1 = [[Kawthaung District|Kawthaung]]
| country1_largest_city = [[Kawthaung]]
| country2 = [[Thailand]]
| country2_admin_divisions_title =
| country2_admin_divisions = [[Southern Thailand]]
| country2_largest_city = [[Hat Yai]]
| demonym =
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}}

The '''Malay Peninsula''' or also known as '''Segaramsin Peninsula''' ([[Malay language|Malay]]: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'', ''Semenanjung Tanah Segara Masin'') 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 District|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 (ethnic group)|Malays]], an [[Austronesian peoples|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.<ref>The Physical Geography of Southeast Asia, Avijit Gupta</ref> 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 (ethnic group)|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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mohamed An war Omar Din |year=2012 |title=Legitimacy of the Malays as the Sons of the Soil |url=http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ass/article/download/23534/15030 |journal=Asian Social Science |publisher=Canadian Center of Science and Education |pages=80–81 |issn=1911-2025}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Reid |first=Anthony |title=Imperial alchemy : nationalism and political identity in Southeast Asia |url=https://archive.org/details/imperialalchemyn00reid |url-access=limited |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-521-87237-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/imperialalchemyn00reid/page/n110 95] |author-link=Anthony Reid (academic)}}</ref>

In the early 16th century, [[Tomé Pires]], a Portuguese [[apothecary]] who stayed in [[Portuguese Malacca|Malacca]] from 1512 to 1515, uses an almost identical term, ''Terra de Tana Malaio'', with which he referred to the southeastern part of Sumatra, where the deposed sultan of Malacca, [[Mahmud Shah of Malacca|Mahmud Shah]], established his exiled government. The 17th century's account of Portuguese historian, [[Emanuel Godinho de Erédia]], noted on the region of ''Malaios'' surrounded by the [[Andaman Sea]] in the north, the entire [[Strait of Malacca]] in the centre, a part of [[Sunda Strait]] in the south, and the western part of [[South China Sea]] in the east.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/82001895 |title=Asal Usul Orang Melayu: Menulis Semula Sejarahnya (The Malay Origin: Rewrite Its History) |last=Mohamed Anwar Omar Din |year=2011 |publisher=Jurnal Melayu, [[Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia]] |pages=28–30 |access-date=4 June 2012}}</ref>

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 ''[[Malayadvipa]]'' ("mountain-insular continent"), mentioned in the ancient Indian text, ''[[Vayu Purana]]'', may possibly refer to the Malay Peninsula.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pande |first=Govind Chandra |title=India's Interaction with Southeast Asia: History of Science,Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization, Vol. 1, Part 3 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal |year=2005 |isbn=978-81-87586-24-1 |page=266 |author-link=Govind Chandra Pande}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mukerjee |first=Radhakamal |title=The culture and art of India |url=https://archive.org/details/cultureartindia00muke |url-access=limited |publisher=Coronet Books Inc |year=1984 |isbn=978-81-215-0114-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/cultureartindia00muke/page/n211 212] |author-link=Radhakamal Mukerjee}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sarkar |first=Himansu Bhusan |title=Some contributions of India to the ancient civilisation of Indonesia and Malaysia |publisher=Punthi Pustak |year=1970 |location=Calcutta |page=8 |asin=B000PFNF5C}}</ref> Another Indian source, an inscription on the south wall of the [[Brihadeeswarar Temple]], recorded the word ''Malaiur'', referring to a kingdom in the Malay Peninsula that had "a strong mountain for its rampart".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Langer |first=William Leonard |title=An Encyclopedia of World History: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, Chronologically Arranged |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Co |year=1973 |isbn=978-0-395-13592-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaworl00will/page/362 362] |author-link=William L. Langer}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kotha |first=Satchidananda Murthy |title=Life, thought, and culture in India, c. AD 300-1000 |last2=S. |first2=Sankaranarayanan |publisher=Centre for Studies in Civilizations |year=2002 |isbn=978-81-87586-09-8 |page=121 |author-link=Kotha Satchidanda Murthy}}</ref> [[Ptolemy]]'s ''[[Geographia (Ptolemy)|Geographia]]'' named a geographical region of the ''[[Golden Chersonese]]'' as ''Maleu-kolon'', a term thought to derive from Sanskrit ''malayakolam'' or ''malaikurram''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gerini |first=Gerolamo Emilio |title=Researches on Ptolemy's geography of eastern Asia (further India and Indo-Malay archipelago) |publisher=Oriental Books Reprint Corporation |year=1974 |isbn=81-7069-036-6 |page=101 |author-link=Gerolamo Emilio Gerini}}</ref> While the Chinese chronicle of the [[Yuan dynasty]] mentioned the word ''Ma-li-yu-er'', referring to a nation of the Malay Peninsula that was threatened by the southward expansion of the [[Sukhothai Kingdom]] under King [[Ram Khamhaeng]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.guoxue.com/shibu/24shi/yuanshi/yuas_210.htm |title=Chronicle of Mongol Yuan |last=Guoxue |year=2003}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hall |first=Daniel George Edward |title=History of South East Asia |publisher=Macmillan |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-333-24163-9 |page=190 |author-link=D.G.E. Hall}}</ref> During the same era, [[Marco Polo]] made a reference to ''Malauir'' in his [[The Travels of Marco Polo|travelogue]], as a kingdom located in the Malay Peninsula, possibly similar to the one mentioned in the Yuan chronicle.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cordier |first=Henri |title=Ser Marco Polo; notes and addenda to Sir Henry Yule's edition, containing the results of recent research and discovery |publisher=Bibliolife |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-110-77685-6 |page=105 |author-link=Henri Cordier}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Wright |first=Thomas |title=The travels of Marco Polo, the Venetian: the translation of Marsden revised, with a selection of his notes |publisher=Kessinger Publishing, LLC |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-4191-8573-1 |pages=364–365}}</ref> The Malay Peninsula was conflated with [[Persia]] in old Japan, and was known by the same name.<ref>Ziro Uraki, Utsuho Monogatari footnotes, p. 2</ref>

In the early 20th century, the term ''Tanah Melayu'' was generally used by the Malays of the peninsula during the rise of [[Early Malay nationalism|Malay nationalism]] to describe uniting all [[Peninsular Malaysia|Malay states]] on the peninsula under one Malay nation, and this ambition was largely realised with the formation of ''Persekutuan Tanah Melayu'' ([[Malay language|Malay]] for "[[Federation of Malaya]]") in 1948.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bunnell |first=Tim |year=2004 |title=From nation to networks and back again: Transnationalism, class and national identity in Malaysia |journal=State/Nation/Transnation: Perspectives on Transnationalism in the Asia Pacific |publisher=Routledge |pages=1984 |isbn=0-415-30279-X}}</ref>

==Ecology==
The Malay Peninsula is covered with [[Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests|tropical moist 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 [[conifer]]s, 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'').<ref>Wikramanayake, Eric; Eric Dinerstein; Colby J. Loucks; et al. (2002). ''Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a Conservation Assessment.'' Washington, DC: Island Press.</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite news |last1= Williams|first1=David|last2= Ko|first2=Stella|date=24 November 2019 |title=The last Sumatran rhino in Malaysia has died and there are less than 80 left in the world|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/24/world/malaysia-sumatra-rhino-death-sci-trnd/index.html|work=[[CNN]] |access-date=27 November 2019}}</ref>

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 1000 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.<ref>Wikramanayake, Eric; Eric Dinerstein; Colby J. Loucks; et al. (2002). ''Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a Conservation Assessment.'' Washington, DC: Island Press.</ref>

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.

== See also ==
* [[Extreme points of Asia]]
* [[Golden Chersonese]]
* [[Malay Archipelago]]
* [[Malaya (disambiguation)]]
* [[Tenasserim Hills]]
* [[Malaysia–Thailand border]]
* [[Geography of Malaysia]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category-inline|Malay Peninsula}}
* {{Cite NSRW|wstitle=Malakka|short=x}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Malay Peninsula| ]]
[[Category:Andaman Sea]]
[[Category:Flora of Malaya|.02]]
[[Category:Gulf of Thailand]]
[[Category:Landforms of Malaysia]]
[[Category:Landforms of Myanmar]]
[[Category:Landforms of the South China Sea]]
[[Category:Landforms of Thailand]]
[[Category:Malaya|.]]
[[Category:Malesia]]
[[Category:Peninsulas of Asia]]
[[Category:Regions of Asia]]
[[Category:Southern Thailand|.]]
[[Category:Strait of Malacca]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]

Malay Peninsula - Revision history

82.132.228.16: enhance details for consistency and cleaned formatting per sources

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article