Malay Peninsula

The Malay Peninsula is a north–south landmass in Mainland Southeast Asia. Its southern tip, Tanjung Piai, marks the southernmost point of mainland Asia. The region includes Peninsular Malaysia, southern Thailand, and the far south of Myanmar around Kawthaung. Singapore, though an island nation, shares historical and cultural links with the peninsula. The Titiwangsa Mountains, part of the wider Tenasserim Hills, run down the peninsula’s center as its spine. To the west, the Strait of Malacca separates the peninsula from Sumatra, while the Straits of Johor lie between the south coast and Singapore. The Malay term *Tanah Melayu* combines *tanah* (land) and *Melayu* (Malays), meaning “the Malay land.” This name appears in Malay texts as early as the 17th century, notably in the *Hikayat Hang Tuah*, a classic tale tied to the Malacca Sultanate, where it refers to areas under Malaccan control. The 1365 *Negarakertagama* manuscript calls the area *Hujung Medini*. In the early 1500s, Portuguese apothecary Tomé Pires used *Terra de Tana Malaio* for southeastern Sumatra, where the exiled Malaccan sultan Mahmud Shah set up court. Later, 17th-century Portuguese historian Emanuel Godinho de Erédia described a region of *Malaios* bounded by the Andaman Sea to the north, the Strait of Malacca in the center, part of the Sunda Strait to the south, and the western South China Sea to the east. Before Malacca’s rise, ancient and medieval sources mention a Malay peninsula. Some scholars link the Sanskrit *Malayadvipa* (“mountain-insular continent”) in the *Vayu Purana* to the peninsula. An inscription at the Brihadeeswarar Temple records *Malaiur*, a kingdom with a strong mountain as its fortification. Ptolemy’s *Geographia* names *Maleu-kolon* in the Golden Chersonese, likely from *malayakolam* or *malaikurram*. The Arab geographer al-Idrisi’s *Tabula Rogeriana* depicts the peninsula as a long island called *Malai*, bordering the Khmer and 12 days’ sail from Champa. A Yuan dynasty Chinese chronicle mentions *Ma-li-yu-er*, a peninsula nation threatened by Sukhothai’s expansion under King Ram Khamhaeng. Marco Polo also recorded *Malauir*, possibly the same kingdom. In old Japan, the Malay Peninsula was confused with Persia and called by that name. By the early 1900s, Malay nationalists used *Tanah Melayu* to push for uniting all Malay states under one nation, which largely happened with the 1948 formation of the Federation of Malaya. The peninsula is blanketed in tropical moist broadleaf forests. Lowland forests are dominated by dipterocarps, while montane forests host evergreens from the beech, myrtle, laurel, and tropical conifer families. These forests shelter thousands of animal and plant species. Large endangered mammals include the Asian elephant, gaur, tiger, sun bear, Malayan tapir, clouded leopard, and siamang. The Sumatran rhinoceros once lived here, but Malaysia’s last individuals died in 2019, and the species now survives only in Sumatra. Several ecoregions exist. The Tenasserim–South Thailand semi-evergreen rain forests cover the northern peninsula, including the Tenasserim Hills and the Isthmus of Kra, reaching both coasts. The Kangar-Pattani floristic boundary runs through southern Thailand and northernmost Malaysia, separating Indochina’s biogeographic region to the north from Sundaland and Malesia to the south. North of this line, forests have seasonally deciduous trees; south of it, rainfall is more year-round and trees are mostly evergreen. Peninsular Malaysia has three terrestrial ecoregions: the Peninsular Malaysian montane rain forests above 1,000 meters, the Peninsular Malaysian rain forests in lowlands and hills, and the Peninsular Malaysian peat swamp forests—waterlogged lowland forests on both sides. Extensive mangroves line the coasts: the Myanmar Coast mangroves on the western shore and the Indochina mangroves on the eastern shore. Areas by country: - Malaysia: Two federal territories, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, are embedded within Selangor.