Malay Archipelago

Malay Archipelago (Nusantara Archipelago)

World map highlighting Malay Archipelago. New Guinea—not part of the Malay Archipelago by some definitions—is also included.
Geography
Location	Southeast Asia, Oceania
Total islands	25,000 - 30,000
Major islands	Borneo, Java, Luzon, Mindanao, New Guinea, Sulawesi, Sumatra
Area	2,000,000 km2 (770,000 sq mi)
Highest point	[1]
Administration
Brunei
East Timor
Indonesia
Malaysia
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
Singapore
Demographics
Population	350 million.[2]
Ethnic groups	Austronesian peoples, Malay, Overseas Chinese

The Malay Archipelago or Nusantara Archipelago refers to the archipelago between mainland Southeastern Asia and Australia.^[3]

It has also been called the East Indies, the Indo-Australian Archipelago, Indonesian Archipelago and other names over time.

The archipelago is between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The group has over 25,000 islands. It is the largest archipelago by area, and third by number of islands in the world. It includes Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, East Malaysia and East Timor.^[4]

The island of New Guinea or islands of Papua New Guinea are not always included in definitions of the Malay Archipelago.^[4][5] The Indonesian Moluccas are included in the archipelago.

1. ↑ Moores, Eldridge M.; Fairbridge, Rhodes Whitmore (1997). Encyclopedia of European and Asian regional geology. Springer. p. 377. ISBN 0412740400. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
2. ↑ Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division (2006). "World Population prospects, table A.2" (PDF). 2006 revision. United Nations: 37–42. Retrieved 2007-06-30. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
3. ↑ Wallace, Alfred Russel (1869). The Malay Archipelago. London: Macmillan. p. 1.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} "Malay Archipelago Archived 2008-04-17 at the Wayback Machine." Encyclopedia Britannica. 2006. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.
5. ↑ "Maritime Southeast Asia Archived 2007-06-13 at the Wayback Machine." Worldworx Travel. Accessed 26 May 2009.