The Malay Archipelago is the largest island archipelago on the planet. Includes islands of Indonesia and the Philippines. Located in the equatorial zone, in the rain belt. The largest Malay island is Kalimantan (743330 km 2), and in second place is Sumatra (473000 km 2. New Guinea Island is a disputed territory, as some authors attribute it to Oceania. Any island in the Malay archipelago is unique in its own way.
General information
The islands of the Malay archipelago are characterized by a humid tropical and equatorial climate, which allows the growth of dense evergreen forests. Over 300 volcanoes are located on them, of which about 100 are active.
The archipelago includes states such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, East Timor and Brunei. The population density is quite high. It is especially great on the island of Java, where over 140 million people live. The population tends to increase. Indonesia is the largest island nation in the world.
Natural conditions
Many people ask: where are the Malay Islands? The Malay Archipelago is located at the intersection of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Asia is located in the north and northwest of it, and Australia and Oceania in the southeast. The islands are not a significant obstacle to the movement of air masses between the oceans, so the level of climate continentality is minimal. In combination with the equatorial location, this leads to small temperature fluctuations, precipitation during the year and small daily temperature amplitudes on the plain. On the outskirts of the archipelago, the climate approaches subequatorial.
The average temperature is constant throughout the year and amounts to + 26 … + 27 ° С in the flat part and only +16 о С on the mountain peaks. At an altitude of more than 1, 500 m, night frosts sometimes occur, reaching -3 … -2 ° С. On the plains, the maximum temperature does not exceed +35 ° C, and the minimum usually does not fall below +23 ° C. The annual precipitation is 3–4 thousand mm from the windward (western) side of the mountain systems up to 1500–1800 mm on the leeward (eastern) side.
On the archipelago there are both flat and mountainous territories. The heights of the mountains are often relatively small, but the highest mountain still rises to a height of 4100 meters.
The most active volcano is Krakatau, located between the islands of Java and Sumatra. Here, over 100 years ago, the most powerful eruption was known.
Hydrography
A large amount of precipitation favors river flow. Most often, there are short, but full-flowing rivers, with rapids upstream and a calm course in the rest. Often there are meanders of rivers and the effect of waterlogging. Near their channels you can find a large number of lakes. Stock is almost constant throughout the year. Only in the southeast of the island of Java are periods with a sharp decrease observed.
Vegetation and animals
The plant world of the Malay Archipelago is unusually rich and diverse. Here you can find over 30, 000 species of woody plants, 500 of which are found only in this archipelago. 60 species are considered important for logging. On a small piece of forest you can see many species of trees, including very rare specimens. This is one of the reasons why it is so important to preserve these virgin forests. Otherwise, the reduction of the species diversity of the planet cannot be avoided.
Mostly natural vegetation is represented by evergreen forests. Only in some places there are savannahs. There are also deciduous monsoon forests. The equatorial stands of the archipelago are dense, have a multi-tiered structure, twined with vines, but often without undergrowth. High in the mountains there are conifers, oaks, chestnuts, maples, shrubs, alpine meadows.
Among the representatives of the animal world, various species of monkeys are very common. They are divided into humanoid and doglike. There are also elephants, rhinos, marsupials, the Malay red wolf, the Malay bear, the Comorian monitor lizard. The latter is considered the largest lizard in the world.
Ecology
The development of agriculture and mining put many species of plants and animals on the brink of extinction. There is a decrease in species diversity and the local climate may even worsen. The annual reduction in forest area sometimes reaches 60, 000 ha. Here, the slashing fire system of land preparation is still widespread. Timber harvesting, mining, laying roads and communications also increased. The worst situation is deforestation in eastern Kalimantan. This area is characterized by forest replacement by weed thickets that appear in the felled areas. They do not allow the forest to recover. A difficult situation in the Molku Islands, characterized by a large variety of species.
In just 20 years, the islands lost about ¾ of forest area. The remaining forests are mostly sparse felling.
The authorities of the countries located on the archipelago understand this, but are not always able to fundamentally change the situation. Now there are several nature reserves and many national parks on the islands, some of which are part of UNESCO. A total of 42 national parks and several protected areas were created.
What is mined in the archipelago
The Malay archipelago is not only magnificent nature, but also a storehouse of natural wealth. Fuel minerals are represented by oil, gas and coal. In addition to them, deposits of manganese, iron, copper, nickel, bauxite, and tin were discovered on the islands. Mining further enhances the anthropogenic pressure on the environment.
Archipelago population
The local population is represented by people of the Malay type of the southern Mongoloid race. They differ from other Mongoloids with a wider nose, thick lips, dark skin and short stature. Many have signs of an australoid race. The skin may be brown with a yellowish tint, curly hair. In general, the appearance of the people inhabiting the archipelago is heterogeneous. The most unusual of the local peoples are the pygmies. They live in the eastern part of the Malay Archipelago, have very small stature (about 145 cm), dark skin and curly hair. They are also called Negroes, although they have no connection with African Negroids.
