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Sunda Islands

Island group in the Malay Archipelago

Greater Sunda Islands

Lesser Sunda Islands

Look up Sunda in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The Sunda Islands (Indonesian: Kepulauan Sunda) are a group of islands in the Malay Archipelago.^[1]^[2] They consist of the Greater Sunda Islands and the Lesser Sunda Islands.

Etymology

The term "Sunda" has been traced back to ancient times. According to Koesoemadinata, Professor Emeritus of Geology at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), the name "Sunda" originates from the Sanskrit word "Cuddha," meaning white. Reinout van Bemmelen, another geologist, noted that during the Pleistocene era, there was a large volcano named Mount Sunda Purba north of Bandung. Its eruption covered the surrounding area with white volcanic ash, giving rise to the name "Sunda."

The use of the term "Sunda" to refer to the Indonesian region dates back to the exploration report of the geographer Claudius Ptolemaeus in 150 AD. This report served as a reference for the Portuguese when they arrived in Indonesia in 1500 AD and explored the Sunda kingdom. They categorized the region into Greater Sunda (Sunda Besar) for the larger western islands and Lesser Sunda (Sunda Kecil) for the smaller eastern islands.

Since then, the term "Sunda" has been widely adopted in earth sciences (geology-geography) as a reference for the Indonesian region, surpassing the usage of "Indonesia" in this field. The terms Greater Sunda and Lesser Sunda are commonly used in geological-geographical literature. According to Koesoemadinata, even today, in earth sciences, "Sunda Islands" is more recognized than "Indonesia Islands."

"Sunda" also denotes continental shelves or landmasses. Indonesia itself has two shelves: the Sunda Shelf in the west and the Sahul/Arafuru Shelf in the east. Other terms associated with "Sunda" include the Sunda Island Arc or the arc of Sunda Islands, Sunda Fold or tectonic folding in the Natuna Sea, the Sunda Trench, and Sundaland.^[3]

Administration

The Sunda Islands are divided among five countries: Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. The majority of these islands fall under the jurisdiction of Indonesia. Borneo is split among Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Timor is split between East Timor and Indonesia. Sebatik is split between Indonesia and Malaysia.

List of islands

Greater Sunda Islands
- Borneo
- Java
- Sulawesi
- Sumatra

Lesser Sunda Islands (from west to east)
- Bali
- Lombok
- Sumbawa
- Sumba
- Komodo
- Flores
- Savu
- Rote
- Timor
- Alor Archipelago
- Atauro
- Barat Daya Islands
- Tanimbar Islands

References

^ "Discourse of the Hon. T. S. Raffles. Account of the Sunda Islands and Japan". The Quarterly Journal of Science and the Arts. 2: 190–198. 1817. Retrieved 22 July 2021 – via Google Books.
^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Sunda Islands" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
^ "Berawal dari Gunung Purba, Begini Asal Usul Nama Sunda", Tempo (in Indonesian)

External links

Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Sunda Islands" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Visible earth page on the lesser Sunda islands
(in English and French) Map of a Part of China, the Philippine Islands, the Isles of Sunda, the Moluccas, the Papuans is a map from around 1760 featuring the Sunda Islands
Historical 1767 Map of the Sunda Islands | Southeast Asia Digital Library