MALAY PENINSULA

also called the Kra Peninsula, in Southeast Asia, a long, narrow appendix of the mainland extending south for a distance of about 700 miles (1,127 km) through the Isthmus of Kra to Cape Balai, southernmost point of the Asian continent; its maximum width is 200 miles (322 km). It lies between the Andaman Sea of the Indian Ocean and the Strait of Malacca (west), the Singapore Strait (south), and the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea (east). Its central mountain range, rising to 7,175 feet (2,187 m) at Mount Tahan, divides the peninsula. The western coast is exposed to the southwest monsoons and the eastern coast to the northeast monsoons. Most of the western rivers have comparatively short courses, and navigation is limited by extensive silting near the sea. The eastern rivers are longer, with flatter gradients in their upper reaches. Politically the peninsula comprises the southwestern section of Thailand, Peninsular (or West) Malaysia, and Singapore. Known in ancient times as the Chersonesus Aurea (Golden Chersonese, or Golden Peninsula, from Greek chersos, dry, and nesos, island), it has formed a physical and cultural link between the mainland and the Malay Archipelago.