Strait of Malacca

The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connecting the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pacific Ocean). As the main shipping channel between the Indian and Pacific oceans, it is one of the most important shipping lanes in the world. It is named after the Malacca Sultanate that ruled over the strait between 1400 and 1511, the center of administration of which was located in the modern-day state of Malacca, Malaysia. The International Hydrographic Organization define the limits of the Strait of Malacca as follows: On the west. A line joining Pedropunt, the northernmost point of Sumatra (), and Lem Voalan, the southern extremity of Goh Puket [Phromthep Cape on Phuket Island] in Siam [Thailand] (). On the east. A line joining Tanjong Piai (Bulus), the southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula (), and The Brothers (), and thence to Klein Karimoen (). On the north. The southwestern coast of the Malay Peninsula. On the south. The northeastern coast of Sumatra as far to the eastward as Tanjong Kedabu (), thence to Klein Karimoen. Early traders from Arabia, Africa, Persia, and Southern India reached Kedah before arriving at Guangzhou. Kedah served as a western port on the Malay Peninsula. They traded glassware, camphor, cotton goods, brocades, ivory, sandalwood, perfume, and precious stones. These traders sailed to Kedah via the monsoon winds between June and November. They returned between December and May. Kedah provided accommodations, porters, small vessels, bamboo rafts, elephants, as well as tax collections for goods to be transported overland toward the eastern ports of the Malay Peninsula such as Langkasuka and Kelantan. After the tenth century, ships from China began to trade at these eastern trading posts and ports. Kedah and Funan were famous ports throughout the 6th century, before shipping began to use the Strait of Malacca itself as a trade route.