Malacca, or MALAY PENINSULA, anciently known as the GOLDEN CHERSONESE, the long strip of land extending from Indo-China south and southeast towards Sumatra. The peninsula begins geographically at the head of the Gulf of Siam, and thus includes part of Siam proper and the British province of Tenasserim in Burma; but it is usual to limit the name to the portion south of the river Pakshan, the frontier of Tenasserim. In the larger sense Malacca extends from 13° 30' to 1° 16' N. lat., and its area is 75,000 sq. m., of which 40,000 belong to Siam, and the remainder to the Straits Settlements (q.v.) and their dependencies, the protected states. The width varies from 44 miles at the isthmus of Kra (q.v.) to 210 at Perak. The interior consists mainly of magnificently-wooded mountain-ranges, disposed parallel to the long axis of the peninsula, some of whose peaks attain a height of 6000 to 7000 feet (Mount Riam is at least 8000 feet), while along the coast there are mangrove swamps, half-a-dozen miles deep, backed by low fertile plains reaching to the mountains. Amongst the more valuable of the trees are ebony, camphor, teak, sandalwood, cinnamon, rattan, cocoa, areca, and other palms, nutmeg, &c. The rivers are short and of little use for navigation. A double belt of islands runs along parts of both coasts. The peninsula is the richest tin-yielding region in the world (see TIN). The tin ore occurs in conjunction with gold and silver, both extracted; iron and coal exist, the former in great quantity, but neither mineral is worked. The forests and mountains shelter numerous varieties of wild animals, as the tiger, rhinoceros, tapir, elephant, hog, buffalo, monkeys, &c., and many beautiful birds. The climate is pretty uniform all the year round. The low districts are hot and moist, and neither they nor the highlands are healthy for Europeans. Rain falls on 190 days in the year. The thermometer ranges from 70° to 90° F. Pop. 1,200,000—800,000 in British territory and dependencies. They are mainly Siamese in the north, civilised Malays (q.v.) along the coast and in the south, and uncivilised Malays, mixed with aboriginal Negrito tribes, in the interior. The crops chiefly cultivated are rice, sugar-cane, cotton, tobacco, yams, batata, and cocoa and areca nuts. Politically, Siam extends as far south as 5° 30' on the west coast, and to 4° on the east coast, and includes the tributary states of Ligor, Senggora, Patani, Kelantan, Tringgau, and Kemaman. The southern portion embraces the British settlements Penang, Malacca, and Singapore, all treated in separate articles, and the protected states—Perak, Selangor, Sungei
Ujong, the Negri Sembilan states, Pahang and Johore, for which see JOHORE and STRAITS SETTLEMENTS; Mrs Bishop's Golden Chersonese (1883), Keane's Malay Peninsula (1887), and Guillemand's Malaysia (1895); and Rathborne's Camping in Malaya (1898).