Indonesia. The term is sometimes used to refer to all of Southeast Asia. Historically, it referred chiefly to India.

EastIndian East Indian adj. & n.

 

A loosely defined region in southeast Asia comprising the countries of Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia. The islands of the East Indies extend for about 2800 mi (4500 km) from western Sumatra to New Guinea. They form part of a region of great geological and biological diversity.

Three broad geographic subdivisions can be made: (1) Sundaland, which comprises the shallow marine Sunda Shelf, peninsular southeast Asia, and the islands west of the Makassar and Lombok straits; (2) northern Australia, which includes the shallow marine Sahul and Arafura shelf areas and islands surrounding northern Australia and New Guinea; and (3) Wallacea, which comprises the islands south of the Philippines between Sundaland and northern Australia. Each division is an important geomorphological and biological region. The boundaries of Sundaland and northern Australia can be drawn at the 660-ft (200-m) bathymetric contour. Deep trenches with depths averaging 5 mi (8 km) border the margins of Sundaland with the Indian Ocean, and northern Australia with the Pacific Ocean. In contrast, within the area of Wallacea there are a number of deep troughs, and there are large variations in relief with volcanic and nonvolcanic mountains, typically up to 6600–9900 ft (2000–3000 m) in height, separated by deep marine basins underlain by extended continental and oceanic crust with depths of several kilometers. See also Asia; Australia.

At present, almost all the islands lie in a belt close to the Equator within the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). An equatorial climate prevails, with high rainfall and, except at higher elevations, high temperatures throughout the year. Diurnal variations are greater than the difference of mean temperatures of the hottest and coldest months. High relative humidity is normal in most lowland regions. Regionally, there are significant variations in rainfall, reflecting topography and position with respect to major landmasses and oceans, and each island's climate can be different. Borneo is the only large island within which there is broadly an ever-wet tropical climate. See also Climatology; Tropical meteorology.

The shallow seas with narrow deep-water passages of Wallacea mean that the region is particularly important for oceanic circulation. The Indonesian throughflow is a current to the Indian Ocean which transports large amounts of warm water from the Pacific, influencing sea surface temperatures, salinity, and rainfall. The magnitude and variations of this current are important controls on the thermohaline balance of the Pacific and Indian oceans, and perhaps on global thermohaline circulation. Most water passes from the North Pacific via the Celebes Sea, Makassar Strait, Flores Sea, and Banda Sea. See also Equatorial currents; Ocean circulation.

The East Indies are characterized by intensely active seismicity and volcanic activity. The correlation of seismicity, volcanicity, deep trenches, and strong negative gravity anomalies along the Sunda and Banda arcs was noted long before the formulation of the theory of plate tectonics; these are now known to be features characteristic of the subduction of oceanic lithosphere. The history of convergence of the Pacific, Indian-Australian, and Asian plates offers a broad explanation of the geological development and complexity of the region, but many small plates also need to be considered. However, the full details of the development of the region are still far from understood because of its size, relative inaccessibility, and the nature of the terrain. See also Continental drift; Geodynamics; Plate tectonics.

The entire region is immensely rich in natural resources, in particular petroleum, minerals, and timber. Petroleum has been produced in large quantities on land in Sumatra, Borneo, and the Bird's Head of New Guinea since the mid-twentieth century. Most oil and gas provinces are in Cenozoic basins, and in the late 1990s the East Indies provided about 5% of annual world oil production. In recent years, exploration and production has moved offshore and is increasingly moving into deeper waters. Many parts of the region have considerable potential for geothermal energy production. Mineral production has been historically important, with major discoveries of tin, gold, and nickel. The late-twentieth-century discovery of major mineral deposits in the northern New Guinea margin suggests that the young island arcs of the region will continue to be targets for exploration, and large deposits are likely to be found both on and off shore.

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - Ostindien

Deutsch (German)
n. - Ostindien

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮איי הודו המזרחיים‬

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