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Etymology and terminology

The term "Malay Archipelago" was derived from the archaic European concept of a " Malay race " (a culturally-similar non-Oceanian subset of the Austronesian peoples), a racial concept proposed by European explorers based on their observations of the influence of the Srivijaya empire, which was based on the island of Sumatra. However, the Malay Archipelago does not include all islands inhabited by the Malay race such as Madagascar and Taiwan, and includes islands inhabited by Melanesians such as the Maluku Islands and New Guinea.

The 19th-century naturalist Alfred Wallace used the term "Malay Archipelago" as the title of his influential book documenting his studies in the region. Wallace also referred to the area as the "Indian Archipelago" and the "Indo-Australian Archipelago". He included the Solomon Islands and Malay Peninsula in the region due to physiographic similarities. As Wallace noted, there are arguments for excluding Papua New Guinea for cultural and geographical reasons: Papua New Guinea is culturally quite different from the other countries in the region, and it is geologically not part of the continent of Asia, as the islands of the Sunda Shelf are (see Australia).

The archipelago was called the " East Indies " from the late 16th century and throughout the European colonial era. It is still sometimes referred to as such, but broader usages of the "East Indies" term had included Indochina and the Indian subcontinent. The area is called " Nusantara " in the Indonesian language. The area is also referred to as the " Indonesian Archipelago ". The term " Maritime Southeast Asia " is largely synonymous, covering both the islands in Southeast Asia and nearby island-like communities, such as those found on the Malay Peninsula.