The end of the Ice Age changed Southeast Asia in a very important way. During the Ice Age the sea was low, and a huge area of dry land joined the region together. This land is called Sundaland (Pentas Sunda).
Sundaland: one great land
Sundaland was an exposed continental shelf that connected the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and Borneo to mainland Asia as one continuous land. People and animals could walk freely across it to find food.
The sea floods the land
When the Ice Age ended and the sea rose, the low parts of Sundaland were slowly flooded. This changed the map of the region:
- The single landmass was broken into islands — the Malay Archipelago.
- The Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea covered the old dry land.
- New coastlines, rivers and swamps were formed.
Effects on people and nature
Groups of people were now separated by sea, and later travelled by boat instead of on foot. The warm, wet climate created rich tropical rainforests full of plants and animals. These new conditions shaped how the early people of Malaysia and the region lived. Because the region was now made of many islands and coasts, its people became skilled at fishing, sailing and trading across the water. This is one reason Southeast Asia later grew into a busy meeting place for different peoples and cultures.
Remember
- Sundaland joined the peninsula, Sumatra, Java and Borneo as one land.
- The rising sea flooded it, forming islands and the Strait of Malacca.
- People later travelled by boat and lived among tropical rainforests.