The New Student's Reference Work/Malakka

Malakka (mȧ-lăk′ȧ) or the Malay Peninsula is the long strip extending from Indo-China southward toward Sumatra. The peninsula begins at the head of the Gulf of Siam, and includes parts of Siam and Burma, covering 75,000 square miles. There are mountain-ranges, covered with forests, running the entire length of the peninsula, with peaks from 6,000 to 8,000 feet in height. The camphor, ebony, teak, sandalwood, cinnamon, rattan, cocoa and nutmeg are the more valuable trees. Malakka is the largest tin-yielding region in the world, and gold, silver, iron and coal are found, though the mines are not much developed. The crops are rice, sugarcane, cotton, tobacco, yams and cocoanuts. Population 95,657. Malakka is the name also of the British settlement in the southwestern part of the peninsula and of its capital. In 1867 Malakka (with Penang) and the island of Singapore were transferred from the Indian government of Britain to the control of the British secretary of state for the colonies, under the designation of the Straits Settlement, and erected into a crown colony. The seat of government is the town of Singapore. Christmas Island and Cocos Islands have since been attached to the Straits Settlements.