Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra has a wide range of plant and animal species but has lost almost 50% of its tropical rainforest in the last 35 years. Many species are now critically endangered, such as the Sumatran ground cuckoo, the Sumatran tiger, the Sumatran elephant, the Sumatran rhinoceros, and the Sumatran orangutan. Deforestation on the island has also resulted in serious seasonal smoke haze over neighbouring countries, such as the 2013 Southeast Asian haze which caused considerable tensions between Indonesia and affected countries Malaysia and Singapore. The widespread deforestation and other environmental destruction in Sumatra and other parts of Indonesia has often been described by academics as an ecocide.
Etymology
!Before it was known as Sumatra, the region was referred to as Melayu (also known as Malay in [English), named after the ancient Melayu Kingdom based in Jambi. The name Melayu appeared in early historical records, including inscriptions and Chinese chronicles, before being replaced by Sumatra in the 14th century.](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/MalayKingdomsen.svg/250px-MalayKingdomsen.svg.png)
Etymology
In the late 13th century, Marco Polo referred to the kingdom as Samara, while his contemporary fellow Italian traveller Odoric of Pordenone used the form Sumoltra. Later in the 14th century the local form "Sumatra" became popular abroad due to the rising power of the kingdom of Samudera Pasai and the subsequent Sultanate of Aceh.
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