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Piracy in the Strait of Malacca has for long been a threat to ship owners and the mariners who ply the 900 km-long (550 miles) sea lane. In recent years, coordinated patrols by Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore along with increased security on vessels have sparked a dramatic downturn in piracy, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).〔"Watchdog hails improved security in Malacca Strait; Increased patrols and other measures have cut number of pirate attacks", ''The Straits Times'', 23 January 2007.〕 The Strait of Malacca's geography makes the region very susceptible to piracy. It was and still is an important passageway between China and India, used heavily for commercial trade. The strait is on the route between Europe, the Suez Canal, the oil-exporting countries of the Persian Gulf, and the busy ports of East Asia. It is narrow, contains thousands of islets, and is an outlet for many rivers, making it ideal for pirates to hide in to evade capture. ==History== Piracy in the Strait of Malacca was not only a lucrative way of life but also an important political tool. Rulers relied on the region's pirates to maintain control. For example, it was through the loyalty of pirate crews made of Orang Laut people that the 14th-century Palembang prince Parameswara survived expansion attempts by neighbouring rulers and eventually went on to found the Sultanate of Malacca. Between the 15th and 19th centuries, Malaysian waters played a key role in political power struggles throughout Southeast Asia. Aside from local powers, antagonists also included such colonial powers as the Portuguese, Dutch and British. A record of foreign presence, particularly in the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca, is found today in the watery graves of sailing vessels lost to storms, piracy, battles, and poor ship handling.〔.〕 The 18th and 19th centuries saw an increase of piracy in the strait as European colonisers arrived in the region, spurred in part by the economic imperative to control the lucrative spice trade. According to Charles Corn, author of ''The Scents of Eden: A Narrative of the Spice Trade'', "Spices drove the world economies in those days the way oil does today."〔"A Taste for Adventure; Even the Most Familiar Jar in the Spice Rack Holds a History of Piracy, Shipwreck and Nation-Building", (''Chicago Tribune'' ), 18 April 2001.〕 The rapid increase in piracy gave James Brooke the opportunity to control piracy along a segment of coast in a way the British Empire and East India Company viewed as cost-effective, enabling himself and his descendants to reign as the White Rajahs of Sarawak. In the 1830s, the controlling colonial powers in the region, the British East India Company and the Dutch Empire, agreed to curb the rampant piracy. This decision, embodied in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 led to the creation of the British Straits Settlements of Malacca, Dinding, Penang, and Singapore, seats of British administration aimed at controlling piracy and enabling maritime trade. The British and Dutch empires effectively drew a demarcation line along the strait, agreeing to fight against piracy on their own side of the line. This line of demarcation would eventually become the modern-day border between Malaysia and Indonesia. Increased patrolling and superior seafaring technology on the part of the European powers, as well as improved political stability and economic conditions in the region, eventually allowed the European powers to greatly curb piracy in the region by the 1870s. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Piracy in the Strait of Malacca」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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