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Sumatra ((インドネシア語:Sumatera)) is an island in western Indonesia and part of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island that is entirely in Indonesia (two larger islands, Borneo and New Guinea, are shared between Indonesia and other countries) and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (including adjacent islands such as the Riau Islands and Bangga Belitung Islands). Sumatra is an elongated landmass spanning a diagonal northwest-southeast axis. The Indian Ocean borders the west, northwest, and southwest sides of Sumatra with the island chain of Simeulue, Nias and Mentawai bordering the southwestern coast. On the northeast side the narrow Strait of Malacca separates the island from the Malay Peninsula, an extension of the Eurasian continent. On the southeast the narrow Sunda Strait separates Sumatra from Java. The northern tip of Sumatra borders the Andaman Islands, while on the lower eastern side are the islands of Bangka and Belitung, Karimata Strait and the Java Sea. The Bukit Barisan mountains, which contain several active volcanoes, form the backbone of the island, while the northeast sides are outlying lowlands with swamps, mangrove and complex river systems. The equator crosses the island at its center on West Sumatra and Riau provinces. The climate of the island is tropical, hot and humid with lush tropical rain forest once dominating the landscape. Sumatra has a wide range of plant and animal species but has lost almost 50% of its tropical rainforest in the last 35 years, and many species are critically endangered such as the Sumatran Ground-cuckoo, Sumatran tiger, Sumatran elephant, Sumatran rhinoceros, and Sumatran orangutan. Deforestation on the island has also resulted in serious haze over neighbouring countries, such as the 2013 Southeast Asian haze causing considerable tensions with affected countries such as Malaysia and Singapore.〔http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/19/world/asia/singapore-haze/?hpt=hp_t3〕 ==Etymology== Sumatra was known in ancient times by the Sanskrit names of ''Swarnadwīpa'' ("Island of Gold") and ''Swarnabhūmi'' ("Land of Gold"), because of the gold deposits of the island's highland. The first word mentioning the name of ''Sumatra'' was the name of Srivijayan ''Haji'' (king) ''Sumatrabhumi'' ("King of the land of Sumatra"), who sent an envoy to China in 1017. Arab geographers referred to the island as ''Lamri'' (Lamuri, Lambri or Ramni) in the tenth through thirteenth centuries, in reference to a kingdom near modern-day Banda Aceh which was the first landfall for traders. Late in the 14th century the name Sumatra became popular in reference to the kingdom of Samudra Pasai, which was a rising power until it was replaced by Sultanate of Aceh. Sultan Alauddin Shah of Aceh, on letters written in 1602 addressed to Queen Elizabeth I of England, referred to himself as "king of Aceh and Samudra". The word itself is from Sanskrit "''Samudra''", (समुद्र), meaning "''gathering together of waters, sea or ocean''". European writers in the 19th century found that the indigenous inhabitants did not have a name for the island. 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「Sumatra」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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