Sunda Islands

SUNDA ISLANDS, the collective name of the islands in the Malay Archipelago which extend from the Malay Peninsula to the Moluccas. They are divided into the Great Sunda Islands — i.e. Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes, Banka and Billiton, with their adjacent islands — and the Little Sunda Islands, of which the more important are Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba and Timor. Sunda Strait is the channel separating Sumatra from Java and uniting the Indian Ocean with the Java Sea. It is 15 m. broad between the south-eastern extremity of Sumatra and the town of Anjer in Java. In the middle is the low-lying well-wooded island of Dwars-in-den-Weg (" right in the way "), otherwise Middle Island or Sungian. In 1883 Sunda Strait was the scene of the most terrific results of the eruption of Krakatoa (?.».), a volcanic island further west in the strait.