Sumatra

“Sumatra: Island, West Indonesia. It is one of the Sunda Islands and the second-largest island of Indonesia. It is 1,060 miles (1,706 kilometers) long and 250 miles (400 kilometers) wide; a chief city is Palembang. Located on the seaborne trade routes, it had early contact with Hindu civilization. The kingdom of Srivijaya arose in the 7^th century and came to dominate much of the island. It fell under the Majapahit empire in the 14^th-16^th centuries. First the Portuguese, then the Dutch and English established forts there beginning in the 16^th century. It was occupied by Japan in World War II; in 1950 became part of the Republic of Indonesia. Its exports include rubber, tobacco, coffee, pepper, and timber products; mineral reserves include petroleum and coal.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.