Southeast Asia: Did you mean...?

Disregarding the extremely inhospitable spots even the most stubborn of us have enough common sense to avoid, humans have managed to cover an extraordinary amount of territory on this earth. Go back 200,000 years, however, and Homo sapiens...

Map of Asia Minor in the early 1st century CE with the Kingdom of Commagene as a Roman client state.

This map shows the boundaries of all major civilizations in East Asia at the beginning of the first millennium, with italics indicating nomadic bands and other tribal societies.

This map shows all major civilizations of East Asia at the beginning of 4th century CE. Italicized texts indicate nomadic bands or tribal societies.

A map of East Asia showing China, Korea and Japan.

This map shows the territories of all major civilizations in East Asia in the year 500 CE. Italicized texts indicate nomadic bands or tribal societies.

This map shows all major civilizations of East Asia at the beginning of the 3rd century CE. Italicized texts indicate nomadic bands or tribal societies.

The Dutch East India Company (VOC) was formed in 1602 by the Staten-Generaal (States General) of the then Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. The company was granted a 21-year charter with rights to trade exclusively in Asia and to...

The Portuguese colonised Malacca (modern Melaka) on the southwest coast of the Malay peninsula from 1511 and kept it until 1641 when the Dutch took over. The port controlled the Malay Straits which lead from the Indian Ocean (the Andaman...

Admiral Zheng He (aka Cheng Ho, c. 1371-1433 CE) was a Chinese Muslim eunuch explorer who was sent by the Ming dynasty emperor Yongle (r. 1403-1424 CE) on seven diplomatic missions to increase trade and secure tribute from foreign powers...