Editing Asia (section)

=== Asia–Oceania boundary ===
[[File:Map of Sunda and Sahul.svg|left|thumb|upright=1.2|Definitions of the boundary between Asia and Oceania]]

The border between Asia and [[Oceania]] is usually placed somewhere in the [[Indonesian Archipelago]], specifically in [[Eastern Indonesia]]. The [[Wallace Line]] separates the Asian and [[Wallacea]] biogeographical realms, a transition zone of deep water straits between the Asian and Australian continental shelves. [[Weber's Line]] split the region in two with regard to the balance of fauna between Asian origin or Australo-Papuan origin.<ref name="Simpson-1977"/> Wallacea's eastern boundary with [[Australia (continent)|Sahul]] is represented by the [[Richard Lydekker|Lydekker's Line]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Islands under the sea: a review of early modern human dispersal routes and migration hypotheses through Wallacea |journal=The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=364–384 |year=2015 |doi=10.1080/15564894.2015.1119218 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287798057 |last1=Kealy |first1=Shimona |last2=Louys |first2=Julien |last3=o'Connor |first3=Sue |s2cid=129964987 |issn=1556-4894}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=New |first=T. R. |year=2002 |title=Neuroptera of Wallacea: a transitional fauna between major geographical regions |url=http://actazool.nhmus.hu/48Suppl2/newwallace.pdf |journal=Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae |volume=48 |issue=2 |pages=217–227}}</ref> The [[Maluku Islands]] (except the Aru Islands) are often considered to lie on the border of southeast Asia, with the [[Aru Islands]] and [[Western New Guinea]], to the east of the Lydekker's Line, being wholly part of Oceania, as both lie on the Australian continental plate.<ref name="Simpson-1977">{{cite journal |last=Simpson |first=George Gaylord |title=Too Many Lines; The Limits of the Oriental and Australian Zoogeographic Regions |journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society |publisher=American Philosophical Society |volume=121 |issue=2 |year=1977 |issn=0003-049X |jstor=986523 |pages=107–120}}</ref> Culturally, the Wallacea region denoted the transition between [[Austronesian people|Austronesian]] and [[Melanesian people]], with varying degrees of intermixing between the two. In general, the further west and coastal a region is, the stronger the Austronesian influences, and the further east and inland a region is, the stronger the Melanesian influences.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Jejak Pembauran Melanesia dan Austronesia |magazine=National Geographic |date=26 November 2015 |url=https://nationalgeographic.grid.id/read/13302465/jejak-pembauran-melanesia-dan-austronesia |language=id |access-date=11 June 2024}}</ref> The terms Southeast Asia and Oceania, devised in the 19th century, have had several vastly different geographic meanings since their inception. The chief factor in determining which islands of the Indonesian Archipelago are Asian has been the location of the colonial possessions of the various empires there (not all European). Lewis and Wigen assert, "The narrowing of 'Southeast Asia' to its present boundaries was thus a gradual process."<ref>{{harvnb|Lewis|Wigen|1997|pp=170–173}}.</ref>