Kra Isthmus
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The Kra Isthmus is the narrow landbridge which connects the Malay Peninsula with the mainland of Asia. The east part of the landbridge belongs to Thailand, the west part belongs to the Tanintharyi division of Myanmar. To the west of the Isthmus is the Andaman Sea, to the east is the Gulf of Thailand.
The narrowest part between the estuary of the Kra River and the bay of Sawi near the city Chumphon has a width of 44 km, and has a maximum altitude of 75 m above sea level. The Isthmus is named after the city Kra Buri, in the Ranong province of Thailand, which is located at the west side of the narrowest part.
The Isthmus of Kra marks the boundary between two parts of the central cordillera, the mountain chain which runs from Tibet through all of the Malay peninsula. The southern part is called the Phuket chain, the northern part is the Tenasserim chain, which continues for 400 km until the Three Pagodas Pass.
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[edit] Kra Canal
- Further information: Thai canal
The Thai Canal (formerly known as Kra Canal) is a proposed canal from the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea via southern Thailand.
[edit] In popular culture
- In the Yoko Tsuno graphic novel Le Canon de Kra, the isthmus featured as the site for a large railway cannon.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] Further reading
- Abdullah MT. 2003. Biogeography and variation of Cynopterus brachyotis in Southeast Asia. PhD thesis. The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia.
- Corbet, GB, Hill JE. 1992. The mammals of the Indomalayan region: a systematic review. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
- Hall LS, Gordon G. Grigg, Craig Moritz, Besar Ketol, Isa Sait, Wahab Marni and M.T. Abdullah. 2004. Biogeography of fruit bats in Southeast Asia. Sarawak Museum Journal LX(81):191-284.
- Wilson DE, Reeder DM. 2005. Mammal species of the world. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC.
