Indochina

The Indochinese peninsula is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory to bordering countries. The term Indochina is also used in biogeography for the Indochinese Region, a major biogeographical region within the Indomalaya ecozone.

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Geography

In a strict sense, Indochina comprises the territory of the former French Indochina:

However, in a wider sense, the cultural region is better described as Mainland Southeast Asia in which sense it also includes:

Biogeography

The Indochinese Region is a major biogeographical region in the Indomalaya ecozone, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom. It includes the native flora and fauna of all the countries above. The adjacent Malesian Region covers the Maritime Southeast Asian countries, and straddles the Indomalaya and Australasian ecozones.

See also

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References