Carrying Capacity of Malay Archipelago
- Thread starter Beedok
- Start date
Obviously volcanoes aren't automatic problem solver. Though Java is unique on how much of its soil is volcanic. Sumatra on the other hand, not lacking in volcanoes itself, has a lot more peat lands and old soil then Java. The only densely populated agrarian societies in Sumatra is Minangkabau and Batak, and for some reason they're not the island's power centers. The lowlands in the east are pretty much Malaysian in make up : small agriculture villages sparsely dotting arable areas broken up by jungles and peat lands dominated by thriving port cities. And back in the day, the lowlands were rather thinner.
javanese/ balinese migration
Any take on why Javanese/Balinese agriculture didn't make it to Papua New Guinea ? Not having visited java but have seen rice paddies in the mountainous Ubud ?
Any take on why Javanese/Balinese agriculture didn't make it to Papua New Guinea ? Not having visited java but have seen rice paddies in the mountainous Ubud ?
Fertility of soil is depdent on technology absent of natural causes. Also,You can have set of bunch of small rivers which are not noticeable by map nor by people in the forums which can function like the Yangtze as long the people knows how to harness those. You also got deep wells, etc.
That is why population can be brought, maintained or even expand in south east Asia regardless of number of volcanoes. Otherwise, if fertility is dependent on volcanoes even the Yangtze won't be able to maintain that kind of population.
That's why population has always been centered on where the politics lie. Otherwise you won't have mega cities like rome or Constantinople which doesn't have a huge river the size of Yangtze river nor large a large volcano within its area.
That is why population can be brought, maintained or even expand in south east Asia regardless of number of volcanoes. Otherwise, if fertility is dependent on volcanoes even the Yangtze won't be able to maintain that kind of population.
That's why population has always been centered on where the politics lie. Otherwise you won't have mega cities like rome or Constantinople which doesn't have a huge river the size of Yangtze river nor large a large volcano within its area.
Well, why not.
For some reason the ancestors of Javanese and Balinese didn't manage to set themselves up there. Though I bet there must be some who explored around the Banda Basin and visited Timor and Papua, but I think they got eaten.
Well, Java just got the bonanza of natural volcanic gifts while other islands simply didn't develop anything like terra pretta. I don't know if other islands could've matched Javanese population density, but I'm skeptical. But certainly they could've had a lot more people. With other islands though, the hurdle is a lot higher while on Java you can literally plant anywhere without paying much regard to rivers, which is why it was historically very hard to politically centralize the island, since while navigable rivers and access to foreign trade can give you an edge, it's not much. Java just has that much of natural blessings. In turn, volcanic explosion kills entire villages every once in generations.
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