• Indochina
• Words to Know: Southeast Asia
• The Malay Peninsula and Archipelago
• Angkor Wat
• Australia and the Pacific
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The mainland of Southeast Asia is tucked between India in the west and China to the north; hence the name "Indochina," applied to much of the region. India and China were also Southeast Asia's primary cultural influences. But with the spread of Islam to the region during the Middle Ages, a third influence made itself known, primarily in the adjoining Malay Archipelago.

Indochina

China's first imperial dynasty in the 200s B.C. claimed three loosely defined provinces along the South China Sea coast in...