<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (March 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Early traders from Arabia, Africa, Persia, and the Southern Indian kingdoms reached Kedah before arriving at Guangzhou . Kedah served as a western port on the Malay Peninsula . They traded glassware, camphor, cotton goods, brocades, ivory, sandalwood, perfume, and precious stones . These traders sailed to Kedah via the monsoon winds between June and November . They returned between December and May . Kedah provided accommodations, porters, small vessels, bamboo rafts, elephants, and also tax collections for goods to be transported overland toward the eastern ports of the Malay Peninsula such as Langkasuka and Kelantan . After the Tenth Century, ships from China began to trade at these eastern trading posts and ports . Kedah and Funan were famous ports through the 6th century, before shipping began to utilize the Strait of Malacca itself as a trade route . </P> <P> In the 7th century the maritime empire of Srivijaya based on Palembang, Sumatra, rose to power, and its influence expanded to the Malay peninsula and Java . The empire gained effective control on two major choke points in maritime Southeast Asia; the Strait of Malacca and the Sunda Strait . By launching a series of conquests and raids on potentially rival ports on both side of the strait, Srivijaya ensured its economic and military domination in the region lasted for about 700 years . Srivijaya gained a great benefit from the lucrative spice trade, the tributary trade system with China, and trade with Indian and Arab merchants . The Strait of Malacca became the important maritime trade route between India and China . The importance of the Strait of Malacca in global trade networks continued well into later centuries with the rise of the Malacca Sultanate in the 15th century, the Johor Sultanate, and the rise of the modern city - state of Singapore . </P> <P> Since the 17th century, the strait has been the main shipping channel between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean . Different major regional powers managed the straits during different historical periods . </P>

Where is the strait of malacca located on a world map