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A late 18th century map of maritime Southeast Asia by the French geographer Jacques Nicolas Bellin (1703–1772). The title refers to the ‘Stretto della Sonda’ (Sunda Strait), the strait between the islands of Sumatra and Java.

This map shows the islands of Java, Sumatra and Borneo, the straits of Sunda, Malacca and Bangka, and the Gulf of Siam. The points of the compass can be seen radiating out from a central compass rose.

The kingdoms of mid-18th century mainland Southeast Asia are shown on this map: Ava and Pegu (Myanmar), Siam (Thailand), Tonquin and Cochinchine (Vietnam), Camboie (Cambodia) and Laos. Rivers are also prominent, and mountains are shown pictorially.

The coast of New Guinea (‘Nouvelle Guinée’) is represented in part by a dotted line on this mid-18th century map, indicating that the exact coastlines were unknown at this time. The western tip is labelled ‘C. de Bonne Esperance [Cape of Good Hope]’.