SUNDA ISLANDS  , the collective name of the islands in the

Malay Archipelago which extend from the, Malay Peninsula to the Moluccas . They are divided into the Great Sunda Islands—i.e . Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes, Banka and Billiton, with their adjacent islands—and the Little Sunda Islands, of which the more important are Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba and Timor . Sunda Strait is the channel separating Sumatra from Java and uniting the Indian Ocean with the Java Sea . It is 15 1n. broad between the south-eastern extremity of Sumatra and the town of Anjer in Java . In the middle is the low-lying well-wooded island of Dwars-in-den-Weg (" right in the way "), otherwise Middle Island or Sungian . In 1883 Sunda Strait was the scene of the most terrific results of the eruption of Krakatoa (q.v.), a volcanic island further west in the strait .