Critical Thinking Questions   Map List       If you'd like to print out this page, click the Print button above. Alternatively, you may click the printer icon on your browser's toolbar, or choose File>Print from the menu.     1. In what ways could geographical proximity of colonies have been important for the colonizing powers? What would be the advantages and disadvantages to having colonies close together? What would be the advantages and disadvantages to having them spread throughout the region? 2. Look at the Straight of Malacca, the narrow strip of ocean between Malacca and Malaya. This was a preferred route for shipping once steamships became common in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Why would Britain be concerned about controlling the Straight of Malacca? 3. Using information you find in your text, in the library, and on the Internet, summarize at least two wars that occurred in Southeast Asia that were at least partially due to colonialism.