Srivijaya was centred in the coastal trading centre of present-day Palembang. Srivijaya was not a "state" in the modern sense with defined boundaries and a centralised government to which the citizens own allegiance. Rather Srivijaya was a confederacy form of society centred on a royal heartland. It was a thalassocracy and did not extend its influence far beyond the coastal areas of the islands of Southeast Asia. Trade was the driving force of Srivijaya just as it is for most societies throughout history. The Srivijayan navy controlled the trade that made its way through the Strait of Malacca.