The New World (green) as distinguished from the Old World (gray).

The New World is one of the names used for the non-Eurasian/non-African parts of the Earth, specifically the Americas and Australia. When the term originated in the late 15th century, the Americas were new to the Europeans, who previously thought of the world as consisting only of Europe, Asia, and Africa (collectively, the Old World). The term "New World" should not be confused with "modern world"; the latter generally refers to a historical period, not a landmass.

Origin

In 1493, Christopher Columbus returned to Spain from his first voyage to the Americas, and on 1 November that year Peter Martyr d'Anghiera referred to Columbus in a letter as the discoverer of "the New World" (novi orbis).^[1] In another letter a year later he again referred to "the New World" (orbo novo).^[2] In 1516, Martyr published a work whose title began De orbe novo ("On the New World"). In 1524, the term was also used by Giovanni da Verrazzano in a record of his voyage that year along the coast of what would later become the United States and Canada.^[3]

Currently, one might speak of the "New World" in a historical context when discussing the voyages of Christopher Columbus, the Spanish conquest of Yucatán, and other events contemporaneous to the term; additionally, the term "New World" is sometimes used in a biological context, when one speaks of Old World and New World species.

While the term "New World" always encompasses the Americas, Australasia may only be described as "New" in certain contexts. In a biological context, Australasia is neither New World nor Old, as flora and fauna differ markedly from both those of Eurasia and of the Americas.

Long before Columbus, legends existed in Europe of Western continents across the sea. Examples include: the Norse Great Ireland or Hvítramannaland ("White Men's Land"); the "abode of saints" visited by St. Brendan, Abbot of Cluainfert, documented in the Irish Book of Lismore; the Welsh Legend of Madoc; and Plato's Atlantis. See the article Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact for more details.

See also

• Abya Yala
• Western Hemisphere
• Eastern Hemisphere
• History of the west coast of North America
• New world order
• Codex canadiensis
• Colonialism
• Roanoke Island
• Australia
• Old World
• 1421 Hypothesis
• Columbian Exchange
• Columbus's Letter on the First Voyage

References

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