Today, we rely on GPS, satellite images and the ease of access to all this information via the Internet. You can see the precise geography of anywhere in the world simply by having a connection to the web. However, it wasn’t always the case. Because of this, it was not uncommon that people believed many continents existed based purely on rumors.

The concept of Australia originated like this. The name comes from Terra Australis, the way the continent was called before being properly discovered and mapped. People believed there was a continent there even though nobody had gone there to check it out!

It started with Aristotle, who said that just as there was the European continent in the Northern Hemisphere, there should also be an equivalent mass of land in the Southern Hemisphere. Over the years, this hypothetical continent was given the name Terra Australis, which means “land to the south”. This gigantic continent would begin in the vicinity of southern Africa and continued as far as we now know where Australia is. In the West, a piece of Terra Australis would touch South America.

The layout of Terra Australis on the map is very reminiscent of how Antarctica is represented in the Mercator projection. Incidentally, on this map you can also see several strips of land nonexistent in the Arctic.

The search for Terra Australis motivated a number of great voyages over the 16th and 17th centuries. This was the motivating factor of navigator James Cook’s journey, which culminated in the discovery of a number of territories in Polynesia, New Zealand and Australia. Right here in the recent stops of the Orient Expedition!

Over the years, more and more findings surprise the global community. If you like History or Geography, seek a course in this market with Estacio.