What did the Dutch call Australia?
New Holland
After Dutch navigators charted the northern, western and southern coasts of Australia during the 17th Century this newly found continent became known as ‘New Holland’.
Did the Dutch discover Australia?
While Indigenous Australians have inhabited the continent for tens of thousands of years, and traded with nearby islanders, the first documented landing on Australia by a European was in 1606. The Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon landed on the western side of Cape York Peninsula and charted about 300 km of coastline.
What was Australia called before New Holland?
Terra Australis
After British colonisation, the name New Holland was retained for several decades and the south polar continent continued to be called Terra Australis, sometimes shortened to Australia.
What is the meaning of Terra Australis?
land of the south
With little or no evidence to confirm its existence, a vast southern continent (Terra Australis, “land of the south”) still figured prominently on European maps from the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries.
Did Vikings discover Australia?
There is evidence of Viking visits to Australia. They weren’t Norsemen. We call them Explorers in English, not Vikings. Until the British arrived, none of them stayed long enough to establish a settlement, not even the Makassans.
What did the Dutch say about Australia?
The Dutch didn’t give Australia to the British, since they never claimed it. Nevertheless, the Dutch have been exploring the Australian coast from 1606 onwards, and they called the newly discovered land “Nieuw Holland”. But they never had any intention to include Australia into the Dutch East Indies.
What is Terra Australis kids?
Terra Australis (Latin for South Land) is a hypothetical continent first posited in antiquity and which appeared on maps between the 15th and 18th centuries. This theory of balancing land has been documented as early as the 5th century on maps by Macrobius, who uses the term Australis on his maps.
Why did James Cook explore Terra Incognita Australis?
In 1768 Cook was chosen to lead an expedition to the South Seas to observe the Transit of Venus and to secretly search for the unknown Great Southern Continent (terra australis incognita).