Maris Pacifici, more accurately named the ''Descriptio Maris Pacifici'' ("Description of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

"), was the first dedicated map of the Pacific to be printed. It is considered an important advancement in

cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an i ...

. This map was drawn by Abraham Ortelius in 1589, based upon a map of America from the same year that was drawn by

Frans Hogenberg Frans Hogenberg (1535–1590) was a Flemish and German painter, engraver, and mapmaker. Hogenberg was born in Mechelen in Flanders as the son of Nicolaas Hogenberg.

. Some details of the map may have been influenced by an 1568 description of Japan in a manuscript by Vaz Dourado, rather than a map, hence its peculiar shape.Swaen old maps High resolution zoomable image Ortelius, Abraham Maris Pacifici
/ref> The landmass illustrated to the south of all of the Pacific and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

is a representation of

Terra Australis (Latin: '"Southern Land'") was a hypothetical continent first posited in antiquity and which appeared on maps between the 15th and 18th centuries. Its existence was not based on any survey or direct observation, but rather on the idea that ...

References

{{Reflist Ocean maps Historic maps of the Americas Pacific Ocean 16th-century maps and globes Early modern Netherlandish cartography

See also

References