New World

The "New World" (Latin: Mundus novus) is an early modern term describing the majority of lands in the Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania. It was introduced in the early 16th century, during Europe's Age of Discovery, by Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci, who published the pamphlet Mundus novus, presenting his conclusion that the lands discovered west of the Atlantic Ocean (soon called America after Amerigo's name) constituted new continents.

This realization expanded the geographical horizon of earlier European geographers, who had thought that the world included only Africa, Asia, and Europe, which became collectively known as the "Old World".