Dictionary of Meaning
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New World
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New World
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Image:CartedAmerique.jpeg thumb|right|257px|''Carte d'Amérique'', [[Guillaume Delisle, c. 1774]]
"The '''New World'''" is one of the names used for the
Americas American continents and adjacent islands collectively, since the
16th century. The Americas were at that time new to the
Europeans, who previously thought of the
world as consisting only of Europe,
Asia, and
Africa--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.
In recent decades, use of "New World" has been considered by some to be mildly offensive, due to the perceived implication that the European viewpoint is the only relevant or valid one. Thus, the term "New World" is now generally used only in limited contexts in some social circles. First, one might speak of the "New World" in a
history historical context, when discussing the voyages of
Christopher Columbus, the
Spanish conquest of Yucatán, etc. Second, in a
biology biological context, one speaks of Old World and New World species.
Another interpretation of the term is that the "New World" is "new" in the context of all humanity; as humans have developed and lived in the Old World for a far greater length of time than the Americas have been inhabited; thus, it would be said the first migrants to colonise the Americans had reached the "New World".
While
Americas America is always described as "New World",
Australasia can be described as either "Old World" or "New World" depending on the sphere of discourse, especially in the case of
New Zealand where the first human settlement only happened a small number of generations before Columbus reached the Americas. 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.
See also
*
Western Hemisphere
*
Eastern Hemisphere
Category:Americas
Category:Culture by region
Category:Human geography
Category:Country classifications
ang:NÄ«wa Woruld
de:Neue Welt
es:Nuevo Mundo
eo:Nova Mondo
fr:Nouveau Monde
it:Nuovo mondo
nl:Nieuwe Wereld
ja:新世界
pl:Nowy Åšwiat (geografia)
ru:Ð?овый Ñ?вет
simple:New World
sv:Nya världen
vi:Tân Thế giới
zh:新大陸
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