16th century map of the world. Published around 1590, this map shows the known world, including the new lands being discovered by Europeans exploring

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16th century map of the world. Published around 1590, this map shows the known world, including the new lands being discovered by Europeans exploring across the Atlantic and far to the East around Africa. It forms part of a portolan atlas (a collection of navigational charts) by the cartographer Joan Oliva, who was active from 1580- 1615. A central compass rose lies at the meeting point of the Greenwich Meridian and the equator, and lines of longitude are seen radiating from the poles. Although the land shapes are distorted, and the map incorrectly shows southern Asia attached to North America (far left), maps like this were among the best available at the time.

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Size: 3417px × 2384px
Photo credit: © LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, GEOGRAPHY AND MAP DIVISION/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 1500s, 1590, 16th, age, ages, america, american, americas, asia, asian, cartography, century, colonialism, colonies, colony, continent, continental, continents, discovery, dutch, empire, eurasian, exploration, french, geographical, geography, historical, history, joan, map, medieval, middle, north, oliva, south, spanish, world