Mercator's map of Europe shows a clear water passage to the north of the landmass: the northeast sea passage that many explorers hoped would lead them to the East. They did not yet appreciate the icy conditions that prevail for most of the year nor the va

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Mercator's map of Europe shows a clear water passage to the north of the landmass: the northeast sea passage that many explorers hoped would lead them to the East. They did not yet appreciate the icy conditions that prevail for most of the year nor the vast ice-cap of the polar region. The existence of a great continent north of Asia (here named Terrae Polaris Pars) was disproved by the Swedish explorer Nils Nordenskjold only in 1878-79. Iceland, Greenland and the Faroes are marked, but also a mythical Frislant Island. What is probably Baffin Island, discovered in 1615-16 by the English explorer William Baffin, is labelled "Part of America".

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Size: 3742px × 3160px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: 1600, asia, cartography, europa, europe, european, geographical, geography, historical, history, map, mercator, mercatory