What is Megallanica?
Megallanica is a giant continent covering a wide area of the Southern Hemisphere, drawn on world maps made in Europe from the 16th to the 18th century. It was also called, in Latin, “the unknown southern land” (Terra Australis Incognita).
Why was it drawn on maps?
Since ancient Greek times, people believed there must be a large continent in the south to balance the continents of the Northern Hemisphere. When Magellan passed through the strait at the southern tip of South America in 1520, the land seen to the south (Tierra del Fuego) was thought to be part of the southern continent, and it came to be called “Megallanica” (Magellan’s land) after him. It is drawn large on maps such as Ortelius’s world map.
A continent erased by exploration
Later voyages showed that Tierra del Fuego was an island, and James Cook’s voyages in the late 18th century confirmed that no giant continent spread across the southern seas. The real continent of Antarctica was confirmed in the 19th century, and Megallanica vanished from the maps. It even appears on Prince Shotoku’s globe, which helps date that object.
