Maris Pacifici, more accurately named the ''Descriptio Maris Pacifici'' ("Description of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

"), was the first dedicated map of the Pacific to be printed. It is considered an important advancement in

cartography Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

. This map was drawn by

Abraham Ortelius Abraham Ortelius (; also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 152728 June 1598) was a cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer from Antwerp in the Spanish Netherlands. He is recognized as the creator of the list of atlases, first modern ...

in 1589, based upon a map of America from the same year that was drawn by

Frans Hogenberg Frans Hogenberg (1535–1590) was a Flemish-German painter, engraver, and mapmaker. Life Hogenberg was born in Mechelen in Flanders as the son of Nicolaas Hogenberg.

. Some details of the map may have been influenced by a 1568 description of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in a manuscript by Vaz Dourado, rather than a map, hence its peculiar shape. The landmass illustrated to the south of all of the Pacific and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

is a representation of

Terra Australis (Latin for ) was a hypothetical continent first posited in antiquity and which appeared on maps between the 15th and 18th centuries. Its existence was not based on any survey or direct observation, but rather on the idea that continental l ...

References

{{Reflist Ocean maps Historic maps of the Americas Pacific Ocean 16th-century maps and globes Early modern Netherlandish cartography 1589 works 1589 in science

See also

References