Terra Australis Incognita

Historic name for a vast continent that was commonly believed to lie beyond the ocean of the southern hemisphere, as a counterpart to the land masses of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The belief was held by the geographers of antiquity and the Middle Ages, and was only finally exploded by Captain James Cook in the late 18th century.

As late as the 16th century, Terra Australis Incognita was believed to stretch in a solid mass as far north as Tierra del Fuego. Discoveries by Ferdinand Magellan, Francis Drake, Luis Vaez de Torres, Abel Janszoon Tasman, and other explorers gradually brought about a realization that this supposed landmass did not exist. Finally, Cook ascertained the limits of Australia and of the Antarctic continent and proved the original theory entirely false.