How did the names Africa, Australia, America, Europe, Antarctica come about?

The history of the name of the continent Africa has two versions:

First, in ancient Carthage, “afri” was the name given to people who lived in the suburbs. Translated from the Phoenician afar is dust. After the invasion of the Roman conquerors to Carthage, the province was called Africa. The name stuck and later all regions of the continent were called so.

The second: from the Arabic “Farik” – to divide, separate. Arab explorers knew that Asia and Africa were separated by the Red Sea. After the transformation, the name of the fourth continent appeared – “Ifrikia”. As a result of the difficulties of translating the word into different languages, “Africa” ​​appeared.

Australia is a country in the Southern Hemisphere. From Latin “australis” is translated as “southern”. For the first time, Ptolemy of Alexandria spoke about the distant continent, calling it Terra Australis incognita – “Unknown Southern Land”.

In 1813, the English traveler Matthew Flinders wrote a book about his voyage around the continent, which was called “Journey to Terra Australis”. In 1824 the British Admiralty officially adopted the name “Australia”.

America or as it was called in Europe – the New World. The continent was discovered by Columbus, but got its name in honor of another navigator – Amerigo Vespucci. In 1501-1502, he sailed to the shores of Brazil, the traveler outlined his impressions in notes that became popular. Amerigo named the land he discovered – New World. In 1507, the cartographer Martin Waldseemüller mapped the continent and named it America, after Vespucci.

The history of Europe is associated with mythological heroes. Zeus fell in love with the beautiful Europa, the daughter of the Phoenician king. The God of Olympus wanted to marry his beloved, but her father was against it. Then Zeus kidnapped Europa and brought it to Crete. Local residents began to call their lands Europe, and in the course of travel, the borders moved further and further. Europe took its final shape only in the middle of the 18th century.

The name Antarctica comes from the word “Antarctica”, which came to us from the Greek language and means “opposite to the Arctic”.