Who first coined the name ‘Australia’?

Jafato

English researcher Matthew Flinders in 1814 http://www.australienbilder.de/e-gesch.htm Nov 12 08, 6:45 PM

deepakmr

Matthew Flinders, the first person known to have circumnavigated Australia popularised the use of the word Australia in his 1814 work 'A Voyage to Terra Australis'. However, the first use of the word "Australia" in English was in 1625, in "A note of Australia del Espiritu Santo", written by Master Hakluyt. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia#Etymology Nov 12 08, 8:00 PM

author

Flinders was not the first to use the word "Australia" (see the Australia article on that). He owned a copy of Alexander Dalrymple's 1771 book An Historical Collection of Voyages and Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean, and it seems likely he borrowed it from there, but he applied it specifically to the continent, not the whole South Pacific region. In 1804 he wrote to his brother: "I call the whole island Australia, or Terra Australis" and later that year he wrote to Sir Joseph Banks and mentioned "my general chart of Australia." That 92cm x 72cm chart, made that year, was the first time the name Australia was used on a map, a map he had began while imprisoned by the French in Mauritius. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Flinders#Naming_Australia Nov 12 08, 8:34 PM