Who or what was Australia named after?

Stew54

I think it was originally referred to as "unknown southern land" (terra australis incognita) Jan 09 04, 11:17 AM

rlaj

I have an 1857 geography book and it lists the "chief islands of Australasia" as "New Holland or Australia, New Guinea and New Zealand". So maybe it was called New Holland at some point. It is an original and is kind of falling apart. It's very interesting and is titled "World As It Is, and As It Has Been or a Comprehensive Geography and History, Ancient and Modern" by S.G. Goodrich published 1855 by J.M. Colton and Co, New York Jan 09 04, 12:08 PM

romeomikegolf

Australis is a Latin word for southern, so Australia is a derivation of Southern Land Jan 10 04, 2:28 AM

orificerod

It certainly was called New Holland for a long time, originally founded by the Dutch in the 1600's, and only changed to Australia when the British settled. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Holland_%28Australia%29 Dec 09 07, 5:57 AM

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