Where did the Australian territory get its name from?

Answer 1

The Australian continent was variously known as Locac or Lucach, India meridional (South India), Java le Grande and Terra Australis by Mercator (and others) in the latter half of the 1500s.

The name Australia is derived from the Latin phrase terra australis incognita meaning 'unknown south land' in reference to the as yet unknown land mass believed to lie in the south throughout the Middle Ages.

Portuguese sailor Pedro Fernández de Quirós (in portuguese Fernandes de Queirós), searched for this new land in 1606 while serving in the spanish navy, and called it Austrialia del Espíritu Santo or 'Great South Land of the Holy Spirit'. The word "Austrialia", slightly different from the current "Australia", was a mixture formed by "Austria" (the country of origin of the Habsburg dinasty) and "Austral" ("Southern"). In those times the current nations of Spain and Portugal were under the rule of the same crown. The word Austrialia was intended to be an homage to the ruling monarchs. Different variations on the name were used in many languages. There was, however, a German document dating back to 1545 describing a southern land mass as Australia.

(note the link below for a reference to this document)

The first use of the word "Australia" in English was in 1625-the words "A note of Australia del Espiritu Santo, written by Master Hakluyt.

Matthew Flinders, who was the first known European explorer to circumnavigate the Australian continent in 1802, is credited with assigning the name 'Australia' to this continent although it did not immediately receive universal approval. In 1814 when explorer Matthew Flinders published his work 'A Voyage to Terra Australis', he used the term 'Australia' within the book. Around 1818, Governor Lachlan Macquarie, arguably the most influential man in Australia at the time, also requested that the name "Australia" be officially ascribed.

The name 'Australia' was formally adopted in 1824.

Answer 2

Australia was previously known as New Holland and Terra Australis. In his published volumes A Voyage To Terra Australis on 18 July 1814 Sea explorer Matthew Flinders placed the name Australia in his accompanying map of the continent. In the introduction he wrote: 'Had I permitted myself any innovation upon the original term, it would have been to convert it into Australia; as being more agreeable to the ear, and as an assimilation to the names of the other great portions of the earth.' In 1817 Governor Macquarie of New South Wales received a copy of Flinders' book, and started to use 'Australia' in his official correspondence. During the 1820s the term came into common use.

Answer 3

Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory got their names from their relative locations on the map of Australia. The western half of Australia was originally called New Holland by Dirk Hartog. Queensland was named for the Queen (Victoria). Victoria was named for Victoria (the Queen). Tasmania was named for Abel Tasman who discovered Tasmania, New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji. Tasmania's previous name, Van Diemen's Land, was the name given to it by Tasman when he discovered it. New South Wales was the name given to the eastern part of Australia when it was discovered by Captain Cook in 1770.

Answer 4

Australia officially adopted its name upon the recommendation of Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of its first colony, New South Wales. Back then, the name referred only to the continent, as Australia was not yet a country. Macquarie had been campaigning for the adoption of the name Australia since it was first recommended by explorer Matthew Flinders, the first known European explorer to circumnavigate the continent and solve many of the mysteries associated with its borders, size and location. In his work published in 1814 - 'A Voyage to Terra Australis' - Flinders used the term 'Australia' on his charts.

Although the southern land mass was known variously as New Holland and Terra Incognita, and then New South Wales for the eastern side, the name Australia, which essentially means 'south' was already well used, though in different forms. Flinders's recommendation consolidated this way of thinking, and the English authorities duly adopted the name formally in 1824.

Answer 5

Austalia only gained its name as a country on 1 January 1901. The Commonwealth of Australia came into existence on this date when the six colonies that occupied the continent of Australia federated to become a single nation.

The name "Australia" was officially adopted as the name for the continent in 1824, but Australia was not a country back then.

Answer 6

by Charles Darwin.The famous explorer.

by Charles Darwin.The famous explorer.