Which continent is named after a country?

Answer 1

Australia and also Indian Subcontinent

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Actually, the continent of Australia is not named after the country. The country is named after the continent. The name "Australia" comes from the Latin term Terra Australis meaning "land of the south". Often known as Terra Australis Incognita, i.e. "the unknown land of the South", it was the name given to the unknown continent believed to exist south of the equator. This unknown land was included on European maps from the 15th to the 18th century. 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. He first proposed the name "Terra Australis" be adopted instead of "New Holland", the name by which the Dutch knew Australia, or "New South Wales", which Cook had named the eastern half when he claimed it for England. In 1814 when 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. Australia as a country was not officially named until the creation of the Commonwealth of Australia at Federation in 1901.

Answer 2

Australia is both a country and a continent, although the country comprises more than just the continent.