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Certainly you have found yourself looking at the world map and its continents, countries and capitals. The cartographic representation of our planet is also called the terrestrial planisphere. In this article, you will see the origin of the world map, the year of its creation and other curiosities related to all the territories described by it.
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This information is essential for understanding how geographic spaces are organized, whether for school work or for setting up a travel itinerary. Check out more details now.
The origin of the world map
There is no certain date for the origin of the world map. However, it is known that cartography, which is the science that studies maps, follows the evolution of man since prehistory. For even before it was recognized as such, there were already small sketches of territories to guide men in the regions of fishing and hunting.
In what year was the world map created?
According to Jerry Brotton, author of the book ‘A history of the world in twelve maps’, by Zahar publisher, the first examples of maps “date back to the Upper Paleolithic period, 30 thousand years before Christ ”.
However, the material that comes closest to the world map was found in Babylon, still in the 7th and 6th centuries BC It was made of an unusual material: clay, since paper would only be invented many centuries later, in the first hundred years later of Christ.
It was the navigators who provided information to make this first world map in clay. The idea was represented by a territory surrounded by salt water from the oceans.
After that, the Greeks who were close to Sumeria, in Mesopotamia, ended up developing other techniques to represent the planet and became a reference in making maps.
The origin of the nomenclature mapa mundi comes from the Latin “mappa”, which means tablecloth or scarf, according to Brotton. The term “carte” comes in the French language which means “document”. In this way, the terms mapa mundi were influenced by several languages such as English, Spanish and Polish, as well as Russian and Italian.
The world map itself, as we know it today, has some origins described by the literature. The first would be in 1507, when the German Martin Waldseemüller designed the world with two sides: the West and the East.
It was also he who spoke the term America for the first time, referring to the territory “discovered” by Europeans in the late Middle Ages and early Modern Age. The second hypothesis attributes to the Italian spy Alberto Cantino who would have made a world map in 1502.
How many and what are the continents of the world map?
The modern world map currently has five continents. They are: America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania and Antarctica. But it was not always so. There is a theory called Pangea, which states that all continents were once one, or at least were very close to each other.
The idea came with Abraham Ortelius in 1596. He claimed that America and Africa were already glued and later “cut out” and to prove his theory he showed how the shape of both without fitting together like a “puzzle”.
But only in 1912, the German meteorologist Alfred Lothar Wegener disseminated this idea, mainly with the comparison of fossils of the same species found in both the African and American continents.
As a result, Pangeia’s theory gained strength, as these species would be unable to cross the entire ocean to exist on both continents. This was the proof that science was looking for to affirm that one day these lands were one.
Years later, South African geologist Alfred Wegener suggested that this ancient world first split into two: Gondwana and Laurasia and that they had split into five others due to the movements of the tectonic plates which, by the way, to this day they drag the continents.
World Map: Countries and Capitals
American continent
The American continent is known as the New World. It remained so during European expeditions to newly discovered lands as early as the late Middle Ages. Most of it was colonized by Spaniards, English and Portuguese.
Check Countryaah now for the list of countries and their respective capitals, knowing that this continent is divided into South, North and Central America. Some regions form Latin America, although the latter is not a territory, but the gathering of Latin peoples from different regions of the continent.
- Canada, capital Ottawa
- United States, capital Washington
- Mexico, capital Mexico City
- Antigua and Barbuda, capital Saint John’s
- Bahamas, capital Nassau
- Barbados, capital Bridgetown
- Belize, capital Belmopan
- Costa Rica, capital San José
- Cuba, capital Havana
- Dominica, capital Roseau
- El Salvador, capital San Salvador
- Granada, capital Saint George’s
- Guatemala, capital of Guatemala City
- Haiti, capital Port-au-Prince
- Honduras, capital Tegucigalpa
- Jamaica, capital Kingston
- Nicaragua, capital Managua
- Panama, capital Panama City
- Dominican Republic, capital Santo Domingo
- Saint Lucia, capital Castries
- Saint Kitts and Nevis, capital Basseterre
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, capital Kingstown
- Trinidad and Tobago, capital Port of Spain
- Argentina, capital Buenos Aires
- Bolivia, capital La Paz
- Brazil, capital Brasília
- Chile, capital Santiago
- Colombia, capital Bogotá
- Ecuador, capital Quito
- Guyana, capital Georgetown
- Paraguay, capital Asunción
- Peru, capital Lima
- Suriname, capital of Paramaribo
- Uruguay, capital Montevideo
- Venezuela, capital Caracas
Alphabetical List of all countries in America, including North America and South America:
European continent
This is known as the Old Continent, although African is much older. Europe’s cultural capital, Europe was the home of several navigators, responsible for the colonization of many countries in the rest of the world.
Europe is also divided by regions: Western Europe, Northern Europe, Central-Eastern Europe and Southern Europe. See the countries and their respective capitals from bridgat.
- Albania, capital Tirana
- Germany, capital Berlin
- Andorra, capital Andorra la Vella
- Austria, capital Vienna
- Belgium, capital Brussels
- Belarus, capital Minsk
- Bosnia and Herzegovina, capital Sarajevo
- Bulgaria, capital Sofia
- Cyprus, capital Nicosia
- Cosovo, capital Pristina
- Croatia, capital Zagreb
- Denmark, capital Copenhagen
- Slovakia, capital Bratislava
- Slovenia, capital of Ljubljana
- Spain, capital Madrid
- Estonia, capital Tallinn
- Finland, capital Helsinki
- France, capital Paris
- Greece, capital Athens
- Hungary, capital Budapest
- Ireland, capital Dublin
- Iceland, capital of Reykjavik
- Italy, capital Rome
- Latvia, capital Riga
- Liechtenstein, capital Vaduz
- Lithuania, capital Vilnius
- Luxembourg, capital of Luxembourg
- Macedonia, capital Skopje
- Malta, capital Valletta
- Moldova, capital Quixinau
- Monaco, capital Monaco
- Montenegro, capital Podgoritsa
- Norway, capital Oslo
- Netherlands, capital Amsterdam
- Poland, capital Warsaw
- Portugal, capital Lisbon
- United Kingdom, capital London
- Czech Republic, capital Prague
- Romania, capital Bucharest
- Russia, capital Moscow
- San Marino, capital San Marino
- Serbia, capital Belgrade
- Sweden, capital Stockholm
- Switzerland, capital Bern
- Ukraine, capital Quieve
- Vatican, Vatican capital
Alphabetical List of all countries in Europe:
African continent
The African continent is believed to be the oldest of all. More than 300 thousand years ago, the first homo sapiens appeared and remained there until they started to migrate to other regions of the world. Discover your countries and capitals.
- South Africa, capitals: Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Cape Town
- Angola, capital of Luanda
- Algeria, capital Algiers
- Benin, capital Porto-Novo
- Botswana, capital Gaborone
- Burkina Faso, capital Ouagadougou
- Burundi, capital Bujumbura
- Cape Verde, capital Praia
- Cameroon, capital Yaoundé
- Chad, capital N’Djamena
- Comoros, capital Moroni
- Congo, capital Brazzaville
- Ivory Coast, capital Abidjan
- Djibouti, capital Djibouti
- Egypt, capital Cairo
- Eritrea, capital Asmara
- Ethiopia, capital Addis Ababa
- Gabon, capital Libreville
- Gambia, capital Banjul
- Ghana, capital Accra
- Guinea, capital Conakry
- Equatorial Guinea, capital Malabo
- Guinea-Bissau, capital Bissau
- Mauritius, capital Port Louis
- Lesotho, capital Maseru
- Liberia, capital Monrovia
- Libya, capital Tripoli
- Madagascar, capital of Antananarivo
- Malawi, capital Lilongwe
- Mali, capital Bamako
- Morocco, capital Rabat
- Mauritania, capital Nouakchott
- Mozambique, capital Maputo
- Namibia, capital Windhoek
- Niger, capital Niamey
- Nigeria, capital Abuja
- Kenya, capital Nairobi
- DR Congo, capital Kinshasa
- Central African Republic, capital Bangui
- Rwanda, capital Kigali
- São Tomé and Príncipe, capital São Tomé
- Senegal, capital Dakar
- Sierra Leone, capital Freetown
- Seychelles, capital Victoria
- Somalia, capital Mogadishu
- Swaziland, capital Mbabane and Lobamba
- Sudan, capital Khartoum
- South Sudan, capital Juba
- Tanzania, capital Dodoma
- Togo, capital Lomé
- Tunisia, capital Tunis
- Uganda, capital Kampala
- Zambia, capital Lusaka
- Zimbabwe, capital Harare
Alphabetical List of all countries in Africa:
Asian continent
Japan, China and India are also guardians of the oldest traditions in the world. Studies show that this continent of the world also has a remote origin. Their countries and capitals are:
- Afghanistan, capital Kabul
- Saudi Arabia, capital Riyadh
- Azerbaijan, capital Baku
- Bangladesh, capital Dhaka
- Bahrain, capital Manama
- Brunei, capital Bandar Seri Begawan
- Bhutan, capital Thimbu
- Cambodia, capital Phnom Penh
- Qatar, capital Doha
- Kazakhstan, capital Astana
- China, capital Beijing
- North Korea, capital Pyongyang
- South Korea, capital Seoul
- United Arab Emirates, capital Abu Dhabi
- Philippines, capital Manila
- Yemen, capital Sana’a
- India, capital New Delhi
- Indonesia, capital Jakarta
- Iran, capital Tehran
- Iraq, capital Baghdad
- Israel, capital Jerusalem
- Japan, capital Tokyo
- Jordan, capital Amman
- Kuwait, capital of Kuwait City
- Laos, capital Vientiane
- Lebanon, capital Beirut
- Malaysia, capital Kuala Lumpur
- Maldives, capital Male
- Myanmar, capital Nay Puy Taw
- Mongolia, capital Ulan Bator
- Nepal, capital Kathmandu
- Oman, capital Muscat
- Pakistan, capital Islamabad
- Kyrgyzstan, capital Bishkek
- Singapore, capital city of Singapore
- Syria, capital Damascus
- Sri Lanka, capital Colombo
- Tajikistan, capital Duchambe
- Thailand, capital Bangkok
- Taiwan, capital Taipei
- Timor-Leste, capital Dili
- Turkmenistan, capital Achkhabad
- Turkey, capital Ankara
- Uzbekistan, capital Tashkent
- Vietnam, capital Hanoi
Alphabetical List of all countries in Asia:
Continent of Oceania
Oceania is known as “Brand New World“. It is one of the most beautiful regions on the planet, with small countries and hundreds of islands. Countries and capitals are:
- Australia, capital Canberra
- Fiji Islands, capital Suva
- Marshall Islands, capital Majuro
- Solomon Islands, capital Honiara
- Kiribati, capital Taraua
- Micronesia, capital of Paliquir
- Nauru, capital Yaren
- New Zealand, capital Wellington
- Palau, capital Melequeoque
- Papua New Guinea, capital Port Moresby
- Samoa, capital Apia
- Tonga, capital Nucualofa
- Tuvalu, capital Funafuti
- Vanuatu, capital Porto-Villa
Alphabetical List of all countries in Oceania:
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