New World

The "New World" (Latin: Mundus novus) is a term describing the majority of lands in the Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas. It was introduced in the early 16th century, during Europe's Age of Discovery, by Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci, who published the pamphlet Mundus novus, presenting his conclusion that the lands discovered west of the Atlantic Ocean (soon called America after Amerigo's name) constituted new continents.

This realization expanded the geographical horizon of earlier European geographers, who had thought that the world only included Africa, Asia, and Europe, which became collectively known as the "Old World".