When Were CONTINENTS KNOWN TO BE CONTINENTS & GIVEN THEIR NAMES?

 

Continents were named gradually, with ancient roots for the Old World and European exploration defining the New World. Europe, Asia, and Africa were named in antiquity (by 500 BCE), while the Americas were named in 1507 after Amerigo Vespucci, and Australia was officially adopted in the early 19th century.  

Key Naming Origins and Timeframes:

• Europe (c. 6th century BCE): Named in Greek writings, likely originating from Greek mythology (Princess Europa) or Akkadian words for "sunset" or the west.
• Asia (c. 440 B.C.): First used in Greek texts for Anatolia, likely deriving from local Anatolian terms before expanding to the whole continent
  .
Africa (Antiquity): Originally applied by Romans to the Carthage area (modern Tunisia), it was slowly extended to the whole continent.
Americas (1507): Named by German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller in a 1507 map to honor Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci.
Antarctica (Late 1800s): Named from the Greek for "opposite the Arctic," recognized as a continent in the 19th/20th century.
Australia (1824): Derived from the Latin Terra Australis (Southern Land). It was championed by Matthew Flinders and adopted by the British Admiralty in 1824. 

The word "continent" itself was used from the 16th century to mean a continuous tract of land.