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Story: Early mapping

16th-century map of the Pacific

Drawn by Flemish cartographer Abraham Ortelius in 1589, this map has the anticipated southern continent running along the bottom. It was published in the 1595 edition of Ortelius’s Theatrum orbis terrarum.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: MapColl 910a/1589/Acc.35004

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Melanie Lovell-Smith, Early mapping – Early mappers: 1642–1800, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/zoomify/10758/16th-century-map-of-the-pacific (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Melanie Lovell-Smith, published 1 March 2009.