The navigator Fernão de Magalhães was the first non-native to land in present-day Oceania – more specifically in the Mariana Islands –, in 1521. But the Portuguese only stopped by to collect supplies and died, in the same year, in the Philippines, without find out about the discovery – sponsored by the kingdom of Spain, he really wanted to find a new, faster route to the Indies.
From then on, the region was explored by the Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch, but none of the nations wanted to colonize the new continent. Until, in 1770, the Englishman James Cook took possession of Australia. Eighteen years later, the British sent 1,500 people – half of them criminals – to open a criminal colony there. The term “Oceania” only appeared in 1812, created by the Danish geographer Conrad Malte-Brun, to designate the continent that includes Australia and the adjacent islands in the South Pacific.
READ TOO:
– What were the Great Navigations?
– How was a sea voyage in the time of the discoveries?
– What are the biggest mistakes committed by great explorers?
– What is a round-the-world regatta like?