Directions;
Map of the World: 1482
http://www. ibiblio.org/expo/1492.exhibiv/full-images/world.gif
‘This German map was created ten years before Columbus set sail on his first voyage.
Claudius Ptolemy originally drew the map in the second century CE, and it remained
popular until the Age of Exploration, when explorers began to redraw Europe’s view of
the world.
Look carefully at the map. It does not include the “New World,” since this area was
unknown to Europeans when the map was created. Europe is in the northwest, Africa is
in the west and southwest, Southeast Asia is in the southeast, and Siberia and China are in
the northeast.
‘Compare this map to a modern map that shows the actual layout of the earth's continents
and bodies of water. Answer the following questions:
1. What do you notice that’s different about the Indian Ocean on the 1482 map? What
does this difference suggest about European geographical knowledge in 1482?
2. Which part of the world seems to be the most accurately represented on the 1482
map? Why do you think this is the case?
3. It’s not easy to tell on this map, but the Eastem Hemisphere is depicted as being
much wider from east to west than it really is (180 degrees longitude rather than 105).
Columbus would have been familiar with this map and would have assumed it to be
realistic, He would also have known that the earth was a total of 360 degrees all the
way around (contrary to popular myth, he did not believe the earth was flat)
You know that Columbus was trying to find a passage to Asia across the Atlantic and
that when he arrived in the West Indies, he first thought he was in Asia, How might
this map have helped lead him to the false conclusion that he was in Asia rather than
in a“New World”?7
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Martin Waldseemiiller’s World Map, 1507:
hupui/www.bell Jib.umn.edu/map/WALD/WAL Lindexww.html
You can click on the map to enlarge it.
4, What major part of the world is on this map that wasn’t on the first map you looked
at? Why do you think this is?
5. How does the Indian Ocean differ in appearance from the way it looked in the
previous map you saw?
6. What do you notice about the shape of Africa on this map, as compared to the
previous map you looked at? Why do you think this is?
7. Does Antarctica appear on this map? Why or why not?
Cornelius Wytfliet’s World Map, 1597:
http:/hwww.printsellers.com/antique_maps/worldmaps/pages/details_wytflietworld.html
8. How long after the Waldseemiiller map was this one created?
9. What major differences do you notice between this map and the Waldseemiiller map?
List at least five.