Old World

For other uses, see Old World (disambiguation).

Map of the "Old World" (the Ptolemy world map in a 15th-century copy)

The Old World consists of Africa, Europe, and Asia, regarded collectively as the part of the world known to Europeans before contact with the Americas.^[1] It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the New World (Americas).^[2]

Etymology

In the context of archaeology and world history, the term "Old World" includes those parts of the world which were in (indirect) cultural contact from the Bronze Age onwards, resulting in the parallel development of the early civilizations, mostly in the temperate zone between roughly the 45th and 25th parallels, in the area of the Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, Persian plateau, India and China.

These regions were connected via the Silk Road trade route, and they have a pronounced Iron Age period following the Bronze Age. In cultural terms, the Iron Age was accompanied by the so-called Axial Age, referring to cultural, philosophical and religious developments eventually leading to the emergence of the historical Western (Hellenism, "classical"), Eastern (Zoroastrian and Abrahamic) and Far Eastern (Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism) cultural spheres.

History

The concept of the three continents in the Old World, viz. Asia, Africa, Europe goes back to classical antiquity. Their boundaries as defined by Ptolemy and other geographers of antiquity were drawn along the Nile and Don rivers. This definition remained influential throughout the Middle Ages (see T and O map) and the Early Modern period.

Other names

The mainland of Afro-Eurasia (excluding islands such as the British Isles, Japan, Sri Lanka, Madagascar and the Malay Archipelago) has been referred to as the World Island. The term may have been coined by Sir Halford John Mackinder in The Geographical Pivot of History.^[3]

References

↑ "Old World". Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
↑ "New world". Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
↑ See Francis P. Sempa, Mackinder's World

Continents of the world

Possible future supercontinents
Pangaea Ultima
Amasia
Novopangaea

See also Regions of the world
Continental fragment

Book
Category

Regions of the World

	Africa	Northern Maghreb Mediterranean Middle East Greater Middle East Sub-Saharan Western East Central Southern Horn Islands
	North America	Northern Pacific Northwest Northeastern United States New England Midwest Mid-Atlantic Western United States Southwest Mountain States South Central United States Southern United States East Coast West Coast Bible Belt Appalachia Great Lakes Eastern Canada Western Canada Northern Canada Atlantic Canada Northern Mexico Aridoamerica Caribbean West Indies Central Middle Mesoamerica Anglo French Latin (Hispanic)
	South America	Southern Northern (Guianan states) Western West Indies Patagonia Amazon Latin (Hispanic)
	Asia	Central Far East Russian Eastern Northeastern Southeastern Mainland Maritime Northern Siberia Southern Indian subcontinent Western South Caucasus Middle East Greater Middle East Near East Mediterranean Asia-Pacific

	Europe	Central Northern Nordic Northwestern Scandinavia Scandinavian Peninsula Baltic Eastern Southeastern Balkans North Caucasus Southern Russia European Russia Middle East Southern Iberia Southeastern Mediterranean Western Northwestern British Isles Germanic Romance Celtic Slavic
	Oceania	Australasia Australia New Guinea Zealandia Pacific Islands Micronesia Melanesia Polynesia
	Polar	Antarctic Arctic
	Oceans	World (Sea) Arctic Atlantic Indian Pacific Southern List of seas

Continents of the world / List of seas / Physical Earth

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