new world

The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania. The term arose in the early 16th century during Europe's Age of Discovery, after Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci published the Latin-language pamphlet Mundus Novus, presenting his conclusion that the lands to the west of the Atlantic Ocean (soon called America after Amerigo's name) constitute new continents.
This realization expanded the geographical horizon of earlier European geographers, who had thought that the world only included Afro-Eurasian lands. Thus, Africa, Asia, and Europe became collectively known as the "Old World".