The western discovery of the Pacific Ocean in the early 1500s marked the beginning of a period of exploration that was not completed, amazingly enough, until the current century, with the exploration of the interior of Papua New Guinea. This page displays and discusses some early maps of the Pacific Ocean. At the end of the page is a modern map which you can use for comparison. The first map of the Pacific Ocean, as well as the first map naming North and South America.
New Guinea is exaggerated, but everything south of it is unknown and masked by a cartouche.
The National Library of Australia has an on-line, digitized copy of this map, which allows you to zoom in to see the finest details. After sixty years of exploration, starting to see more accurate representations of parts of the Pacific, but at the same time some interesting errors. Note how Baja California has turned into an island . A long string of islands fills the south Pacific, while a large land mass is in the north. An unusual map of the Pacific with north oriented to the right.