What is the origin of the name of the continents?

There are currently six continents on planet Earth: America, Antarctica, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and Europe. In recent years, Zealand, the new sunken continent just below New Zealand, has also been described, so that there are already those who consider that there are seven continents instead of six. Have you ever wondered where the name of the continents comes from? We will tell you everything below. America The origin of the name of America is the most widely known worldwide. It is named in honor of Américo Vespucio, despite the fact that it was Christopher Columbus who discovered the continent in 1492. However, it was Américo Vespucio, an Italian navigator, who first realized that the territory was actually a new continent. Antarctica The origin of the name of the Arctic is found in the Greek word “arktikos”, which translates as “of the bear.” It refers to the Polar Bear, which points to the North Pole. And Antarctica? The antonym of this Greek word is “antarktikos”, that is, “opposite to the bear.” It all makes sense! AsiaThe origin of the name Asia is also in the Greek language. The word «Ασία» means «to the east», and it was Herótodo who used it for the first time to refer to Anatolia. During the wars a popular word was made to indicate the lands of the Persian empire. Africa As for the origin of Africa, it is not entirely clear, and there are different theories about it. The most accepted of all today dates back to the Roman Empire. The Romans named this territory after the Afri, a tribe. Therefore, Africa is the feminine of ‘Áfricus’, the word used by the Romans to refer to the members of this tribe.Oceania As for Oceania, its name was coined by the geographer Conrad Malte-Brun in 1812. ‘Océanie’ comes from the Greek ‘okeanos’, which means ‘ocean’. Oceania was used to refer to the nymphs that protected water sources, Europe and, finally, Europe, which, according to Greek mythology, was a Phoenician woman who was seduced by Zeus and brought to Crete transformed into a bull. It is also said that, etymologically, the word Europe comes from the Greek ‘ereb’ which means ‘sunset’. Now you know the origin of the name of the continents!