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Carta marina

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Also known as Carta marina et descriptio septentrionalium terrarum, Marine map and description of the Northern lands

map

Described at

Link to a page describing this subject · not written by Vinony

Wikidata facts

Instance of
map
Image
CartaMarina.png
Height
1.25
Width
1.7
Show 10 more facts
edition number
9
Commons category
Carta marina
inception
1539-00-00
location of creation
Venice
title
Carta marina et descriptio septemtrionalium terrarum ac mirabilium rerum in eis contentarum diligentissime elaborata anno dni 1539
language of work or name
Latin
copyright status
public domain
Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

~5 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Carta marina et descriptio septentrionalium terrarum (Latin for Marine map and description of the Northern lands; commonly abbreviated Carta marina) is the first map of the Nordic countries to give details and place names, created by Swedish ecclesiastic Olaus Magnus and initially published in 1539. Only two earlier maps of the Nordic countries are known, those of Jacob Ziegler (Strasbourg, 1532) and Claudius Clavus (15th century).

The map is centred on Scandia, which is shown in the largest size text on the map and placed on the middle of Sweden. The map covers the Nordic lands of "Svecia" (Svealand) and "Gothia" (Götaland) (both areas in Sweden), "Norvegia" (Norway), Dania (Denmark), "Fare" (Faroe Islands), Islandia (Iceland), Finlandia (Finland), Lituania (Lithuania), Livonia (Estonia and Latvia), and "pars" (parts of) "Scotie" (Scotland; including Orkney and Shetland) and "Anglie" (England). The map is framed with longitudes and latitudes running from 55° to the Arctic Circle. The sea is filled with numerous animals, many recognisable, including various whales and walrus.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Carta marina” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.