Joan Blaeu, Africa Map, 17th Century

Africa is the world's second largest and second most-populous continent. At about 11.7 million square miles including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area and 20% of its land area. The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos. It contains 54 fully recognized sovereign states (countries), nine territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition. Joan Blaeu (September 23, 1596 - December 21, 1673) was a Dutch cartographer born in Alkmaar, the son of cartographer Willem Blaeu. In 1620 he became a doctor of law but he joined the work of his father. In 1635 they published the Atlas Novus (full title: Theatrum orbis terrarum, sive, Atlas novus) in two volumes. The Atlas Maior is the final version of Joan Blaeu's atlas, published in Amsterdam between 1662 and 1672, in Latin, French, Dutch, German and Spanish, containing 594 maps and around 3, 000 pages of text. The Blaeu maps emphasized fine art and colors, being the most expensive of the time. The Atlas Maior is widely considered a masterpiece of the Golden Age of Dutch/Netherlandish cartography

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Atlas Blaeu Cartographic Cartographical Continent Dutch Netherlandish Map-making Mapmaking Novus Seventeeth

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