James Cook, 1728–1779
Navigator and explorer James Cook produced the first full chart of New Zealand’s coastline in 1769–70 during the first of three expeditions. His circumnavigation of New Zealand and subsequent voyages laid to rest the notion of a great southern continent.
Learn more at the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
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Abel Janszoon Tasman, 1602/1603?–1659?
In 1642 a Dutch commander, Abel Tasman, was sent out by the Dutch East India Company settlement of Batavia (in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia) to look for the supposed southern continent. Tasman discovered New Zealand and charted a section of the coastline. As a result New Zealand (or at least a part of it) became incorporated into the world’s maps.
Learn more at the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
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