Terra incognita

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For other uses, see Terra incognita (disambiguation).

Map of North America from 1566 showing both Terra In Cognita and Mare In Cognito.

Terra incognita (with "incognita" stressed on the second syllable) is the Latin term for "unknown land", used in cartography for regions that have not been mapped or documented. The equivalent on French maps would be terres inconnues (plural form), and some English maps may show Parts Unknown.

Similarly, uncharted or unknown seas would be labeled Mare incognitum, Latin for "unknown sea".

An urban legend claims that cartographers labelled such regions with "Here be dragons". Although cartographers did claim that fantastic beasts (including large serpents) existed in remote corners of the world and depicted such as decoration on their maps, only one known surviving map, the Lenox Globe, in the collection of the New York Public Library ^[1], actually says "Here be dragons" (using the Latin "hic dracones sunt "). ^[2] Terra incognita may also refer to the imaginary continent Terra Australis.

During the 19th century terra incognita disappeared from maps, since both the coastlines and the inner parts of the continents had been fully explored.

The phrase is now also used metaphorically by various researchers to describe any unexplored subject or field of research.

1 Etymology
2 Uses of the phrase
3 See also
4 Notes
5 References

[edit] Etymology

Terra: Latin name for the planet Earth.
Incognita: From the Latin Cognoscere "to know" and the Greek Gnosis (γνώσις) "knowledge". Related English words:

[edit] Uses of the phrase

Given its meaning the phrase "terra incognita" is extensively used as a name or title, for instance:

in the 2008 TV miniseries form of The Andromeda Strain, the scientists discover an alien life form they refer to as terra incognita
as the title of a 2007 documentary on stem cell research and spinal cord injury directed by Maria Finitzo for Kartemquin Films,
as the name of an adventure race organized in Croatia,
as the title of the first album of the French progressive group Gojira released in 2000,
as the name of the third part of the Consortium Project by Ian Parry released in 2003,
in the name of an interpretive design studio, Terra Incognita Productions,
as the name of a roleplaying game,
as the title of several blogs.
In the Pirates of the Caribbean film trilogy, the phrase (rendered in the masculine form as Terra Incognito) is used as the name of a fictional mappa mundi on the office wall of international British merchant Lord Cutler Beckett. The map is being painted on continuously as the series progresses, and its constant addition symbolizes the imperialism of the East India Trading Co., the trilogy's fictionalized version of the Honourable East India Company. (See East India Trading Co.#Terra Incognito.)
as the name of the reality tv game show Terra incognita produced by Ludo Poppe
as the name of the third album by the music group Phasmid Hunting Guide [Terra Incognita, released in 2008].
as the name of one of the lands in the Vertigo Series The Dreaming.
as the name of a song by Happy Rhodes.