New Zealand: European contact and Cook's charting
Nueva Zelanda: contacto europeo y cartografía de Cook
- Date
- 1642 / 1769 · confidence high
- Place
- Poverty Bay (Tūranganui-a-Kiwa), New Zealand
- Credited to
- Abel Tasman (1642), James Cook (1769-1770)
- People
- 👤 James Cook1728–1779
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 without landing after a clash with Māori; Cook circumnavigated and charted both islands in 1769-1770 with remarkable precision, showing that they were not part of a southern continent.
Coordinates of Poverty Bay, Cook's first landing. Aotearoa was settled by Māori around 1250-1300; European contact came much later.
What it led to
- British colonisation and the Treaty of Waitangi (1840)
- Māori-European contact and wars
- Definitive dismissal of Terra Australis
Built on
- Polynesian (Māori) colonisation, c. 1250
- VOC voyages
Made possible
- Accurate nautical cartography with chronometer