Eendrachtsland

Eendrachtsland or Eendraghtsland (Dutch: het Landt van d'Eendracht and Land van de Eendracht) is an obsolete geographical name for an area centred on the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. Between 1616 and 1644, during the European Age of Exploration, Eendraghtsland was also a name for the entire Australian mainland.[1] From 1644, it and the surrounding areas were known as New Holland (and, much later, as Western Australia).[2]

The Dutch ship De Eendracht attacks a catamaran in the Southern Pacific.
The Dutch ship De Eendracht attacks a catamaran in the Southern Pacific, an artwork by Willem Cornelisz Schouten van Hoor (1615–1617).

In 1616, Dirk Hartog, captain of the Dutch East India Company ship Eendracht, encountered the west coast of the Australian mainland, meeting it close to the 26th parallel south latitude (26° south), near what is now known as Dirk Hartog Island in Western Australia.[3]: 119  After leaving the island, the Eendracht sailed in a north-west direction along the coast of the mainland, Hartog charting as he went.[1] He gave this land the name het Landt van d'Eendracht, literally Eendrachtsland, after his ship, the Eendracht (English: "Unity"[1] or "Concord").

  1. ^ a b c Jan Ernst Heeres LL. D. Professor at the Dutch Colonial Institute Delft. The Part Borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia 1606-1765 (txt) (A Project Gutenberg of Australia eBook - Latin-1(ISO-8859-1)--8 bit) (1 ed.). 46 Great Russell Street W. C.: The Royal Dutch Geographical Society in Commemoration of the XXVth Anniversary of its Foundation. 0501231.txt. Retrieved 28 January 2012.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  2. ^ After 1770, the entire east coast of Australia became known by as New South Wales. However, the Colony of New South Wales never officially included the western half of Australia, which was known as New Holland, until 1832, when the Colony of Western Australia was proclaimed.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference dav13 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).