Early Map of the Americas (North & South America) Bath Mat

This design features a map of the Americas (including the regions occupied by the modern-day countries of the USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and other Latin American and Caribbean nations) created by the Dutch cartographer Willem Blaeu (1571–1638), which was originally published in 1617. The Latin title of the map is "Americae Nova Tabula", which means "New Map of American Land". Blaeu's map represents the incomplete and imperfect state of geographical knowledge at the time it was produced, however, in many ways it is surprisingly accurate: for example, it correctly shows Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America as an island. (A Dutch expedition under Willem Cornelisz Schouten and Jacob le Maire had just circumnavigated the world in 1615-1616 and had discovered a new passage—the Strait of Le Maire, shown on the map as "Fretum le Maire"—south of Magellan's strait, which proved that Tierra del Fuego was indeed an island.)