newworld

New World is a term used to describe the Western Hemisphere, especially the Americas, in contrast with the Old World of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The label emerged during the era of European exploration and colonization beginning in the late 15th century and became a widely used shorthand for the lands newly reached by Europeans and their descendants.

Historically, the concept underpinned significant global processes, including the Columbian Exchange, colonization, and the dispersal of goods, crops, technologies, and diseases. The encounter between Old World and New World populations reshaped demography, ecosystems, and cultural landscapes, with long-lasting consequences for indigenous peoples and global trade networks.

In contemporary culture, New World appears as a title or motif in literature, film, and games. It is the name of a 2021 online role-playing game by Amazon Game Studios. The game is an open-world MMORPG set on the island of Aeternum, emphasizing exploration, crafting, and faction-based conflict between competing groups.

Beyond its historical and entertainment uses, the term is sometimes used generically to denote newly discovered places or future-oriented visions of society, though it is less common in formal academic writing in modern contexts.