<P> In 1501 , Amerigo Vespucci and Gonçalo Coelho attempted to sail around what they considered the southern end of the Asian mainland into the Indian Ocean , passing through Fernando de Noronha . After reaching the coast of Brazil , they sailed a long way further south along the coast of South America , confirming that this was a land of continental proportions and that it also extended much further south than Asia was known to . On return to Europe , an account of the voyage , called Mundus Novus ( `` New World '' ) , was published under Vespucci 's name in 1502 or 1503 , although it seems that it had additions or alterations by another writer . Regardless of who penned the words , Mundus Novus credited Vespucci with saying , `` I have discovered a continent in those southern regions that is inhabited by more numerous people and animals than our Europe , or Asia or Africa '' , the first known explicit identification of part of the Americas as a continent like the other three . </P>
<P> In 1501 , Amerigo Vespucci and Gonçalo Coelho attempted to sail around what they considered the southern end of the Asian mainland into the Indian Ocean , passing through Fernando de Noronha . After reaching the coast of Brazil , they sailed a long way further south along the coast of South America , confirming that this was a land of continental proportions and that it also extended much further south than Asia was known to . On return to Europe , an account of the voyage , called Mundus Novus ( `` New World '' ) , was published under Vespucci 's name in 1502 or 1503 , although it seems that it had additions or alterations by another writer . Regardless of who penned the words , Mundus Novus credited Vespucci with saying , `` I have discovered a continent in those southern regions that is inhabited by more numerous people and animals than our Europe , or Asia or Africa '' , the first known explicit identification of part of the Americas as a continent like the other three . </P>
who discovered the fact that south america was a separate continent
who discovered the fact that south america was a separate continent
Amerigo Vespucci Gonçalo Coelho
Amerigo Vespucci Gonçalo Coelho