how was australia named?

Answer 1

The name Australia is derived from the Latin Australis, meaning of the South. Legends of an "unknown land of the south" (terra australis incognita) date back to the Roman times and were commonplace in mediaeval geography, but they were not based on any actual knowledge of the continent. The Dutch adjectival form Australische was used by Dutch officials in Batavia to refer to the newly discovered land to the south as early as 1638. The first use of the word "Australia" in English was a 1693 translation of Les Aventures de Jacques Sadeur dans la Découverte et le Voyage de la Terre Australe, a 1692 French novel by Gabriel de Foigny under the pen name Jacques Sadeur. Alexander Dalrymple then used it in An Historical Collection of Voyages and Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean (1771), to refer to the entire South Pacific region.

Answer 2

Matthew Flinders suggested Terra Australis be changed to Australia

Answer 3

australis = southern in Latin (opposite of borealis)

Australia is the land of the south

Answer 4

It was named after an Australian, obviously. :p

Answer 5

Wiki almost always has the answers:
see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_Australis

Answer 6

AUS-TRALIA