The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas, certain Atlantic and Pacific oceanic islands to which the closest continental shelf is that of the Americas (such as Bermuda), and sometimes Oceania (Australasia). The term originated in the early 16th century after America was discovered by Europeans in the age of discovery, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the Middle Ages, who had thought of the world as consisting of Africa, Asia, and Europe only: collectively now referred to as the Old World. The term was first coined by Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci. The Americas were also referred to as the "fourth part of the world"
Usage
The terms "Old World" vs. "New World" are meaningful in historical context and for the purpose of distinguishing the world's major ecozones, and to classify plant and animal species that originated therein.
One can speak of the "New World" in a historical context, e.g., when discussing the voyages of Christopher Columbus, the Spanish conquest of Yucatán and other events of the colonial period. For lack of alternatives, the term is also still useful to those discussing issues which concern the Americas and the nearby oceanic islands, such as Bermuda and Clipperton Island, collectively. This usage is seen as problematic by many for its narrowness of perspective and implication that discovery by European explorers was the beginning of history for the Americas.
The term "New World" is used in a biological context, when one speaks of Old World (Palearctic, Afrotropic) and New World species (Nearctic, Neotropic). Biological taxonomists often attach the "New World" label to groups of species which are found exclusively in the Americas, to distinguish them from their counterparts in the "Old World" (Europe, Africa and Asia), e.g. New World monkeys, New World vultures, New World warblers. In this context, the "New World" label does not encompass Australasian species, which are in a distinct ecozone of their own (Australasia) and usually referred to separately.
The label is also often used in agriculture. Africa, Asia and Europe share a common agricultural history stemming from the Neolithic Revolution, and the same domesticated plants and animals spread through these three continents thousands of years ago, making them largely indistinct and useful to classify together as "Old World". Common Old World crops (e.g. wheat, barley, rye, oats, peas, lentils) and domesticated animals (e.g. sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, chickens, horses) did not exist in the Americas until they were introduced by post-Columbian contact in the 1490s (see "Columbian Exchange"). Conversely, many common crops were originally domesticated in the Americas before they spread worldwide after Columbian contact, and are still often referred to as "New World crops". Maize, squash and common beans (phaseolus) - the "three sisters" - as well as the avocado, tomato and wide varieties of capsicum (bell pepper, chili pepper, etc.) and the turkey were originally domesticated by pre-Columbian peoples in Mesoamerica, while agriculturalists in the Andean region of South America brought forth the potato, peanut, cassava, quinoa and domesticated animals like the llama, alpaca and guinea pig. Other famous New World crops include rubber, tobacco, cocoa, vanilla, cashew, sunflower and fruits like the pineapple, papaya and guava. There are rare instances of overlap, e.g. the calabash (bottle-gourd), yam, cotton and the dog are believed to have been domesticated separately in both the Old and New World, their early forms possibly brought along by Paleo-Indians from Asia during the last ice age.