Welcome to New Zealand, the land of hobbits and kiwis. Is the tiny quiet brother in the Anglosphere. Its location, in such a remote area of the world, it makes it sometimes overlooked. Tiny New Zealand, though, is hiding a secret. No not super kiwis. The islands that make up New Zealand are metaphorically, the tip of the iceberg. New Zealand is a top of a much larger, yet, entirely underwater continent. (Calling it a continent is still under debate but simpler to call it this.) The continent, named Zealandia. When seen on a topographical map, or even Google Maps, the shape of the continent starts to appear. And at one time, it was above water. What we believe happened is Zealandia was once a normal landmass (like India). It used to be connected to the Australian continent 80 million years ago yet broke off, and drifted further away until sinking into the ocean probably around 20 million years ago. An entire continent that just sank into the sea (seems familiar...) Whenever looking at maps like this and learning geography factoids like it, I get excited. And I start thinking. When I started thinking, I start theorizing. So, what if this entire continent, Zealandia, just never sank. What if Zealandia remained into modern human history, becoming the eighth continent. How could our world change? Here is one possible scenario: In this alternate timeline Zealandia is a continent just east of Australia. There doesn't need to be a scientific or geological explanation for this. The oceans don't sink, and neither does the continent. This is simply a thought exercise. So calm down scientist Jimmy. The obvious question is, what could this continent look like? We'll never know exactly, but using ocean topography, we can have a fair guess what the geography of this lost land might be. And it's possible largest size it would appear something like this. And don't let maps deceive you, it would be large. It's a land of peninsulas and plateaus. The western peninsula almost touches Australia. The eastern peninsula while smaller would extend the equivalent distance from Missouri to New Jersey. A north and southern plateau is divided by a central mountain range, or what we think of as the "Islands." This is just one possible speculation, though. The ocean system of the world is important to keep balanced (as taught to us in the documentary, "The Day After Tomorrow.") The same idea kind of applies to the scenario. Today, Australians on the East Coast enjoy fairly wonderful temperatures, despite being the latitude equivalent of Michigan. Much of this is thanks to the east Australian Current, which brings warm water from the equator South. In this alternate scenario, the current isn't able to flow, as Zealandia's western peninsula blocks the current instead this warm water makes northern Zealandia, fairly tropical; while eastern Australia becomes much colder compared to our timeline. While the north is tropical, Zealandia itself could be a diverse range of biomes. The mountains could block the equator air much, like the Himalayas. And create a cold southern tundra. Keep in mind it wouldn't be too far away from Antarctica, so even without the mountains, it'd still be cold. Why is it important to speculate geography? Because, migration patterns. If we want to know where people might settle, we need to have at least a basic idea of what would and wouldn't be a good place to colonize. And this is where humans finally come into the story. Compared to Europe or Africa, humans are fairly new to the South Pacific. The earliest settlers arrived within the last 3,000 years. The Maori didn't land on New Zealand until the 13th century. So the good news is human history in this alternate scenario is pretty straight forward. Using their knowledge of seafaring ancient Polynesians would probably land on the northern tip of Zealandia around 1200 BC. (Keep in mind this alternate continent has existed by itself for over 80 million years, so imagine the unique wildlife and fauna that has evolved in this time. Let your imagination run wild on that one.) The population of the Polynesians become far larger more tribes split up and more diversity among the people. Perhaps some tribes even sail to the Australian coast! Who knows? (Since this is impossible to predict in detail, let's skip over this few thousand years.) Since New Zealand and Australia didn't really contribute to global history until recently, (I'm sorry but it's true) that means Zealandia existing surprisingly really doesn't affect most of world history. Europe, Asia and the gang can be exactly the same even if an entire alternate continent existed in the South Pacific, at least until the 18th century. So what changes in this alternate timeline? Colonization. This is where I bring up the man himself not often talked about in America: Captain James Cook. In the 1770s, Cook and his crew went on a series of scientific expeditions across the Pacific, discovering new animals, people, and most importantly, new lands. Two of which were Australia, and New Zealand. From these expeditions, Europe learned of these previously unknown lands, and Britain began colonization right away. In this alternate scenario, with two major continents in the South Pacific, colonization is much more important to this side of the world. Zealandia with a diverse, rich, and fertile land, while Australia has a fairly habitable coast. In this scenario, the British focus much more attention, this time, on Zealandia. And as more people arrive, this means more potential for conflict, especially between this alternate Maori and British. Zealandia is included through a series of wars, much like the Native Americans. The Zealandia Wars are similar to Africa. They'd consist of rebellion, and British conquest over tribes, over a series of years. Eventually the Maori (or whatever people live on the island) would surrender and whatever country would rise from it would have a clear racial divide between whites and natives. (Keep in mind, it's the 19th century, "The Golden Age" of European conquest. Zealandia becomes a new jewel in the crown of the British Empire. Geography determines where these cities are. Cities pop up across the northern and western coast of Zealandia, and the east coast of Australia. These regions are the most habitable. The ocean current makes the North the most warmest areas of the continent; the flat plateau allows for fertile farmland. The farther south you go, especially on the Australian and Zealandian coast, the colder it gets. This reflects in the population of the region. Over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, Australia, and Zealandia are far different than they are today. European colonists populate these lands in the tens of millions, perhaps even to the same amount as the United States. Complex industrial and economic centers spring up on the coast of a central sea between the two land masses. The two colonies contribute in the war effort of World War II, as Americans use Zealandia as an important ground anchor for bombers and bases. As the two become independent, and their own countries Australia and Zealandia becomes far closer than they are in our timeline. They're the twins of the world, two Anglo regions born in the same time, grew up together, and depend on each other to survive. So their flags may still be very similar, but at least, it makes sense. Of course this is simply one scenario in the countless possibilities. We'll never truly know what would happen. But, it's fun to theorize. This is Cody, of AlternateHistoryHub.
Fun video, but "Mayoree".