The continents are given as
Europe,
Asia, and
Libya (
Africa). The
World Ocean is only seen to the west. The map distinguishes two large enclosed seas: the
Mediterranean and the
Indian (
Indicum Pelagus). Due to Marinus and Ptolemy's mistaken measure of the circumference of the earth, the former is made to extend much too far in terms of degrees of arc; due to their reliance on
Hipparchus, they mistakenly enclose the latter with an eastern and southern shore of
unknown lands, which prevents the map from identifying the western coast of the World Ocean.
India is bound by the
Indus and
Ganges rivers, but its peninsula is much shortened. Instead,
Sri Lanka (
Taprobane) is greatly enlarged. The
Malay Peninsula is given as the
Golden Chersonese instead of the earlier "Golden Island", which derived from Indian accounts of the mines on
Sumatra. Beyond the Golden Chersonese, the
Great Gulf (
Magnus Sinus) forms a combination of the
Gulf of Thailand and
South China Sea which is bound by the unknown lands thought to enclose the Indian Sea.
China is divided into two realms—the
Qin (
Sinae) and the Land of Silk (
Serica)—owing to the different accounts received from the overland and maritime
Silk Roads. == References ==