Places Yet To Be Settled By Humans In 1200 AD

I created the map above, because I still can’t really believe that New Zeeland escaped any human habitation until sometime between 1280 and 1350 AD!

Given it’s size it’s almost impossible to believe.

Its South Island (Te Waipounamu) is 145,836 km2, making it the 12th largest island in the world (larger than Java) and the North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) is 111,583 km2, making it the 14th largest island in the world= (larger than Newfoundland, Cuba, Iceland or Ireland!)

And they remained uninhabited up until around the time of the Hundred Years War, while Australia was settled 50,000 to 65,000 years ago!

Below is a list from Wikipedia of places settled by people after 1200AD:

Region	Country / island	Date	Place	Notes
Pacific	New Zealand	1250	Wairau Bar	It is generally accepted that the islands were permanently settled by Eastern Polynesians (the ancestors of the Māori) who arrived about 1250–1300.
Pacific	Norfolk Island	1250	Emily Bay	Settled by Polynesians, later abandoned. Resettled by British 1788.
Pacific	Auckland Islands	1250	Sandy Bay, Enderby Island	Settled by Polynesians, later abandoned. Resettled from the Chatham Islands in 1842, later abandoned.
Pacific	Kermadec Islands	1350		Settled by Polynesians by the 14th century (possibly previously, around the 10th century), later abandoned. Resettled by Europeans in 1810, later abandoned.
Atlantic / North Africa	Madeira	1420		Settlers from Portugal.
Atlantic	Azores	1439	Santa Maria Island	Settlers from Portugal led by Gonçalo Velho Cabral.
Atlantic / West Africa	Cape Verde	1462	Cidade Velha	Settlers from Portugal founded the city as "Ribeira Grande."
Atlantic / Central Africa	São Tomé and Príncipe	1485	São Tomé	Portuguese settlement in 1485 failed but was followed in 1493 by a successful settlement led by Álvaro Caminha.
Pacific Ocean	Chatham Islands	1500		Moriori settlers from New Zealand. This was the last wave of Polynesian migrations.
South Atlantic	Saint Helena	1516		Settled by Fernão Lopes (soldier). Later populated by escaped slaves from Mozambique and Java, then by English in 1659.
South Atlantic / Central Africa	Annobón	1543		Alvaro da Cunha requested Portuguese royal charter in 1543 and by 1559 had settled Africans slaves there.
North Atlantic	Bermuda	1609		Settled by English survivors of the Sea Venture shipwreck, led by George Somers.
Arctic, Northern Europe	Svalbard	1619	Smeerenburg	Settled by Dutch and Danish whalers 1619–1657. Longyearbyen founded 1906 and continuously inhabited except for World War II.
Indian Ocean	Mauritius	1638	Vieux Grand Port	First settled by Dutch under Cornelius Gooyer.
Indian Ocean	Réunion	1642		Settled 1642 by a dozen deported French mutineers from Madagascar, who were returned to France several years later. In 1665 the French East India Company started a permanent settlement.
Americas, Caribbean	Cayman Islands	1658		While Christopher Columbus was first to sight the Cayman Islands on May 10, 1503, Caymanian folklore holds that the island's first inhabitants were English soldiers involved in Oliver Cromwell's capture of Jamaica around 1658. The first recorded permanent inhabitant was Isaac Bodden, the grandson of one of these first settlers, born on Grand Cayman around 1661.
Indian Ocean	Rodrigues	1691		Settled 1691 by a small group of French Huguenots led by François Leguat; abandoned 1693. The French settled slaves there in the 18th century.
East Pacific	Clipperton Island	1725		A short settlement in 1725. Intermittent settlement during the 19th and 20th centuries.
East Pacific	Juan Fernández Islands	1750	San Juan Bautista	Settled by the Spanish to prevent its use by foreign powers and pirates. Destroyed in 1751 by a tsunami but soon rebuilt.
South Atlantic	Falkland Islands	1764	Port Louis	Settled by French (as "Port Saint Louis") during the expedition of Louis Antoine de Bougainville.
Indian Ocean	Seychelles	1770	Ste. Anne Island	Although visited earlier by Maldivians, Malays and Arabs, the first known settlement was a spice plantation established by the French, first on Ste. Anne Island, then moved to Mahé. It is the sovereign state with the shortest history of human settlement (followed by Mauritius).
East Pacific	Floreana Island	1805	Black Beach	First settled 1805–1809 by Patrick Watkins. Later attempts in 1837, 1893, 1925, and 1929.
South Atlantic	Tristan da Cunha	1810		First settled by Jonathan Lambert and two other men. Continuously inhabited since then except 1961–1963 evacuation due to volcano.
South Atlantic	Ascension Island	1815		Settled as a British military garrison. Some prior shipwrecked sailors in 18th century.
Pacific Ocean, Bering Sea	Commander Islands	1825		Russians brought Aleuts from Atka Island and Attu Island to settle Bering Island and Medny Island.
Indian Ocean	Cocos (Keeling) Islands	1826		Settled c. 1826 by Alexander Hare and in 1827 by John Clunies-Ross.
Pacific Ocean	Bonin Islands	1830	Port Lloyd, Chichi-jima	Some evidence of early settlement from the Marianas, but the islands were abandoned except for occasional shipwrecks until a group of Europeans, Polynesians, and Micronesians settled Chichi-jima in 1830.
Pacific Ocean, Tasman Sea	Lord Howe Island	1834	Blinky Beach	Whaling supply station.
Indian Ocean	Île Saint-Paul	1843		Although now uninhabited, there have been attempts at settlement. In June 1843, a French garrison was established under the command of Polish-born Captain Adam Mierolawski, but it was soon abandoned. In 1928, a spiny lobster cannery was established, with the last three settlers rescued in 1934.
Arctic, Northern Europe	Novaya Zemlya	1870	Malye Karmakuly	Earlier overwinterings dating back to 16th century
Indian Ocean	Île Amsterdam	1871	Camp Heurtin	Following various shipwrecks and visits by sealers and scientists in the 18th and 19th century, a short-lived settlement was made in 1871 by Heurtin, a French resident of Réunion Island. A French scientific base has been maintained since 1949.
Pacific Ocean	Minami-Tori-shima	1886		Despite visits dating back to the 17th century, the first permanent settlement was in 1886.
Indian Ocean	Christmas Island	1888	Flying Fish Cove	First European settlement established by George Clunies-Ross and John Murray with phosphate mining begun around 10 years later.
Pacific Ocean	Campbell Island	1896		Sheep farming was undertaken from 1896 until the lease, along with the sheep and a small herd of cattle, was abandoned in 1931 because of the Great Depression.
Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea	Daitō Islands	1900	Minamidaitōjima	Tamaki Hanemon [ja] obtained the approval to develop two of islands from Empire of Japan
Antarctic	South Orkney Islands	1903	Omond House	Visited by sealers and whalers in the 19th century. Scientific base founded by Scottish National Antarctic Expedition and sold to Argentina in 1904.
South Atlantic	South Georgia	1904	Grytviken	Visited by sealers in the 19th century. Carl Anton Larsen founded a permanent whaling station in 1904.
Arctic, Northern Europe	Jan Mayen	1921	Eggøya	Visited by whalers in the 17th century, with some overwinter sojourns in 1633, 1882, and 1907. Weather station at Eggøya established 1921, followed by other weather and military stations. The current station, Olonkinbyen, has been continuously inhabited since 1958.
Indian Ocean	Kerguelen Islands	1927	Port-Couvreux	After occasional sojourns and shipwrecks in the 19th century, three families settled in a sheep-farming colony but were evacuated in 1934. Scientific station at Port-aux-Français has been continuously inhabited since 1950.
Arctic, New Siberian Islands	Kotelny Island	1933		Soviet Naval Base.
Antarctic	South Shetland Islands	1947	Captain Arturo Prat Base	Visited by sealers and explorers in the 19th century. Chilean naval base staffed continuously 1947–2004.
Indian Ocean	Prince Edward Islands	1947	Transvaal Cove	Visited by sealers and shipwrecks in the 19th century. South Africa occupied the islands in 1947 and established a meteorological station.
Antarctica		1948	Base General Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme, Antarctic Peninsula	First permanent base in continental Antarctica, operated by the Chilean Army.
Pacific Ocean	Macquarie Island	1948	Macquarie Island Station	Occasional sojourns and shipwrecks in the 19th century, continuously inhabited since 1948.
East Pacific	Revillagigedo Islands	1957	Socorro Island	Mexican naval base established. Shorter stays in 19th and early 20th centuries
Indian Ocean	Crozet Islands	1963	Alfred Faure	Occasional shipwrecks and visiting sealers and whalers in the 19th century, continuously inhabited since 1963.
Arctic, Siberia	Severnaya Zemlya	1974	Cape Baranov	A meteorological station was operated from 1974 to 1988. "Prima" Polar Station opened at some point in the 1980s.
North Atlantic / British Isles	Rockall	1985		Former SAS member Tom McClean lived on the island from 26 May to 4 July 1985 to affirm the UK's claim to the islet. Other short stays have been made, including one by Greenpeace and a 60-day fundraising effort for Help for Heroes