Explain what we mean when we say that the world 'shrank' in the 1500s.

'The world shrank' means increased interaction and interconnectedness among the people of various continents of the world which occurred due to discovery of new lands and trade routes. The world shrank greatly in the sixteenth century after European sailors found a sea route to Asia and also successfully crossed the western ocean to America. Before its discovery, America had been cut off from regular contact with the rest of the world for millions of years. But from the sixteenth century, its vast lands and abundant crops and minerals began to transform trade and lives everywhere.