I would like to tell you before reading this that this continent is canon to J.R.R. Tolkien's lore. Just because it was only mentioned once does not mean its not. However, the shape of the continent itself and the possible inhabitants living there is not. There is a map that some LOTR fans made showing what it possible looks like, and a bigger map of what it looks like with the rest of the world on the article about the Land of the Sun (The Land of the Sun most likely plays crucial role in the creation of the New Lands, so that is why it is viwed on that page). The Dark Lands (Hyarmenor) is shown at the bottom as it's tip is visible but only because it is there to represent if it still existed, as it may not If you still dont believe that it's canon, if you go to the continents category on "The One Wiki to Rule Them All," you'll find it.
History: During the changing of the world in the second age by Eru Illuvatar, it is said he removed the continenet of Aman from the circles of the world and bent the sees to make the world round. In place of it, the New Lands were created in the west. Near the end of the second age, the great mariners of the Dunedain in Middle-Earth who searched for the isle of Meneltarma and desired to travel to the west, came across the seas to instead find these lands. They did not find this land to be of immortality like The Undying Lands, but that of their home which was mortal. It was never known if they returned to these lands, but it was in this journey that they discovered that the world was round.
Origins: These named "New Lands" doesn't actually have a proper name as the continent itself was only mentioned by the inhabitants of Middle-Earth only once in history. These lands are roughly based on the Americas but it is not known wether it was actually a continent whole, or two land masses.. It is not known how these lands came to be other than they appeared in the changing of the world. It is said that it is possible that the continent known as the Land of the Sun which existed east of everything before the changing of the world may have been stretched and transformed into the New Lands after each sides of the world connected. Another theory is that Hyarmenor (otherwise known as the Dark Lands) became the southern portion of the New Lands, and The Land of the Sun became the northern portion.
Alright, so this little passage in bold is pretty much all known information on the New Lands. I thought this might be an interesting topic to bring up as it is only mentioned once in all of Tolkien's lore. Most things about it would probably be non-canon, but thats okay as some of the Harad factions aren't canon either. I'll be using the term "continent" when talking about the new lands but as it is one theory that it was two land masses. I dont want anyone to be confused. This whole idea probably sounds like a wast of time, I know. To be honest, if there is that rare chance that it is actually decided to be added I would probably want this added after all the important stuff like the Rhun and Umbar factions. The continenet itself would resemble North and South America and the regions and climates would probably match the America's climates and regions today. The problem is the origin theory.
If this continent was added to the mod it probably wouldn't be worth it with out factions and Npc's.If the story followed up with the first origin story of how the Sun Lands became the New Lands, then there might not be any people. The Sun Lands before the changing of the world existed as a place where the sun rose up and travelled across the sky. Other than maybe some animals, there were no inhabitants. So if the Sun Lands did change into the New Lands there would be no other explanation for people. If the second theory is accepted things might work out with factions. The Dark Lands had wild tribes of people so if the Dark Lnds became part of the New Lands there would be a better chance for people. I would think there should be tribes based on the Native Americans. For example, tribes like the Mayans, Incans, and Aztec would be living down south in the more tropical regions. There would also be tribes like the Navajo and various other tribes similar loivng in the desert regions, and Inuit/Eskimos living far to the North. I think you get me point. Multiple tribes based on their regions and the native american tribe they were based on. Some tribes down south may have cultures similar to the natives of Australia if the second origin theory is accepted. The name of the Dark Lands was inspired by the fact before people explored Africa it was known as the Dark Land as not much was known about it. As Tolkien was born in South Africa, this held some relevence. However, as the shape implys, Harad is supposed to be based on Africa. Looking at Tolkiens map of the Dark Lands, its safe to say that he based the continent off australia and Antartica as a whole. There are also apparently tribes of wild men according to Tolkien living there so it is also safe to assume these wild folk are based off native Austaralians and possibly native South African tribes. So if it was reformed into the New Lands these cultures would effect some of the tribes there.
Sticking to one theme of only natives is some what boring though. As some of you may know, vikings arrived in the America's before anyone else did. So one faction idea is a viking based kingdom somewhere up North. The problem with this idea is that I dont know of any viking based civilizations in Tolkien's world othere than possibly the tribes of men in the Forodwaith.
Another problem would be the positioning of the continent. It was said to be west of everything. However, that was on a round planet. The LOTR mod world is not round. This is no actually a problem unless you base it off the fan made map where there is a land bridge between the Eastern Forodwaith and Rhun, and the New Lnads, symbolising the land bridge that existed between Asia and North America. Anyways, thats about it. I know I may sound like im giving suggestions because I dont really know much about the New Lands because there is such little information on it. So it would mainly be non-canon, but thats not bad. It would be a whole continent to create and exand the mod on. I mentioned this because I think its intersting and may be a good addition. And if im being stupid because there some how in God's name is another thread about this than I'll face pal myself.
Good night, or Good day where and when ever you are