On St. Laurence's Day in 1500, Portuguese explorer Diogo Dias landed on the island and named it ''São Lourenço''. Marco Polo's name was preferred and popularized on Renaissance maps. No single Malagasy-language name predating ''Madagasikara'' appears to have been used by the local population to refer to the island, although some communities had their own name for part or all of the land they inhabited.