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European exploration
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Map showing the transatlantic and global routes of major early voyages of discovery and exploration by Spain, Portugal, England, and France during the 15th and 16th centuries. The map traces the journeys of explorers such as Columbus, Cabot, Magellan, da Gama, and others, with labeled paths crossing the Atlantic and encircling Africa and South America, as well as lines of demarcation dividing Spanish and Portuguese exploration zones. Map of the Mediterranean region highlighting locations of Phoenician colonization, with major ancient settlements and colonies labeled along the coasts of present-day Spain, North Africa, Sicily, Sardinia, and the Levant. The map also shows surrounding regions and bodies of water, including the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, and Atlantic Ocean. Map of the Carthaginian Empire in the western Mediterranean region, showing Carthaginian territory in 265 BC in green, territorial losses by 238 BC in pink, and territorial gains by 219 BC in orange. The map highlights locations across North Africa, southern Spain, and several Mediterranean islands, with major cities such as Carthage, Gades, and Carthago Nova marked. Map showing Viking travels, trading, and raiding routes from the 9th to 11th centuries across Europe, the North Atlantic, and into North America. Viking homelands in Scandinavia are shaded, with routes extending to Iceland, Greenland, the British Isles, France, Eastern Europe, and L'Anse aux Meadows in present-day Canada. Key settlements and areas of initial Viking presence are marked. An inset map in the lower left shows the 1000-year anniversary reenactment route of Leif Eriksson's voyage from European exploration European exploration of the African coast John II of Portugal
first circumnavigation of the globe
Map of Canada showing the exploration routes taken by various European explorers from the 16th to 19th centuries, marked with different colored and patterned lines. The routes trace paths along major rivers, lakes, the Arctic coast, and the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, illustrating efforts to find the Northwest Passage and expand fur trading. Key explorers and their paths are identified in a legend. Map of Australia and Tasmania showing early non-Indigenous exploration routes from 1800 to 1850, with different colored lines marking the journeys of Flinders (red, 1801-03), Sturt (purple, 1829-30), Eyre (green, 1841), and Leichhardt (orange, 1844-45) along the coasts and into the interior. Major cities and geographic features such as the Great Dividing Range and Great Australian Bight are labeled.
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Buzz Aldrin. Apollo 11. Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin Aldrin, photographed July 20, 1969, during the first manned mission to the Moon's surface. Reflected in Aldrin's faceplate is the Lunar Module and astronaut Neil Armstrong, who took the picture.
Exploration and Discovery
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Map showing the transatlantic and global routes of major early voyages of discovery and exploration by Spain, Portugal, England, and France during the 15th and 16th centuries. The map traces the journeys of explorers such as Columbus, Cabot, Magellan, da Gama, and others, with labeled paths crossing the Atlantic and encircling Africa and South America, as well as lines of demarcation dividing Spanish and Portuguese exploration zones.
European exploration: early voyages Map depicting the European exploration of the New World in the 15th and 16th centuries, including the voyages made by Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, Alonso de Ojeda and Amerigo Vespucci, Pedro Álvares Cabral, Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastián del Cano, Giovanni da Verrazzano, Jacques Cartier, Sir Francis Drake, and others. The lines of demarcation represent an early division between the territory of Spain (to the west) and Portugal (to the east).

European exploration

history
Written by
Jean Brown Mitchell
Fellow, Newnham College, Cambridge, 1934–68; Lecturer in Geography, University of Cambridge, 1945–68. Author of Historical Geography.
Jean Brown Mitchell
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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•History

European exploration, exploration of regions of Earth for scientific, commercial, religious, military, and other purposes by Europeans, beginning about the 4th century bce. The motives that spur human beings to examine their environment are many. Strong among them are the satisfaction of curiosity, the pursuit of trade, the spread of religion, and the desire for security and political power. At different times and in different places, different motives are dominant. Sometimes one motive inspires the...

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