Template:Short description
Template:Pp-pc1
Template:Use dmy dates
File:Viking at MN Capitol-cropped.jpgLeif Erikson (Template:Circa – Template:Circa) was a famous Norse explorer who is credited for being the first European to set foot on American soil.
Explorers are listed below with their common names, countries of origin (modern and former), centuries of activity and main areas of exploration.
File:Marco Polo Mosaic from Palazzo Tursi.jpgMarco Polo (1254–1324) was an Italian explorer who recorded his 24 years-long travels in the Book of the Marvels of the World, introducing Europeans to Central Asia and China.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
File:Zheng He.jpgZheng He (1371 – Template:Circa) was a Chinese explorer who sailed along the Southeast Asian, South Asian, Western Asian, and East African coasts along with his fleet of large ships and several hundred men.
File:Diogo Cão.jpgTemplate:Flagicon Diogo Cão (Template:Circa – 1486) was the first European to explore the Congo River and the west coast of Africa, south of the equator.
File:Bartolomeu Dias, South Africa House (cut).JPGTemplate:Flagicon Bartolomeu Dias (Template:Circa – 1500) is known as the first European to sail around the southernmost tip of Africa in 1488, finding the eastern sea route to the Indian Ocean.
File:Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio - Ritratto di Cristoforo Colombo (1520).jpgTemplate:Flagicon Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) was an Italian explorer who led an expedition to the New World in 1492. His voyages are celebrated as the discovery of the Americas from a European perspective, and they opened a new era in the history of humankind and sustained contact between the two worlds.
File:Conquistador Alonso de Ojeda.pngTemplate:Flagicon Alonso de Ojeda (Template:Circa) is noted as the discoverer of South America, as commander of the fleet with Juan de la Cosa and Amerigo Vespucci.
File:JohnCabotPainting.jpgTemplate:Flagicon John Cabot (Template:Circa) was an Italian navigator who was the first European that sailed along to North American coast in 1497 since the Norse 500 years prior.
File:Vasco da Gama - 1838.pngTemplate:Flagicon Vasco da Gama (Template:Circa – 1524). Famous Portuguese explorer who sailed to India in 1497–98. He accomplished finding a sea route to Asia which Europeans had been attempting to do for decades prior.
File:Amerigo Vespucci (with turban) - cropped.jpgTemplate:Flagicon Template:Flagicon Amerigo Vespucci (1451–1512). Italian navigator who made several trips to the New World. He is known for convincing the Europeans that the New World is not Asia, but an entirely new unknown continent. This new continent was soon named after him, America.
File:Pedro Álvares Cabral.jpgTemplate:Flagicon Pedro Álvares Cabral (Template:Circa) discovered the land in what is now Brazil in 1500 and claimed it for Portugal.
File:Retrato de Afonso de Albuquerque (após 1545) - Autor desconhecido.pngTemplate:Flagicon Afonso de Albuquerque (Template:Circa – 1515) raided, captured, and conquered many coastal cities in Asia that initiated Portugal's dominance in the Indian Ocean. He is also one of the first Europeans to sail to the East Indies and Spice Islands, along with Francisco Serrão and António de Abreu.
File:Juan Ponce de León.jpgTemplate:Flagicon Juan Ponce de León (1474–1521) was the first Governor of Puerto Rico and discovered Florida in 1513. He is the first known European to set foot on today's contiguous United States.
File:Retrato de Vasco Nuñez de Balboa (1475-1517) - Anónimo.jpgTemplate:Flagicon Vasco Núñez de Balboa (Template:Circa – 1519) is known for having crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513, becoming the first European to reach and see the Pacific from the America's
File:Retrato de Hernán Cortés.jpgTemplate:Flagicon Hernán Cortés (1485–1547). Famous Conquistador who led the Spanish expedition to explore and conquer the Aztec Empire (1519–1521).
File:Ferdinand Magellan.jpgTemplate:Flagicon Ferdinand Magellan (1480–1521) was a Portuguese explorer who led the successful expedition under Spain to find a western sea route to Asia (1519–1521).
File:Las Glorias Nacionales, 1852 "Juan Sebastian Elcano". (4013953698).jpgTemplate:Flagicon Juan Sebastián Elcano (Template:Circa – 1526) took command after Ferdinand's death and completed the voyage, becoming the first person (along with 17 other crewmates) to circumnavigate the Earth.
File:Jacques Cartier 1851-1852.jpgTemplate:Flagicon Jacques Cartier (1491–1557) was the first European to travel inland in North America and claimed the lands he explored for France in 1534.
File:Gheeraerts Francis Drake 1591.jpgTemplate:Flagicon Francis Drake (Template:Circa – 1596) was an English privateer who plundered many Spanish towns and ships in the Caribbean and elsewhere. However, he is most notable for completing the second circumnavigation of the world (1577–1580).
File:Samuel-de-champlain-s.jpgTemplate:Flagicon Samuel de Champlain (1567–1635) is known as "The Father of New France". He founded the first permanent European settlements in Canada, and explored many lakes and rivers in the interior lands from early age to his death.
File:HenryHudson.jpgTemplate:FlagiconTemplate:Flagicon Henry Hudson (Template:Circa) explored what is now New York and northeastern Canada. Today he has both a river and bay named after him.
File:Abel Tasman - Cuyp (cropped) (adjusted).jpgTemplate:Flagicon Abel Tasman (1603–1659) was a Dutch seafarer who was the first known European to sight the islands of Tasmania (named after him), New Zealand, and Fiji (1642–43).
File:Captainjamescookportrait.jpgTemplate:Flagicon James Cook (1728–1779). Famous British explorer who led three voyages to the Pacific. He is known for exploring and charting many islands in the ocean such as Polynesia, New Zealand, The Hawaiian Islands, and the eastern coast of Australia.
File:David Livingstone -1.jpgTemplate:Flagicon David Livingstone (1813–1873) is a Scottish explorer and missionary who sought to convert the locals to Christianity and expand British colonization, all the while discovering lakes and rivers within Africa's interior.
File:Nlc amundsen.jpgTemplate:Flagicon Roald Amundsen (1872–1928) was a Norwegian explorer of the polar regions. He led the first successful expedition to the South Pole in 1911, and eventually also reached the North Pole by air in 1926.
Template:Sticky header
Template:Div col
Template:Div col end
Template:Reflist
Template:Exploration
Template:Authority control