Name
|
Modern (and former) nationality
|
Centuries
|
Main areas explored
|
António de Abreu
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Indonesia
|
Francisco Zeimoto
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Japan
|
Thomas Wyndham
|
English
|
16th
|
West Africa
|
Sir Richard Guildford
|
English |
16th
|
Mediterranean Sea
|
William Adams
|
English |
17th
|
Japan
|
Diogo Afonso
|
Portuguese
|
15th
|
Northwest African coast
|
Estevanico
|
Moroccan |
16th
|
North America
|
Crispin Agnew
|
Scottish
|
20th
|
Greenland, Elephant Island, Northern Patagonian Icefield, Himalayas
|
Charles Albanel
|
French |
17th
|
Canada (interior)
|
Afonso de Albuquerque
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Asia
|
Buzz Aldrin
|
American |
20th
|
The Moon
|
Pero de Alenquer
|
Portuguese |
15th/16th
|
Indian Ocean
|
Alexander the Great
|
Greek (Macedonian)
|
4th BC
|
Indus River, Hindu Kush
|
Jean Alfonse (João Afonso)
|
Portuguese-French |
15th/16th
|
Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia, possibly Australia; Brazil, North America
|
Benedict Allen
|
English |
20th/21st
|
various
|
Diego de Almagro
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Peru, Chile
|
László Almásy
|
Hungarian |
19th/20th
|
Africa
|
Francisco de Almeida
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
India
|
Lourenço de Almeida
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Sri Lanka, India
|
Pedro de Alvarado
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras
|
Francisco Álvares
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Ethiopia
|
Gonçalo Álvares
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
Gough Island, Namibia
|
Jorge Álvares
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
China
|
Roald Amundsen
|
Norwegian
|
20th |
South Pole, Antarctica, Northwest Passage
|
José Alberto de Oliveira Anchieta
|
Portuguese |
19th
|
Gough Island
|
Charles John Andersson
|
Swedish |
19th
|
Southern Africa
|
António de Andrade
|
Portuguese |
16th/17th
|
India, Tibet
|
Fernão Pires de Andrade
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Ming China
|
Salomon August Andrée
|
Swedish |
19th
|
Arctic
|
Roy Chapman Andrews
|
American |
20th
|
China, Mongolia
|
Juan Bautista de Anza
|
Spanish |
18th
|
California
|
Moncacht-Apé
|
Yazoo
|
17th/18th
|
North America
|
Dominick Arduin
|
French |
20th/21st
|
North Pole
|
Henryk Arctowski
|
Polish |
20th
|
Antarctic, South America
|
Neil Armstrong
|
American |
20th
|
The Moon
|
Ingólfur Arnarson
|
Norse |
9th
|
Iceland
|
Vladimir Arsenyev
|
Russian |
20th
|
Far East
|
Michael Asher
|
English |
20th
|
Africa
|
Pero de Ataíde
|
Portuguese |
16th/17th
|
Indian Ocean
|
Vasco de Ataíde
|
Portuguese |
16th/17th
|
India, Tibet
|
Vladimir Atlasov
|
Siberian Cossack |
17th
|
Kamchatka Peninsula
|
François Xavier Aubry
|
French Canadian |
19th
|
American Southwest
|
Väinö Auer
|
Finnish |
20th
|
Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia
|
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Florida
|
Juan de Ayala
|
Spanish |
18th
|
California
|
Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón
|
Spanish
|
16th
|
South Carolina
|
Diogo de Azambuja
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
West African coast
|
George Back
|
English |
19th
|
Canada (Arctic)
|
William Baffin
|
English |
17th
|
Northwest Passage, Canada (Arctic)
|
Ralph Bagnold
|
British
|
20th
|
Libyan Desert
|
Abu Bakr II
|
Mali Empire |
14th
|
Atlantic Ocean, trans-Atlantic (allegedly)
|
Samuel Baker
|
English |
19th
|
Africa
|
Vasco Núñez de Balboa
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Panama, 'discovered' the Pacific Ocean
|
Robert Ballard
|
American |
20th
|
deep sea wrecks, Titanic
|
Ann Bancroft
|
American |
20th/21st
|
Arctic, Antarctic
|
Joseph Banks
|
English |
18th
|
Newfoundland and Labrador, South Pacific
|
Hong Bao
|
Chinese
|
15th
|
South Asia, Southeast Asia, Middle East, East African coast
|
Giosafat Barbaro
|
Italian |
15th
|
Black Sea, Near East
|
Duarte Barbosa
|
Portuguese |
15th/16th
|
Indian Ocean, 1st circumnavigation
|
Pero de Barcelos
|
Portuguese |
15th/16th
|
North America
|
Afonso Gonçalves Baldaia
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
Western Sahara
|
Jeanne Baré
|
French |
18th/19th
|
Pacific Ocean
|
Willem Barentsz
|
Dutch |
16th
|
Northeast Passage, Novaya Zemlya, Svalbard
|
Heinrich Barth
|
German |
19th
|
Central and northern Africa
|
Robert Bartlett
|
Newfoundlander
|
20th
|
Arctic
|
William Bartram
|
American
|
18th
|
Southern United States
|
George Bass
|
English |
18th
|
Australia, Tasmania
|
Henry Walter Bates
|
English |
19th
|
Amazon basin
|
Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta
|
Marinid |
14th
|
Africa, Central Asia, China, Europe, Indian subcontinent, Middle East, Russia, Southeast Asia
|
Nicolas Baudin
|
French |
18th
|
Australia
|
James Beckwourth
|
American |
19th
|
Sierra Nevada
|
William Beebe
|
American |
20th
|
deep sea
|
Pyotr Beketov
|
Russian |
17th
|
Siberia
|
Gertrude Bell
|
English |
19th/20th
|
the region of Syria Mesopotamia Asia Minor Arabia
|
Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen
|
Baltic German |
19th
|
Antarctica
|
Joseph René Bellot
|
French |
19th
|
Arctic
|
Móric Benyovszky
|
Hungarian |
18th
|
northern Pacific Ocean
|
Vitus Bering
|
Russian (Danish-born) |
18th
|
Northern Pacific Ocean, Bering Strait, Alaska (North America)
|
Jean de Béthencourt
|
French |
15th
|
Canary Islands
|
Hiram Bingham III
|
American |
20th
|
Machu Picchu, Peru
|
Laura Bingham
|
English |
20th/21st
|
South America
|
Isabella Bird
|
English |
19th/20th
|
North America, Hawaii, Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Persia, Kurdistan, Turkey, Morocco
|
John Blashford-Snell
|
English |
20th/21st
|
various
|
Adriaen Block
|
Dutch |
17th
|
East Coast of the United States
|
Nellie Bly
|
American |
19th/20th
|
trip around the world in 72 days
|
Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra
|
Spanish |
18th
|
Pacific Northwest
|
Benjamin Bonneville
|
American |
19th
|
Oregon Country, Great Basin
|
Daniel Boone
|
American |
18th
|
Kentucky, Appalachian Mountains
|
Vittorio Bottego
|
Italian |
19th
|
Somalia
|
Adam Brand
|
German |
17th
|
Russia, China
|
Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza
|
Italian-French |
19th
|
Congo
|
Saint Brendan
|
Irish |
6th
|
Atlantic Ocean, Iceland
|
Jim Bridger
|
American |
19th
|
Western United States
|
James Bruce
|
Scottish |
18th
|
Algeria, the Middle East, Egypt
|
William S. Bruce
|
Scottish |
20th
|
Antarctica
|
Jørgen Brønlund
|
Greenlandic |
20th
|
Greenland
|
Étienne Brûlé
|
French |
17th
|
Canada (interior)
|
Bungaree
|
Aboriginal Australian |
18th/19th
|
Australian coasts
|
Lafayette Bunnell
|
American |
19th
|
Yosemite Valley
|
Johann Ludwig Burckhardt
|
Swiss |
19th
|
Middle East, Sudan
|
Robert O'Hara Burke
|
Irish |
19th
|
Australia
|
Frederick Russell Burnham
|
American |
19th/20th
|
Africa, Mexico
|
Richard Francis Burton
|
English |
19th
|
East Africa
|
Thomas Button
|
Welsh
|
17th
|
Northwest Passage
|
José de Bustamante y Guerra
|
Spanish |
18th
|
Pacific Ocean
|
Richard E. Byrd
|
American |
20th
|
North Pole, Antarctica
|
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Southwestern United States, Mexico, Argentina
|
John Cabot
|
Italian |
15th
|
North American mainland (Canada)
|
Sebastian Cabot
|
Italian |
15th
|
Northwest Passage (Canada), Río de la Plata, Paraná River (South America)
|
João Cabral
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Bhutan & Nepal
|
Pedro Álvares Cabral
|
Portuguese |
15th/16th
|
Brazil, Madagascar
|
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
|
Portuguese or Spanish |
16th
|
California
|
Estêvão Cacella
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Himalayas
|
Alvise Cadamosto
|
Italian |
15th
|
Cape Verde islands
|
Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac
|
French |
18th
|
North America
|
René Caillié
|
French |
19th
|
North Africa
|
Álvaro Caminha
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
São Tomé and Príncipe islands
|
Pero Vaz de Caminha
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
Brazil
|
Alberto del Canto
|
Portuguese |
15th/16th
|
Northwestern Mexico
|
Diogo Cão
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
west coast of Africa (including the Congo River)
|
Hermenegildo de Brito Capelo
|
Portuguese |
19th
|
African continent
|
John Carpini
|
Italian |
13th
|
Central Asia, Mongolia
|
Juan Carrasco
|
Spanish |
18th
|
Pacific Northwest
|
Kit Carson
|
American |
19th
|
Rocky Mountains, California, Oregon, Great Basin
|
Jan Carstensz
|
Dutch |
17th
|
New Guinea coast, Gulf of Carpentaria
|
Jacques Cartier
|
French |
16th
|
St. Lawrence River
|
João de Castro
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
India, Arabian Peninsula & Red Sea
|
René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle
|
French |
17th
|
Mississippi embayment
|
Bodhidharma
|
Indian/Persian
|
5th/6th
|
China and Southeast Asia (semi-legendary)
|
Thomas Cavendish
|
English |
16th
|
Virginia, Pacific coast of Central and South America
|
Merieme Chadid
|
Moroccan, French |
20th/21st
|
Antarctica, South America, Asia, Astronomer
|
Paul Du Chaillu
|
French |
19th
|
Africa
|
Harriet Chalmers Adams
|
American |
19th/20th
|
South America, Asia, South Pacific
|
Samuel de Champlain
|
French |
16th/17th
|
Quebec, Great Lakes
|
Chang Chun
|
Chinese |
13th
|
Central Asia, Mongolia
|
Jean Chardin
|
French |
17th
|
Persia, India
|
Semion Chelyuskin
|
Russian |
18th
|
Great Northern Expedition
|
Vasily Chichagov
|
Russian |
18th
|
Northern Sea Route
|
Aleksei Chirikov
|
Russian |
18th
|
Great Northern Expedition
|
Fletcher Christian
|
English |
18th
|
Polynesia
|
Boris Chukhnovsky
|
Russian |
20th
|
Arctic
|
Hugh Clapperton
|
Scottish |
19th
|
west and Central Africa
|
William Clark
|
American |
19th
|
Western United States
|
Gonçalo Coelho
|
Portuguese |
15th/16th
|
South American coast
|
Nicolau Coelho
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
Brazil
|
Frank Cole
|
Canadian |
20th
|
Sahara
|
Bartholomew Columbus
|
Genoese
|
15th/16th
|
Hispaniola, The Antilles
|
Christopher Columbus
|
Genoese |
15th/16th
|
Bahamas, Caribbean, Central America, South America (Colombia and Venezuela)
|
Diego Columbus
|
Portuguese
|
16th
|
Hispaniola (Mainly Dominican Republic)
|
George Comer
|
American |
19th/20th
|
Arctic
|
Megasthenes
|
Greek
|
3rd BCE
|
India
|
Niccolò Da Conti
|
Italian (Venetian) |
15th
|
India, Southeast Asia
|
Frederick Cook
|
American |
19th/20th
|
Arctic
|
James Cook
|
English |
18th
|
Australasia, Oceania
|
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado
|
Spanish |
16th
|
New Mexico
|
Mahinda
|
Indian
|
3rd BCE
|
Sri Lanka
|
Diogo Álvares Correia
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Brazil
|
Gaspar Côrte-Real
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Newfoundland, Greenland
|
João Côrte-Real
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
Azores, Newfoundland (Possible exploration of North America in 1473)
|
Miguel Côrte-Real
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Greenland, Newfoundland, Massachusetts
|
Hernán Cortés
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Mexico
|
Juan de la Cosa
|
Spanish |
15th/16th
|
Caribbean, South America
|
Thomas Coulter
|
Irish |
19th
|
Mexico, Alta California
|
Jean Cousin
|
French |
15th
|
Possibly the Americas around 1488. Possibly mouth of the Amazon River
|
Jacques-Yves Cousteau
|
French |
20th
|
the deep sea
|
Pero da Covilhã
|
Portuguese |
15th/16th
|
India, Ethiopia
|
Tom Crean
|
Irish |
20th
|
Antarctica
|
Andrew Croft
|
English |
20th
|
Arctic
|
Tristão da Cunha
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Tristan da Cunha islands
|
William Healey Dall
|
American |
19th
|
Alaska, Yukon
|
William Dampier
|
English |
17th/18th
|
Australia, Panama, many other locations
|
Alexandra David-Néel
|
French-Belgian
|
20th
|
Tibet (Traveled to Lhasa)
|
Isaac Davis
|
Welsh |
18th
|
Hawaii
|
Faxian
|
Chinese
|
5th
|
India, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia
|
John Davis
|
English |
16th
|
East Indies, Falkland Islands
|
Wang Dayuan
|
Chinese
|
14th
|
Southeast Asia, Singapore
|
Semyon Dezhnev
|
Russian |
17th
|
Siberia, Bering Strait (80 years before Vitus Bering)
|
Bartolomeu Dias
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
Africa
|
Dinis Dias
|
Portuguese
|
15th
|
Northwest African coast
|
Diogo Dias
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Madagascar, Somalia
|
Pero Dias
|
Portuguese
|
15th
|
African coast
|
Dicuil
|
Irish |
8th
|
England, Scotland
|
Karl von Ditmar
|
Baltic German |
19th
|
Kamchatka
|
Raphaël Domjan
|
Swiss |
21st
|
various
|
Francis Drake
|
English |
16th
|
Caribbean, Pacific Coast of North America
|
Gil Eanes
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
Northwest African coast
|
Juan Sebastián Elcano
|
Spanish |
16th
|
completed Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigation
|
Francisco de Eliza
|
Spanish |
18th
|
Strait of Juan de Fuca and Strait of Georgia
|
Lincoln Ellsworth
|
American |
20th
|
Arctic and Antarctica
|
Franz Engel
|
German |
19th
|
South America
|
Kaundinya
|
Indian
|
1st
|
Southeast Asia
|
Leif Eriksson
|
Norse Viking |
11th
|
Vinland (Newfoundland) and North American mainland (Canada)
|
Erik the Red
|
Norse Viking |
10th
|
Greenland
|
Pedro Escobar
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
São Tomé and Príncipe islands
|
St Vincent Whitshed Erskine
|
British-South African |
19th
|
Gazaland & Limpopo River
|
Eudoxus of Cyzicus
|
Greek |
2nd BC
|
Indian Ocean, attempted circumnavigation of Africa
|
Euthymenes
|
Greek |
6th BC
|
Northwest African coast
|
George Everest
|
Welsh |
19th
|
India
|
Evliya Çelebi
|
Turkish |
17th
|
Turkey, Egypt, Africa, Europe
|
Ahmad ibn Fadlan
|
Abbasid Caliphate |
10th
|
Eastern Europe, Middle East, Russia
|
João Álvares Fagundes
|
Portuguese
|
16th
|
Newfoundland and Nova Scotia
|
Edmund Fanning
|
American |
18th/19th
|
Oceania
|
Percy Harrison Fawcett
|
English |
20th
|
Amazon Rainforest
|
Álvaro Fernandes
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
West African coast
|
Baltasar Fernandes
|
Portuguese |
17th
|
Brazil
|
Duarte Fernandes
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Thailand
|
Juan Fernández
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Juan Fernández Islands, Pacific Ocean
|
Salvador Fidalgo
|
Spanish |
18th
|
Pacific Northwest
|
Peter Fidler
|
English |
18th
|
Western Canada
|
Sir Ranulph Fiennes
|
English |
20th/21st
|
Arctic, Antarctica
|
Matthew Flinders
|
English |
18th/19th
|
Australia, Tasmania
|
Alexander Forbes
|
Scottish |
19th
|
California
|
Peter Forsskål
|
Finnish |
18th
|
Arabian Peninsula
|
John Franklin
|
English |
19th
|
Northwest Passage
|
Simon Fraser
|
Scottish |
18th/19th
|
British Columbia
|
Lançarote de Freitas
|
Portuguese
|
15th
|
Northwest African coast
|
John C. Frémont
|
American |
19th
|
Oregon Trail, Sierra Nevada
|
Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne
|
French |
18th
|
Oceania
|
Louis de Freycinet
|
French |
19th
|
Western Australia, Oceania
|
Martin Frobisher
|
English |
16th
|
Northwest Passage, Canada
|
Afanasy Nikitin
|
Russian
|
15th
|
Ottoman Empire, Persia and India
|
Xu Fu
|
Chinese |
3rd BC
|
Japan
|
Juan de Fuca
|
Greek-Spanish |
16th
|
Strait of Juan de Fuca, Canada–United States border
|
Vivian Fuchs
|
English |
20th
|
Antarctica
|
Alfons Gabriel
|
Austrian |
20th
|
Iran
|
Yuri Gagarin
|
Soviet |
20th
|
Earth orbit
|
Martín Galeano
|
Italian (Genoese)-Spanish
|
16th
|
Colombia
|
Dionisio Alcalá Galiano
|
Spanish |
18th
|
Pacific Northwest
|
Juan Galindo
|
Spanish/Irish |
19th
|
Mesoamerica (Mayan remains)
|
Estevão da Gama
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Trindade and Martim Vaz islands, Indian Ocean
|
João da Gama
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Hokkaido, Kuril islands, North Pacific, North America
|
Paulo da Gama
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
sea route from Europe to India
|
Vasco da Gama
|
Portuguese |
15th/16th
|
sea route from Europe to India
|
Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Solomon Islands
|
Thomas Gann
|
Irish |
19th/20th
|
Mesoamerica (Mayan remains)
|
Francisco Garcés
|
Spanish |
18th
|
Southwestern United States, northwestern Mexico
|
Aleixo Garcia
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia
|
Francisco García Jofre de Loaísa
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Pacific Ocean
|
Francis Garnier
|
French |
19th
|
Mekong River
|
Adrien de Gerlache
|
Belgian |
19th/20th
|
Antarctica, Arctic
|
Romolo Gessi
|
Italian |
19th
|
the Nile, Sudan
|
Humphrey Gilbert
|
English |
16th
|
North America
|
Ernest Giles
|
Australian |
19th
|
Central Australia
|
Diogo Gomes
|
Portuguese
|
15th
|
West African coast
|
André Gonçalves
|
Portuguese |
15th/16th
|
Brazil
|
Antão Gonçalves
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
West African coast
|
Lopes Gonçalves
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
Atlantic Ocean
|
Binot Paulmier de Gonneville
|
French |
15th/16th
|
Brazil (Santa Catarina)
|
James Augustus Grant
|
Scottish |
19th
|
East Africa
|
João Grego
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
African coast
|
Juan de Grijalva
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Mexico, Nicaragua
|
Grigory Grum-Grshimailo
|
Russian |
19th/20th
|
Central Asia, Tuva, Far East
|
Gonzalo Guerrero
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Yucatán Peninsula
|
Mikhail Gvozdev
|
Russian |
18th
|
First Kamchatka Expedition, Great Northern Expedition
|
Charles Gwynn
|
Irish |
19th/20th
|
Sudan
|
Niels Peter Høeg Hagen
|
Danish |
20th
|
Greenland
|
Hanno the Navigator
|
Carthaginian |
6th BC
|
West African coast
|
Hannu
|
Egyptian |
21st/20th BC
|
East Africa
|
Gonzalo López de Haro
|
Spanish |
18th
|
Pacific Northwest
|
Alfred Harrison
|
English |
20th
|
Arctic
|
Dirk Hartog
|
Dutch |
17th
|
Western Australian coast
|
Ahmed Pasha Hassanein
|
Egyptian |
20th
|
Oweinat and the Sahara
|
Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden
|
American |
19th
|
Rocky Mountains and the Western United States
|
Zheng He
|
Chinese
|
15th
|
South Asia, Southeast Asia, Middle East, East African coast
|
Samuel Hearne
|
English |
18th
|
North Canada, Arctic
|
Bruno de Heceta
|
Spanish |
18th
|
Pacific Northwest
|
Sven Hedin
|
Swedish |
19th/20th
|
Central Asia
|
Matthew Alexander Henson
|
American |
20th
|
Arctic
|
Louis Hennepin
|
Belgian-French |
17th
|
North American interior
|
Pedro de Heredia
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Northern Colombia
|
Bjarni Herjulfsson
|
Norse Viking |
10th
|
North America
|
William Lewis Herndon
|
American |
19th
|
Amazon basin
|
Herodotus
|
Greek |
5th BC
|
Near East, Middle East, North Africa
|
Thor Heyerdahl
|
Norwegian |
20th
|
anthropological ocean voyages
|
Sir Edmund Hillary
|
New Zealander |
20th
|
Mount Everest, Antarctica
|
Himilco the Navigator
|
Carthaginian |
6th BC
|
Northwestern coast of Europe
|
Hippalus
|
Greek |
1st BC
|
Indian Ocean
|
Clement Hodgkinson
|
English |
19th
|
New South Wales (Australia)
|
Pelham Aldrich
|
English
|
19th/20th
|
Arctic
|
Emil Holub
|
Czech |
19th
|
Africa
|
Robert Hottot
|
French |
20th
|
Congo River
|
Cornelis de Houtman
|
Dutch |
16th
|
sea route from Europe to Indonesia
|
Frederick de Houtman
|
Dutch |
16th/17th
|
Western Australian coast
|
William Hovell
|
English |
19th
|
Southern New South Wales
|
Du Huan
|
Chinese
|
8th
|
Central Asia, Middle East, East African coast
|
Henry Hudson
|
English |
17th
|
Northwest Passage, Hudson River and Hudson Bay
|
Alexander von Humboldt
|
German |
19th
|
Latin America, Siberia
|
Hamilton Hume
|
Australian |
19th
|
Australian interior
|
James S. Hutchinson
|
American |
20th
|
Sierra Nevada
|
Hyecho
|
Korean |
8th
|
India, Persia and Central Asia
|
João Infante
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
African coast
|
Helge Ingstad
|
Norwegian |
20th
|
Newfoundland, Greenland, Alaska
|
James Irwin
|
American
|
20th
|
The Moon
|
Kurbat Ivanov
|
Siberian Cossack |
17th
|
Siberia, Russian Far East, discoverer of Lake Baikal
|
Roberto Ivens
|
Portuguese |
19th
|
African continent
|
Cristóvão Jacques
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Paraná River, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina
|
James of Ireland
|
Irish |
14th
|
Sumatra, China
|
Willem Janszoon
|
Dutch |
17th
|
Australia (Queensland)
|
Anthony Jenkinson
|
English |
16th
|
Russia, Persia
|
Louis Jolliet
|
French Canadian |
17th
|
Mississippi River
|
Jørgen Jørgensen
|
Danish |
18th/19th
|
Tasmania
|
Friar Julian
|
Hungarian |
13th
|
Volga Bulgaria
|
Conrad Carel Käyser
|
Dutch |
20th
|
Suriname
|
Thorfinn Karlsefni
|
Icelandic |
11th
|
Vinland
|
Johann Karl Ehrenfried Kegel
|
German |
19th
|
Kamchatka
|
George Kennan
|
American |
19th/20th
|
Russia
|
Edmund Kennedy
|
British-Australian |
19th
|
Australian interior
|
Robert Kennicott
|
American |
19th
|
Alaska, Siberia, Yukon and Northern Canada
|
Yerofey Khabarov
|
Russian |
17th
|
Second Russian to explore the Amur region
|
Khashkhash Ibn Saeed Ibn Aswad
|
Andalusian |
9th
|
Atlantic Ocean (possibly mythical)
|
Mary Kingsley
|
English
|
19th
|
Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, and other South West African regions
|
Eusebio Kino
|
Italian |
17th/18th
|
Californias, Sonora and Arizona
|
Maria Klenova
|
Russian |
20th
|
One of the founders of marine geology
|
Amyr Klink
|
Brazilian |
20th
|
Antarctica
|
John Knight
|
English |
17th
|
Greenland, Labrador
|
Johan Peter Koch
|
Danish |
20th
|
Greenland
|
Alexander Kolchak
|
Russian |
20th
|
Russian Arctic
|
Ferdinand Konščak
|
Croatian |
17th
|
Baja California Peninsula
|
Fyodor Konyukhov
|
Russian |
20th/21st
|
circumnavigation, Explorers Grand Slam, pole of inaccessibility
|
Otto von Kotzebue
|
Baltic German |
19th
|
Pacific Ocean
|
Pyotr Kozlov
|
Russian |
20th
|
Mongolia, Tibet
|
Johann Ludwig Krapf
|
German |
19th
|
Ethiopia, Kenya
|
Pyotr Krenitsyn
|
Russian |
18th
|
Alaska, Aleutian Islands, Kamchatka Peninsula
|
Adam Johann von Krusenstern
|
Baltic German |
19th
|
First Russian circumnavigation
|
Francisco de Lacerda
|
Portuguese
|
18th
|
Zambia
|
Juan Ladrillero
|
Spanish
|
16th
|
Chile
|
Ernest Doudard de Lagrée
|
French
|
19th
|
Indochina, Mekong and Yunnan
|
Alexander Gordon Laing
|
Scottish |
19th
|
West Africa (Niger River and Timbuktu)
|
Pierre Martin de La Martinière
|
French |
17th
|
Norway, Lapland, northern Russia, Novaya Zemlya, Greenland and Iceland
|
Richard Lemon Lander
|
English |
19th
|
West Africa (Niger and Benue Rivers)
|
Grigori Ivanovitch Langsdorff
|
Russian–German |
19th
|
Brazil
|
Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse
|
French |
18th
|
Pacific Rim
|
Khariton Laptev
|
Russian |
18th
|
Great Northern Expedition
|
Anthony de la Roché
|
English |
17th
|
Antarctica
|
Gadifer de la Salle
|
French |
15th
|
Canary Islands
|
João Fernandes Lavrador
|
Portuguese |
15th/16th
|
Labrador
|
Joseph N. LeConte
|
American |
20th
|
Sierra Nevada
|
Albert von Le Coq
|
German |
19th/20th
|
Central Asia
|
John Ledyard
|
American |
18th
|
Australasia, Oceania, Russia
|
Miguel López de Legazpi
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Philippines
|
Ludwig Leichhardt
|
German |
19th
|
Australian interior
|
Jacob Le Maire
|
Dutch |
17th
|
South Pacific (Cape Horn, Tonga Islands, Wallis and Futuna)
|
Gaspar de Lemos
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
Brazil
|
Dragutin Lerman
|
Croatian |
19th/20th
|
Congo
|
Mikhail Levashev
|
Russian |
18th
|
Alaska, Aleutian Islands, Kamchatka Peninsula
|
Meriwether Lewis
|
American |
18th/19th
|
Western United States
|
Sir Martin Lindsay, 1st Baronet
|
Scottish |
20th
|
East Greenland
|
João de Lisboa
|
Portuguese |
15th/16th
|
Indian Ocean, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina
|
St. George Littledale
|
English |
19th
|
Central Asia and North America
|
David Livingstone
|
Scottish |
19th
|
Southern and East Africa
|
Louis-Philippe Loncke
|
Belgian |
21st
|
Australia, the Andes and Iceland
|
Jim Lovell
|
American |
20th
|
Outer Space
|
Alexander Mackenzie
|
Scottish Canadian |
18th/19th
|
Canada
|
Ferdinand Magellan
|
Portuguese |
15th/16th
|
1st circumnavigation, Philippines, Strait of Malacca, Indian Ocean
|
Jacques Mahu
|
French-Dutch
|
16th
|
Cape Verde islands
|
Alessandro Malaspina
|
Italian-Spanish |
18th
|
Pacific Ocean
|
Teoberto Maler
|
German-Italian |
19th
|
Mesoamerica (Mayan remains)
|
George Mallory
|
English |
20th
|
Mount Everest
|
Lancelotto Malocello
|
Italian |
13th/14th
|
Lanzarote (Canary Islands)
|
Albert Hastings Markham
|
British |
19th
|
Arctic
|
Lourenço Marques
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Mozambique
|
Jacques Marquette
|
French |
17th
|
Mississippi River
|
Álvaro Martins
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
Newfoundland, Cape of Good Hope
|
Pedro Mascarenhas
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Indian Ocean, Diego Garcia
|
John Minor Maury
|
American |
19th
|
Darién Gap
|
Douglas Mawson
|
Australian |
20th
|
Antarctica
|
Robert McClure
|
Irish |
19th
|
Arctic
|
Robert McCormick
|
British
|
19th
|
Arctic and Antarctic Oceans
|
Álvaro de Mendaña
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Pacific Ocean
|
António Lopes Mendes
|
Portuguese
|
19th
|
Brazil, India
|
Cristóvão de Mendonça
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
East Asia, Australasia
|
Pedro de Mendoza
|
Spanish
|
16th
|
South America
|
Jorge de Menezes
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Papua New Guinea
|
Archibald Menzies
|
Scottish |
18th/19th
|
Pacific Ocean, circumnavigation
|
Alexander von Middendorff
|
Russian-Baltic German |
19th
|
Siberia, Far East, Lapland, Fergana Valley
|
Ejnar Mikkelsen
|
Danish |
20th
|
Greenland
|
Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay
|
Russian |
19th
|
New Guinea
|
Thomas Mitchell
|
Scottish |
19th
|
Australian interior
|
Richard Mohun
|
American |
19th/20th
|
Congo Free State
|
Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons
|
French |
16th/17th
|
North America
|
George Fletcher Moore
|
Irish |
19th
|
Australia
|
John Moresby
|
English |
19th
|
New Guinea coast
|
Ivan Moskvitin
|
Russian |
17th
|
First European to reach the Sea of Okhotsk
|
António Mota
|
Portuguese
|
16th
|
Japan
|
Henri Mouhot
|
French |
19th
|
South East Asia
|
Francisco Antonio Mourelle
|
Spanish |
18th
|
Pacific Northwest and Pacific Ocean
|
Bimal Mukherjee
|
Indian |
20th
|
circumnavigation
|
Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen
|
Danish |
20th
|
Greenland
|
Gustav Nachtigal
|
German |
19th
|
Africa
|
Naddoddur
|
Norse Viking |
9th
|
Iceland
|
Nain Singh Rawat (Pundit Brothers)
|
Indian |
19th
|
Tibet, Himalayas and Central Asia
|
Fridtjof Nansen
|
Norwegian |
19th/20th
|
Arctic
|
José María Narváez
|
Spanish |
18th
|
Pacific Northwest
|
Nearchus
|
Greek |
4th BC
|
Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf
|
Nehsi
|
Egyptian |
15th BC
|
Land of Punt
|
Arthur Henry Neumann
|
English |
19th
|
Africa
|
Gennady Nevelskoy
|
Russian |
19th
|
Sakhalin
|
Jean Nicolet
|
French |
17th
|
Northwest Territory (United States)
|
Joseph Nicollet
|
French-American |
19th
|
Mississippi and Missouri Rivers
|
António Noli
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
Cape Verde islands
|
Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld
|
Finnish |
19th
|
Arctic
|
Tenzing Norgay
|
Nepalese |
20th
|
Mount Everest
|
Fernão de Noronha
|
Portuguese |
15th/16th
|
Atlantic Ocean
|
João da Nova
|
Galician-Portuguese |
16th
|
Atlantic and Indian Oceans
|
Paulo Dias de Novais
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Angola
|
Kazimierz Nowak
|
Polish |
20th
|
Africa
|
Vanessa O'Brien
|
American and British |
20th/21st
|
Mountaineering and Challenger Deep in Marianas Trench
|
Sebastián de Ocampo
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico
|
Addison O'Dea
|
American |
21st
|
The Sahara
|
Odoric of Pordenone
|
Italian |
14th
|
Persia, India and China
|
Peter Skene Ogden
|
Canadian |
19th
|
Snake River country, Western United States
|
Alonso de Ojeda
|
Spanish
|
15th/16th
|
South America (north), Caribbean
|
Juan de Oñate
|
Spanish |
16th
|
American Southwest
|
Francisco de Orellana
|
Spanish |
16th
|
South America, Amazon River
|
Simone Orlandini
|
Italian |
21st
|
Arctic, Tibet
|
Íñigo Órtiz de Retes
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Papua New Guinea
|
John Oxenham
|
English |
16th
|
Panama, Pacific Ocean
|
John Oxley
|
English |
19th
|
Australia
|
Pedro Páez
|
Spanish |
16th/17th
|
Ethiopia
|
Juan Pardo
|
Spanish
|
16th
|
Southeastern United States
|
Mungo Park
|
Scottish |
18th/19th
|
West Africa (Niger River)
|
William Parry
|
English |
19th
|
Arctic
|
James Ohio Pattie
|
American |
19th
|
Western United States
|
Fiann Paul
|
Icelandic
|
21st
|
Arctic, Antarctic, Oceans
|
Nathaniel Pearce
|
English |
19th
|
Ethiopia
|
Robert Peary
|
American |
19th/20th
|
Arctic
|
Paul Pelliot
|
French |
19th/20th
|
central Asia
|
Diogo Fernandes Pereira
|
Portuguese |
15th/16th
|
Madagascar, Mascarenes (Réunion, Mauritius, and Rodrigues)
|
Duarte Pacheco Pereira
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
Atlantic Ocean, Brazil
|
Bartolomeu Perestrelo
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
Madeira Islands
|
Juan Pérez
|
Spanish |
18th
|
Pacific Northwest
|
Maksim Perfilyev
|
Siberian Cossack |
17th
|
Eastern Siberia, first Russian to reach Transbaikalia
|
Ivan Petlin
|
Siberian Cossack |
17th
|
First Russian to reach China
|
Auguste Piccard
|
Swiss |
20th
|
Earth's atmosphere, the deep sea
|
Jacques Piccard
|
Swiss |
20th
|
the deep sea
|
Antonio Pigafetta
|
Italian (Venetian) |
16th
|
Survived the 1st circumnavigation of the world
|
Zebulon Pike
|
American |
19th
|
Louisiana Purchase (United States)
|
Alonso Alvarez de Pineda
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Gulf Coast
|
Fernão Mendes Pinto
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
India, Far East, Japan
|
Serpa Pinto
|
Portuguese |
19th
|
Southern Africa
|
Martin Alonzo Pinzón
|
Spanish |
15th
|
Caribbean
|
Vicente Yáñez Pinzón
|
Spanish |
15th/16th
|
Caribbean, Brazil
|
Luís Pires
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
abortive voyage to Brazil
|
Francisco Pizarro
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Hispaniola, Panama, Peru
|
Fernão do Pó
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
West African coast
|
Marco Polo
|
Italian (Venetian) |
13th/14th
|
China, Mongol Empire, India
|
Juan Ponce de León
|
Spanish |
15th/16th
|
Florida
|
Peter Pond
|
American |
18th/19th
|
Canada interior
|
Fedot Popov
|
Russian |
17th
|
The first European expedition through the Bering Strait
|
António da Silva Porto
|
Portuguese
|
19th
|
Angola interior
|
Gaspar de Portolà
|
Spanish |
18th
|
Alta and Baja California
|
Posidonius
|
Greek |
1st BC
|
Gaul
|
Sydney Possuelo
|
Brazilian |
20th/21st
|
Amazon
|
Panayotis Potagos
|
Greek |
19th
|
Africa
|
Grigory Potanin
|
Russian |
19th
|
Inner Asia
|
John Wesley Powell
|
American |
19th
|
Western United States
|
Vassili Poyarkov
|
Russian |
17th
|
First Russian explorer of the Amur region
|
Mandil Pradhan
|
Nepalese
|
21st
|
Himalayas
|
Gavriil Pribylov
|
Russian |
18th
|
Pribilof Islands
|
Vasili Pronchishchev
|
Russian |
18th
|
Great Northern Expedition
|
Maria Pronchishcheva
|
Russian |
18th
|
The first female Arctic explorer
|
Nathaniel Hale Pryor
|
American |
19th
|
western United States
|
Nikolai Przhevalsky
|
Russian |
19th
|
Central Asia
|
Peter Puget
|
English |
19th
|
Puget Sound
|
Pytheas
|
Greek |
4th BC
|
Northern Europe
|
Zhang Qian
|
Chinese
|
2nd BC
|
Central Asia
|
Pedro Fernandes de Queirós
|
Portuguese |
16th/17th
|
Oceania
|
Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada
|
Spanish |
16th
|
From Santa Marta to the Bogotá savanna; quest for El Dorado
|
Hernán Pérez de Quesada
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Caquetá, Colombia; quest for El Dorado
|
Manuel Quimper
|
Spanish |
18th
|
Pacific Northwest
|
Emil Racoviță
|
Romanian |
19th/20th
|
Antarctica
|
John Rae
|
Scottish Canadian |
19th
|
Northwest Passage, Canada (Arctic)
|
Sir Walter Raleigh
|
English |
16th/17th
|
Virginia, Orinoco River
|
Knud Rasmussen
|
Danish |
20th
|
Arctic
|
Piri Reis
|
Turkish |
15th/16th
|
Mediterranean Sea
|
Matteo Ricci
|
Italian |
16th
|
China
|
Mario Rigby
|
Turks and Caicos Islander |
21st
|
Africa
|
Arthur Rimbaud
|
French |
19th
|
Horn of Africa (Abyssinia)
|
Luigi Robecchi
|
Italian |
19th
|
Africa
|
Anthony de la Roché
|
English |
17th
|
Antarctic (South Georgia)
|
Diogo Rodrigues
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Mascarene Islands
|
Nicholas Roerich
|
Russian |
20th
|
Central Asia, Northeast Asia
|
Jacob Roggeveen
|
Dutch |
18th
|
South Pacific (Easter Island)
|
Cândido Rondon
|
Brazilian |
19th/20th
|
Brazilian interior (Amazon Basin)
|
James Clark Ross
|
English |
19th
|
Arctic, Antarctic
|
Sir John Ross
|
Scottish |
19th
|
Arctic
|
John Ross
|
Scottish Australian |
19th
|
Northern Territory
|
William of Rubruck
|
Flemish |
13th
|
Central Asia
|
Nikolay Rudanovsky
|
Russian |
19th
|
Sakhalin
|
Henry Russell
|
Irish |
19th
|
Pyrenees
|
Ahmad ibn Rustah
|
Persian |
10th
|
Russia, Scandinavia, Arabia
|
João de Sá
|
Portuguese
|
15th/16th
|
India, African coast
|
Álvaro de Saavedra
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Papua New Guinea, Caroline Islands, Marshall Islands
|
Edward Sabine
|
Irish |
19th
|
Arctic
|
Sacagawea
|
Lemhi Shoshone |
18th/19th
|
Western United States
|
Anatoly Sagalevich
|
Russian |
20th/21st
|
Explorer of the World Ocean, seabed at the North Pole
|
Kira Salak
|
American |
20th/21st
|
Papua New Guinea, Mali, Bhutan
|
Alonso de Salazar
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Marshall Islands, Pacific Ocean
|
Agustín Lizárraga
|
Peruvian |
20th
|
Machu Picchu
|
Gadiel Sánchez Rivera
|
Peruvian |
21st
|
Amazon, Lake Titicaca
|
Sándor Kőrösi Csoma
|
Hungarian |
19th
|
Tibet
|
Yakov Sannikov
|
Russian |
19th
|
New Siberian Islands
|
João de Santarém
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
São Tomé and Príncipe islands
|
Gavril Sarychev
|
Russian |
18th/19th
|
Sea of Okhotsk, Baltic Sea, Aleutian Islands
|
Martin Sauer
|
English |
18th
|
Siberia, Alaska
|
Rabban Bar Sauma
|
Turco-Mongol |
13th
|
Europe, Middle East
|
Johann Schiltberger
|
German |
15th
|
Central Asia
|
Adolf Schlagintweit
|
German |
19th
|
Central Asia
|
Eduard Schlagintweit
|
German |
19th
|
Central Asia
|
Emil Schlagintweit
|
German |
19th
|
Central Asia
|
Hermann Schlagintweit
|
German |
19th
|
Central Asia
|
Robert Schlagintweit
|
German |
19th
|
Central Asia
|
Ulrich Schmidl
|
German
|
16th
|
Río de la Plata
|
Willem Schouten
|
Dutch |
17th
|
South Pacific (Cape Horn, Tonga Islands, Wallis and Futuna)
|
Georg August Schweinfurth
|
Baltic German |
19th
|
East and Central Africa
|
Robert Falcon Scott
|
English |
19th/20th
|
Antarctica (South Pole)
|
Scylax of Caryanda
|
Greek |
6th BC
|
Indus River, Indian Ocean, Red Sea
|
Tibor Sekelj
|
Croat |
20th
|
Argentina
|
Mirko and Stjepan Seljan
|
Croat |
20th
|
Ethiopia, South America
|
Frederick Courtney Selous
|
English |
19th
|
Africa
|
Symon Semeonis
|
Hiberno-Norman |
14th
|
Jerusalem, Albania
|
Gomes de Sequeira
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Caroline Islands, Pacific Ocean
|
João Serrão
|
Portuguese |
15th/16th
|
1st Circumnavigation (also later its co-captain general); commanded the ship Santiago in the Atlantic and the Concepcion across the Pacific, Strait of Malacca, Indian Ocean
|
Francisco Serrão
|
Portuguese |
15th/16th
|
Indonesia
|
Ernest Shackleton
|
English-Irish |
20th
|
Antarctica
|
Robert Barkley Shaw
|
English |
19th
|
Central Asia
|
Eric Shipton
|
English |
20th
|
Mount Everest, southern Patagonia
|
Tanaka Shōsuke
|
Japanese |
17th
|
Mexico
|
Diogo Silves
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
Azores
|
James Simpson
|
English |
20th
|
North Greenland
|
Pero de Sintra
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
West African coast, Sierra Leone
|
Pierre-Jean De Smet
|
Belgian |
19th
|
North America
|
Jedediah Smith
|
American
|
19th
|
Western United States, Rocky Mountains
|
John Smith
|
English
|
17th
|
North America
|
William Smith
|
English |
19th
|
South Shetland Islands
|
Eugene Smurgis
|
Russian
|
20th
|
Arctic Ocean
|
J. Dewey Soper
|
Canadian |
20th
|
Canadian Arctic
|
Hernando de Soto
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Central America, Southern United States
|
Martim Afonso de Sousa
|
Portuguese |
16th
|
Brazilian interior
|
John Hanning Speke
|
English |
19th
|
East Africa
|
Hans Staden
|
German |
16th
|
Brazil
|
Ed Stafford
|
English |
21st
|
Amazon
|
William Grant Stairs
|
Canadian |
19th
|
Central Africa
|
Henry Morton Stanley
|
Welsh |
19th
|
East Africa
|
Vilhjalmur Stefansson
|
Icelandic Canadian |
20th
|
Canadian Arctic
|
Marc Aurel Stein
|
Hungarian-British |
19th/20th
|
Central Asia
|
John Lloyd Stephens
|
American |
19th
|
Middle East, Mesoamerica (Mayan remains)
|
Paweł Strzelecki
|
Polish-British |
19th
|
the Americas, Australia (Gippsland)
|
John McDouall Stuart
|
Scottish |
19th
|
Australian Interior
|
Charles Sturt
|
British |
19th
|
Australian Interior
|
Gardar Svavarsson
|
Swedish |
9th
|
Iceland
|
Anders Svedlund
|
Swedish
|
20th
|
Oceans
|
Otto Sverdrup
|
Norwegian |
19th/20th
|
Arctic
|
Ignacije Szentmartony
|
Croat |
18th
|
Amazon River
|
Abel Tasman
|
Dutch |
17th
|
Australasia, including Tasmania
|
António Raposo Tavares
|
Portuguese |
17th
|
Paraguay River, part of the Andes mountain range, Grande River, Mamoré River, Madeira River, Amazon River (Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia) Union of La Plata Basin to the Amazon River – circumnavigation of Brazil.
|
Jean-Baptiste Tavernier
|
French |
17th
|
Persia, India
|
Mikhail Tebenkov
|
Russian |
19th
|
Alaska, Aleutian Islands, Amur River
|
Pedro Teixeira
|
Portuguese |
17th
|
Amazon River
|
Tristão Vaz Teixeira
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
Madeira Islands
|
Wilfred Thesiger
|
English |
20th
|
Africa, Middle East
|
David Thompson
|
Welsh–English |
18th/19th
|
Western Canada, Pacific Northwest
|
Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir
|
Icelandic |
11th
|
North America
|
Harold William Tilman
|
English |
20th
|
Himalayas, Patagonia
|
Yermak Timofeyevich
|
Russian |
16th
|
Siberia
|
Tenjiku Tokubei
|
Japanese |
17th
|
South East Asia, India
|
Eduard Toll
|
Baltic German |
19th
|
Arctic
|
Luis Váez de Torres
|
Spanish Galician |
16th/17th
|
Australasia
|
Nuno Tristão
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
West African coast, Guinea-Bissau
|
Petrus Johannes Truter
|
Dutch |
19th
|
Bechuanaland
|
Hasekura Tsunenaga
|
Japanese |
17th
|
Mexico, Europe
|
Benjamin of Tudela
|
Jewish Navarrese |
12th
|
Mediterranean Sea, Arabian Peninsula, Red Sea, Persian Gulf
|
Andrés de Urdaneta
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Pacific Ocean, Manila Galleon route
|
Jules Dumont d'Urville
|
French |
19th
|
Antarctica
|
Cayetano Valdés y Flores
|
Spanish |
18th
|
Pacific Northwest
|
George Vancouver
|
English |
18th
|
Pacific coast of North America
|
Ludovico di Varthema
|
Italian |
15th/16th
|
Arabian Peninsula, Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia
|
Gonçalo Velho
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
Azores
|
François de La Vérendrye
|
French Canadian |
18th
|
Western Canada
|
Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye
|
French Canadian |
18th
|
Great Plains
|
Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye
|
French |
18th
|
Great Plains
|
Giovanni da Verrazzano
|
Italian |
16th
|
East Coast of the United States
|
Amerigo Vespucci
|
Italian |
15th/16th
|
Eastern South American coast, Caribbean
|
Flóki Vilgerðarson
|
Norse Viking
|
9th
|
Iceland
|
Ruy López de Villalobos
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Pacific Ocean, Philippines
|
Vandino and Ugolino Vivaldi
|
Italian
|
13th
|
Africa, in a failed attempt to reach India
|
Sebastián Vizcaíno
|
Spanish |
16th
|
Northwest Pacific, California Coast
|
Willem de Vlamingh
|
Dutch |
17th
|
Southwest Australian coast
|
Maarten Gerritsz Vries
|
Dutch |
17th
|
Northwest Pacific (Hokkaido, Sakhalin)
|
Lionel Wafer
|
Welsh |
17th
|
Malay Archipelago, Isthmus of Panama
|
Jean-Frédéric Waldeck
|
French |
19th
|
Mesoamerica (Mayan remains)
|
Thomas Walker
|
American |
18th
|
Eastern United States
|
Samuel Wallis
|
British
|
18th
|
First recorded visit to Tahiti
|
Gino Watkins
|
English |
20th
|
East Greenland & Labrador
|
Langdon Warner
|
American |
20th
|
the Silk Road
|
Alfred Wegener
|
German |
20th
|
Greenland
|
John White
|
English |
16th
|
Roanoke Island
|
Jim Whittaker
|
American |
20th
|
Mount Everest, Antarctica
|
Frederick Whymper
|
English |
19th
|
Alaska, Kamchatka, Yukon
|
Charles Wilkes
|
American |
19th
|
Pacific Ocean
|
Edward Adrian Wilson
|
English |
19th/20th
|
Antarctica
|
Ernest Henry Wilson
|
English
|
19th/20th
|
East Asia, East Africa, Central and South America, Australia, New Zealand
|
James Wilson
|
British
|
18th
|
Pacific Islands
|
Thomas Braidwood Wilson
|
Scottish Australian
|
19th
|
Australia
|
Harry de Windt
|
French |
19th/20th
|
Eurasia
|
Fanny Bullock Workman
|
American
|
19th/20th
|
Himalaya
|
Ferdinand von Wrangel
|
Baltic German |
19th
|
Northern Russia
|
Xuanzang
|
Chinese |
7th
|
Indian subcontinent, Central Asia
|
John Young
|
Scottish-English |
18th
|
Hawaii
|
Sir Francis Younghusband
|
British |
19th/20th
|
Central Asia
|
Topa Inca Yupanqui
|
Inca
|
15th
|
Pacific
|
João Gonçalves Zarco
|
Portuguese |
15th
|
Madeira Islands
|
Gonzalo García Zorro
|
Spanish
|
16th
|
Colombia
|
Karl Helbig
|
German
|
20th
|
Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Central America
|