The most famous travelers and their discoveries.

Great geographical discoveries of European travelers of the late 15th century. - mid 17th century were the result of the rapid development of productive forces in Europe, the growth of trade with the countries of the East, and the shortage of precious metals in connection with the development of trade and money circulation.

It is known that even in ancient times, Europeans visited the coast of America, traveled along the coast of Africa, etc. However, a geographical discovery is considered not only a visit by representatives of any civilized people to a previously unknown part of the Earth. This concept includes the establishment of a direct connection between the newly discovered lands and the centers of culture of the Old World. Only the discovery of America by H. Columbus laid the foundation for broad connections between the open lands and Europe; the travels of Vasco da Gama to the shores of India and F. Magellan’s trip around the world served the same purpose.

Great geographical discoveries became possible as a result of significant advances in the development of science and technology in Europe. At the end of the 15th century. The doctrine of the sphericity of the Earth became widespread, and knowledge in the field of astronomy and geography expanded. Navigation instruments (compass, astrolabe) were improved, and a new type of sailing ship appeared - the caravel.

Portuguese navigators were the first to begin searching for new sea routes to Asia. In the early 60s. 15th century they captured the first strongholds on the coast of Africa, and then, moving south along its western coast, discovered the Cape Verde Islands and the Azores. At this time, Prince Henry (Enrique), nicknamed the Navigator, became a tireless organizer of long voyages, although he himself rarely set foot on a ship. In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias reached the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa. The knowledge acquired by the Portuguese as a result of their travels gave sailors from other countries valuable information about ebb and flow, the direction of winds and currents, and made it possible to create more accurate maps on which latitudes, lines of the tropics and the equator were plotted. These maps contained information about previously unknown countries. Previously widespread ideas about the impossibility of sailing in equatorial waters were refuted, and the fear of the unknown, characteristic of medieval people, gradually began to recede.

At the same time, the Spaniards also rushed to search for new trade routes. In 1492, after the capture of Granada and the completion of the reconquista, the Spanish King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella accepted the project of the Genoese navigator Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) to reach the shores of India, sailing west. Columbus's project had many opponents, but it received the support of scientists at the University of Salaman, the most famous in Spain, and, no less significantly, among the business people of Seville. On August 3, 1492, from Palos - one of the best ports on the Atlantic coast of Spain - Columbus's flotilla set sail, consisting of 3 ships - "Santa Maria", "Pinta" and "Nina", the crews of which numbered 120 people. From the Canary Islands, Columbus headed west. On October 12, 1492, after a month of sailing in the open ocean, the fleet approached a small island from the Bahamas group of islands, then named San Salvador. Although the newly discovered lands bore little resemblance to the fabulously rich islands of India and China, until the end of his days Columbus was convinced that he had discovered islands off the eastern coast of Asia. During the first voyage, the islands of Cuba, Haiti and a number of smaller ones were discovered. In 1492, Columbus returned to Spain, where he was appointed admiral of all discovered lands and received the right to 1/10 of all income. Subsequently, Columbus made three more voyages to America - in 1493-1496, 1498-1500, 1502-1504, during which part of the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Trinidad, etc. were discovered; part of the Atlantic coast of Central and South America was surveyed. Although the open lands were very fertile and favorable for life, the Spaniards did not find gold there. Doubts arose that the newly discovered lands were India. The number of Columbus's enemies among the nobles grew, dissatisfied with the fact that he severely punished the expedition members for disobedience. In 1500, Columbus was removed from his post and sent to Spain in chains. He managed to restore his good name and make another trip to America. However, after returning from his last journey, he was deprived of all income and privileges and died in poverty.

Columbus's discoveries forced the Portuguese to hurry up. In 1497, the flotilla of Vasco da Gama (1469-1524) sailed from Lisbon to explore routes around Africa. Having rounded the Cape of Good Hope, he entered the Indian Ocean. Moving north along the coast, the Portuguese reached the Arab trading cities of Mozambique, Mombasa and Malindi. With the help of an Arab pilot, on May 20, 1498, Vasco da Gama's squadron entered the Indian port of Calicut. In August 1499 his ships returned to Portugal. The sea route to the land of fabulous riches was open. From now on, the Portuguese began to equip up to 20 ships annually for trade with India. Thanks to their superiority in weapons and technology, they managed to oust the Arabs from there. The Portuguese attacked their ships, exterminated their crews, and devastated cities on the southern coast of Arabia. In India, they captured strongholds, among which the city of Goa became the main one. The spice trade was declared a royal monopoly; it provided up to 800% of profits. At the beginning of the 16th century. The Portuguese captured Malacca and the Moluccas. In 1499-1500 by the Spaniards and in 1500-1502. The coast of Brazil was discovered by the Portuguese.

In the 16th century Portuguese sailors mastered the sea routes in the Indian Ocean, reached the shores of China, and were the first Europeans to set foot on Japanese soil. Among them was Fernand Pinto, the author of travel diaries, which gave a detailed description of the newly discovered country. Before this, Europe had only fragmentary and confusing information about Japan from the “Book of Marco Polo,” the famous Venetian traveler of the 14th century, who, however, never reached the Japanese islands. In 1550, their image with its modern name first appeared on a Portuguese navigation map.

In Spain, after the death of Columbus, expeditions continued to be sent to new lands. At the beginning of the 16th century. traveled to the Western Hemisphere Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512) - a Florentine merchant who served first with the Spanish and then with the Portuguese king, a famous navigator and geographer. Thanks to his letters, the idea that Columbus discovered not the coast of India, but a new continent, gained popularity. In honor of Vespucci, this continent was named America. In 1515, the first globe with this name appeared, and then atlases and maps. Vespucci's hypothesis was finally confirmed as a result of Magellan's trip around the world (1519-1522). The name of Columbus remained immortalized in the name of one of the Latin American countries - Colombia.

The proposal to reach the Moluccas by rounding the American continent from the south, expressed by Vespucci, interested the Spanish government. In 1513, the Spanish conquistador V. Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and reached the Pacific Ocean, which gave hope to Spain, which did not receive much benefit from Columbus's discoveries, to find a western route to the shores of India. This task was destined to be completed by the Portuguese nobleman Ferdinand Magellan (c. 1480-1521), who had previously visited the Portuguese possessions in Asia. He believed that the coast of India lay much closer to the newly discovered continent than it actually was. On September 20, 1519, a squadron of five ships with 253 crew members, led by Magellan, who had entered the service of the Spanish king, left the Spanish harbor of San Lucar. After months of sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, Magellan reached the southern tip of America and passed through the Strait (later called the Strait of Magellan), which separated the mainland from Tierra del Fuego. After three weeks of sailing through the strait, the squadron entered the Pacific Ocean, passing off the coast of Chile. On December 1, 1520, land was last seen from ships. Magellan headed north and then northwest. For three months and twenty days, while the ships sailed on the ocean, he was calm, and therefore Magellan called him Quiet. On March 6, 1521, the expedition approached small inhabited islands (Mariana Islands), and after another 10 days it found itself at the Philippine Islands. As a result of Magellan's voyage, the idea of ​​the spherical shape of the Earth was confirmed, it was proved that between Asia and America there lies a huge expanse of water - the Pacific Ocean, that most of the globe is occupied by water, and not land, that there is a single World Ocean.

On April 27, 1521, Magellan died in a skirmish with the natives on one of the Philippine islands. His companions continued sailing under the command of Juan Sebastian El Cano and reached the Moluccas and Indonesia. Almost a year later, the last of Magellan's ships set off for their native shores, taking on board a large cargo of spices. On September 6, 1522, the ship Victoria returned to Spain; Of the entire crew, only 18 people survived. "Victoria" brought so many spices that their sale made it possible not only to cover all the expenses of the expedition, but also to make a significant profit. For a long time, no one followed Magellan’s example, and only in 1578-1580. The second voyage around the world in history was made by the English pirate Francis Drake, who robbed the Spanish colonies on the Pacific coast of America along the way.

In the 16th century - 1st half of the 17th century. The Spaniards explored the northern and western coasts of South America, penetrated into the interior and, in a bloody struggle, conquered the states (Mayans, Aztecs, Incas) that existed on the territory of Yucatan, present-day Mexico and Peru (see America's most ancient and ancient civilizations). Here the Spanish conquerors, primarily Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro, seized enormous treasures accumulated by the rulers and priests of these states. In search of the fabulous country of El Dorado, the Spaniards explored the basin of the Orinoco and Magdalena rivers, where rich deposits of gold, silver and platinum were also discovered. The Spanish conquistador Jimenez de Quesada conquered what is now Colombia.

In the 2nd half of the 16th century. - early 17th century The Spaniards made a series of Pacific expeditions from Peru, during which the Solomon Islands (1568), Southern Polynesia (1595), and Melanesia (1605) were discovered.

Long before the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, the idea of ​​the existence of a “Southern Continent”, of which the islands of Southeast Asia were considered a part, arose and during the course of the discoveries gained particular popularity. She spoke out in geographical works, and the mythical continent was even put on maps under the name “Terra Australis Incognita” - “Unknown Southern Land”. In 1605, a Spanish squadron of 3 ships sailed from Peru under the command of P. Quiros, who discovered a number of islands, one of which he mistook for the coast of the mainland. Abandoning two ships to the mercy of fate, Quiros returned to Peru and then sailed to Spain to secure the rights to rule the new lands. But it soon turned out that he was mistaken. The captain of one of the two abandoned ships, the Portuguese L. V. de Torres, continued sailing and found out that Quiros discovered not the mainland, but a group of islands (New Hebrides). Sailing west, Torres passed along the southern coast of New Guinea through the strait later named after him, and discovered Australia lying to the south. There is evidence that on the coast of the new continent back in the 16th century. The Portuguese and the Dutch landed shortly before Torres, but this was not known in Europe. Having reached the Philippine Islands, Torres reported the discovery to the Spanish government. However, fearing competitors and lacking the strength and means to develop the new land, the Spanish administration hid information about this discovery.

In the 1st half of the 17th century. The search for the “Southern Continent” was carried out by the Dutch, who explored a significant part of the coast. In 1642, Abel Janszon Tasman (1603-1659), sailing from the coast of Indonesia to the west, circumnavigated Australia from the south, discovering an island called Tasmania. Only 150 years later, during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), the British captured Manila, the center of Spanish possessions in the Philippines, and found news of the discovery of Torres in the Spanish archive. In 1768, the English navigator D. Cook explored the shores of Oceania and Australia and again passed through the Torres Strait. He subsequently recognized Torres' priority in the discovery of Australia.

In 1497-1498, English sailors reached the northeastern coast of North America and discovered Newfoundland and Labrador. In the 16th-17th centuries. the British and French continued to send expedition after expedition here; many of them sought to find the northwest passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. At the same time, a search was underway for a northeastern route to India - through the Arctic Ocean.

In the 16th-17th centuries. Russian explorers explored the northern coasts of the Ob, Yenisei and Lena and mapped the contours of the northern coast of Asia. In 1642, Yakutsk was founded, which became the base for expeditions to the Arctic Ocean. In 1648, Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnev (c. 1605-1673), together with Fedot Popov, left Kolyma on 6 ships and went around the Chukotka Peninsula, proving that the Asian continent is separated from America by a strait. The outlines of the northeastern coast of Asia were refined and plotted on maps (1667, “Drawing of the Siberian Land”). But Dezhnev’s report on the discovery of the strait lay in the Yakut archive for 80 years and was published only in 1758. In the 18th century. The strait discovered by Dezhnev was named after the Danish navigator in the Russian service, Vitus Bering, who in 1728 rediscovered the strait. In 1898, in memory of Dezhnev, a cape at the northeastern tip of Asia was named after him.

In the 15th-17th centuries. As a result of bold sea and land expeditions, a significant part of the Earth was discovered and explored. Paths were laid that connected distant countries and continents. Great geographical discoveries marked the beginning of the creation of the colonial system (see Colonialism), contributed to the formation of the world market and played an important role in the formation of the capitalist economic system in Europe. For newly discovered and conquered countries, they brought mass extermination of the population, the imposition of the cruelest forms of exploitation, and the forced introduction of Christianity. The rapid decline of the native American population led to the importation of African slaves and widespread plantation slavery (see Slavery, Slave Trade).

American gold and silver poured into Europe, causing there a frantic rise in prices for all goods, the so-called price revolution. This primarily benefited the owners of factories, capitalists and merchants, since prices rose faster than wages. The “price revolution” contributed to the rapid ruin of artisans and handicraftsmen; in the village, the nobles and wealthy peasants who sold food at the market benefited most from it. All this contributed to the accumulation of capital.

As a result of the Great Geographical Discoveries, Europe's connections with Africa and Asia expanded, and relations with America were established. The center of world trade and economic life moved from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.

This term is used in relation to the most important geographical discoveries made by European travelers between the 15th and 17th centuries. Geographical discoveries are the search and discovery of new lands previously unknown to people. These are the reasons that prompted people to make great geographical discoveries, starting from the end of the 15th century.

Firstly, at the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries, commodity production began to grow rapidly in Europe, which led to an increase in demand for raw materials. But since there were not enough raw materials in Europe, it became necessary to import them from other countries.

Secondly, the existing trade routes through the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the Great Silk Road connecting Asia with Europe, became extremely dangerous. Control over these routes passed to the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). The task facing Europeans of opening new maritime trade routes became a historical necessity. The modern ships and weapons that existed by this time fully made it possible to realize the plan. The invention of the astrolabe, which began to be used in navigation along with the compass, was also of great importance. During this period, the Italian scientist P. Toscanelli, based on the fact that the Earth is round, created a map of the world. On it, the shores of the Asian continent faced the western part of the Atlantic Ocean. P. Toscanelli believed that by sailing from Europe to the west, one could get to India.

The beginning of great geographical discoveries.

The initiators of great geographical discoveries were sea travelers from Portugal and Spain. To implement such a grandiose idea, fearless sailors were needed. One of these travelers was the Genoese admiral Christopher Columbus (1451 -1506). He planned to pave the way to India across the Atlantic Ocean.

Columbus managed to conclude an agreement with the royal family of Spain to equip an expedition to find the shortest sea route to India. The king took upon himself the financial support of the expedition. On August 6, 1492, Columbus set out to sea on three caravels, leading an expedition.

Discovery of America.

On October 12, 1492, Columbus's expedition landed on one of the Caribbean islands. Columbus named this island San Salvador (now the territory of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas). Thus, the search for the shortest sea route to India led to the discovery of America. This happened as a result of the mistakes of scientists of the 15th century, in particular Toscanelli, who compiled a map of the world. The fact is that when determining the length of the equator, P. Toscanelli made a mistake by 12 kilometers. Scientists subsequently called this mistake “the great mistake that led to the great discovery.”

However, Columbus himself did not understand that in 1492 he sailed not to India, but to America. He believed that he had arrived in India. Therefore, he called the indigenous population of America Indians. Columbus subsequently equipped expeditions to India (actually to America) four more times. As a result of these expeditions, many new lands were discovered, on which the Spanish flag was raised. These territories became the property of Spain. Columbus was appointed viceroy of these lands. The fact that the new continent is called not Colombia, but America, is associated with the name of the Italian navigator and astronomer Amerigo Vespucci (1454 - 1512). In 1499 - 1501, as part of a Portuguese expedition, he explored the shores of Brazil and came to the conclusion that the lands discovered by Columbus were not India, but a new part of the world. Subsequently, he named the continent named after him the New World. In 1507, the cartographer M. Waldseemüller proposed calling the new part of the world discovered by Columbus in honor of Amerigo Vespucci - America. This name suited everyone. The first globe on which the New World was named “America” was created in Germany in 1515. Subsequently, on other maps, the lands discovered by Columbus began to be called “America.”

Subsequent discoveries.

Marine Ferdinand Magellan. the route across the Atlantic Ocean leading to India was opened in 1498. The Portuguese sea traveler Vasco da Gama, who sailed from the shores of Spain. In 1519, another Portuguese, Ferdinand Magellan, who also began his sea voyage from the shores of Spain, circumnavigating the American continent, discovered a new sea route to India. This trip around the world ended in 1522 and finally proved that the Earth is round and most of it is covered with water. And the expedition JI.B. de Torres discovered Australia in 1605.

The meaning of great geographical discoveries. Great geographical discoveries played an important role in the development of many sciences. Geography, history, ethnography, and oceanology have been replenished with new information and conclusions. Thanks to these discoveries, new trade sea routes were established. The main sea trade routes that ran through the Mediterranean Sea now crossed into the Atlantic Ocean. These factors contributed to the further formation of world trade.
Thus, thanks to the Great Geographical Discoveries, the foundation of global civilization was laid.

Admiral (from the Arabic “amiralbahr” - “lord of the sea”) is a military rank in the navy.
An astrolabe is an astronomical instrument that was used to determine geographic latitudes and longitudes, as well as the rising and setting of stars.
Vice - assistant, deputy by position.
Discovery is a search, an achievement that makes fundamental changes in the level of knowledge.

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A geographical discovery is a visit by a representative of a civilized people to a new part of the earth previously unknown to cultural humanity or the establishment of a spatial connection between already known parts of the land.

Why did the era of great geographical discoveries come?

• The growth of European cities in the 15th century
• Active development of trade
• Active development of crafts
• Depletion of European mines of precious metals - gold and silver
• The discovery of printing, which led to the spread of new technical sciences and knowledge of antiquity
• Distribution and improvement of firearms
• Discoveries in navigation, the appearance of the compass and astrolabe
• Advances in cartography
• The conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks, which interrupted the economic and trade ties of Southern Europe with India and China

Geographical knowledge before the era of great geographical discoveries

In the Middle Ages, Iceland and the shores of North America were discovered by the Normans, European travelers Marco Polo, Rubruk, Andre of Longjumeau, Veniamin of Tudela, Afanasy Nikitin, Carpini and others established land connections with the countries of Far Asia and the Middle East, the Arabs explored the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea , the shores of the Red Sea, the western shores of the Indian Ocean, roads connecting Eastern Europe through Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Iranian Plateau - with India have been identified

The beginning of the era of great geographical discoveries

The beginning of the era of great geographical discoveries can be considered the activities of the Portuguese navigators of the 15th century and the inspirer of their achievements, Prince Henry the Navigator (03/04/1394 - 11/13/1460)

At the beginning of the 15th century, the geographical science of Christians was in a deplorable state. The knowledge of the great scientists of antiquity has been lost. Impressions from the travels of singles: Marco Polo, Carpini, Rubruk - did not become public knowledge and contained many exaggerations. Geographers and cartographers used rumors in the production of atlases and maps; discoveries made by chance were forgotten; lands found in the ocean were lost again. The same applied to the art of navigation. The skippers had no maps, instruments, or knowledge of navigation; they were terrified of the open sea and huddled close to the shores.

In 1415, Prince Henry became Grand Master of the Portuguese Order of Christ, a powerful and wealthy organization. With her funds, Henry built a citadel on the isthmus of Cape Sagres, from where until the end of his days he organized sea expeditions to the west and south, created a navigation school, attracted the best mathematicians and astronomers from the Arabs and Jews, collected information wherever and whenever he could about distant countries and voyages. , seas, winds and currents, bays, reefs, peoples and shores, began to build more advanced and larger ships. The captains went to sea against them, not only inspired to search for new lands, but also well prepared theoretically.

Portuguese discoveries of the 15th century

• Madeira Island
• Azores
• the entire western coast of Africa
• mouth of the Congo River
• Cape Verde
• Cape of Good Hope

The Cape of Good Hope, the southernmost point of Africa, was discovered by the expedition of Barthalomeu Dias in January 1488

Great geographical discoveries. Briefly

• 1492 —
• 1498 - Vasco da Gama discovered a sea route to India around Africa
• 1499-1502 - Spanish discoveries in the New World
• 1497 - John Cabot discovers Newfoundland and Labrador
• 1500 - discovery of the mouth of the Amazon by Vicente Pinzon
• 1519-1522 - Magellan's first circumnavigation of the world, discovery of the Strait of Magellan, Mariana, Philippine, Moluccas Islands
• 1513 - discovery of the Pacific Ocean by Vasco Nunez de Balboa
• 1513 - Discovery of Florida and the Gulf Stream
• 1519-1553 - discoveries and conquests in South America by Cortes, Pizarro, Almagro, Orellana
• 1528-1543 - Spanish discoveries of the interior of North America
• 1596 - discovery of the island of Spitsbergen by Willem Barents
• 1526-1598 - Spanish discoveries of the Solomon, Caroline, Marquesas, Marshall Islands, New Guinea
• 1577-1580 - second voyage around the world by the Englishman F. Drake, discovery of the Drake Passage
• 1582 - Ermak’s campaign in Siberia
• 1576-1585 - English search for the northwest passage to India and discovery in the North Atlantic
• 1586-1629 - Russian campaigns in Siberia
• 1633-1649 - discovery by Russian explorers of the East Siberian rivers to the Kolyma
• 1638-1648 - discovery of Transbaikalia and Lake Baikal by Russian explorers
• 1639-1640 - exploration by Ivan Moskvin of the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk
• The last quarter of the 16th century - the first third of the 17th century - the development of the eastern shores of North America by the British and French
• 1603-1638 - French exploration of the interior of Canada, discovery of the Great Lakes
• 1606 - independent discovery of the northern coast of Australia by the Spaniard Quiros and the Dutchman Janson
• 1612-1632 - British discoveries of the northeastern coast of North America
• 1616 - discovery of Cape Horn by Schouten and Le Mer
• 1642 - Tasman's discovery of the island of Tasmania
• 1643 - Tasman discovers New Zealand
• 1648 - Dezhnev’s discovery of the strait between America and Asia (Bering Strait)
• 1648 - discovery of Kamchatka by Fyodor Popov

Ships of the Age of Discovery

In the Middle Ages, the sides of ships were sheathed with planks - the top row of boards overlapped the bottom. This lining is durable. but this makes the ships heavier, and the edges of the plating belts create unnecessary resistance to the hull. At the beginning of the 15th century, the French shipbuilder Julien proposed sheathing ships end-to-end. The boards were riveted to the frames with copper stainless rivets. The joints were glued with resin. This covering was called “caravel”, and the ships began to be called caravels. Caravels, the main ships of the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, were built at all shipyards in the world for another two hundred years after the death of their designer.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the flute was invented in Holland. "Fliite" in Dutch means "flowing, flowing." These ships could not be overwhelmed by even the largest wave. They, like corks, took off on the wave. The upper parts of the sides of the flute were bent inward, the masts were very high: one and a half times the length of the hull, the yards were short, and the sails were narrow and easy to maintain, which made it possible to reduce the number of sailors in the crew. And, most importantly, the flutes were four times longer than they were wide, which made them very fast. In flutes, the sides were also installed end-to-end, and the masts were made up of several elements. Flutes were much more spacious than caravels. From 1600 to 1660, 15,000 flutes were built and plied the oceans, displacing caravels

Navigators of the Age of Discovery

• Alvise Cadamosto (Portugal, Venice, 1432-1488) – Cape Verde Islands
• Diego Caen (Portugal, 1440 - 1486) – West Coast of Africa
• Barthalomeu Dias (Portugal, 1450-1500) - Cape of Good Hope
• Vasco da Gama (Portugal, 1460-1524) - the route to India around Africa
• Pedro Cabral (Portugal, 1467-1526) - Brazil
• Christopher Columbus (Genoa, Spain, 1451-1506) - America
• Nunez de Balboa (Spain, 1475-1519) - Pacific Ocean
• Francisco de Orellana (Spain, 1511-1546) - Amazon River
• Ferdinand Magellan (Portugal, Spain (1480-1521) - first circumnavigation of the world
• John Cabot (Genoa, England, 1450-1498) - Labrador, Newfoundland
• Jean Cartier (France, 1491-1557) east coast of Canada
• Martin Frobisher (England, 1535-1594) - Canadian polar seas
• Alvaro Mendaña (Spain, 1541-1595) – Solomon Islands
• Pedro de Quiros (Spain, 1565-1614) - Tuamotu Archipelago, New Hybrids
• Luis de Torres (Spain, 1560-1614) - the island of New Guinea, the strait separating this island from Australia
• Francis Drake (England, 1540-1596) - second circumnavigation of the world
• Willem Barents (Netherlands, 1550-1597) - the first polar explorer
• Henry Hudson (England, 1550-1611) - explorer of the North Atlantic
• Willem Schouten (Holland, 1567-1625) – Cape Horn
• Abel Tasman (Holland, 1603-1659) - island of Tasmania, New Zealand
• Willem Janszoon (Holland, 1570-1632) - Australia
• Semyon Dezhnev (Russia, 1605-1673) - Kolyma River, strait between Asia and America

Many important geographical discoveries date back to the last centuries of the feudal period, mainly the Renaissance. In 982 by an Icelandic Viking Eiriko Rowdy(Red) discovered Greenland, on the coast of which he developed a settlement. Eirik's son Leif Erikson, nicknamed the Happy One, apparently reached the shores of North America in 1001 (was washed up by a storm) at 40 degrees N. sh., i.e. in the area of ​​modern Philadelphia.

Late 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century. were marked by geographical discoveries made by famous navigators Columbus, Magellan, Amerigo Vespucci, Vasco da Gama and others.

Christopher Columbus(1452-1506) was born in Genoa. Even at a young age, he determined the goal of his life: to pave the shortest (as he thought) route from Europe to India, moving not as usual, to the east, but to the west. Columbus knew, of course, that the Earth was spherical. In 1485, he settled in Castile, which by that time had just been included in Spain, and obtained consent to equip a naval expedition. In total, Columbus managed to conduct four expeditions.

The first expedition dates back to 1492-1493, 4 ships and about 90 people took part in it. Columbus's ships sailed from Cape Palos (near the city of Carhatena) on August 3, 1492, and after more than two months of sailing they found themselves near the coast of Central America. During his first voyage, Columbus failed to reach the American mainland. His expedition discovered the island of San Salvador and a number of other islands of the Bahamas archipelago, the islands of Cuba and Haiti. October 12, 1492 - the day of the discovery of the island of San Salvador and the landing on its shores - is considered the official date of the discovery of America. On March 15, 1493, the ships returned to Europe.

The second expedition, consisting of 17 ships and 1.5 thousand people, took place in 1493-1496. Its participants again failed to set foot on the American mainland. The islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe, a number of other islands of the Lesser Antilles archipelago, the Jardines de la Feina archipelago, the islands of Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Pinos were discovered. Columbus undertook aggressive campaigns deep into the island of Haiti and returned to Spain on June 11, 1496.

The third expedition (1498-1500), consisting of 6 ships, was marked by the fact that the coast of South America was reached in the area of ​​the Orinoco River delta (the territory of modern Venezuela). The islands of Trinidad and Margarita were also discovered.

The fourth and last expedition took place in 1502-1504, 4 ships took part in it. Columbus continued to strive to find a western route to India. The shores of Central America (the territory of modern Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama) were reached, and the island of Martinique was discovered.

Columbus's discoveries were used to create Spanish colonies in new lands. The local population, called Indians by Columbus, was subjected to merciless destruction. This was the first consequence of Columbus's great geographical discoveries.

The name of the new part of the world - America - comes, as is known, from the name of the navigator Amerigo Vespucci(approx. 1451-1512) - a contemporary of Columbus, a native of Florence. In 1499 - 1504, i.e. During Columbus's third and fourth voyages, he participated in several Spanish and Portuguese expeditions to the South American region. His letters about these travels, addressed to the Italian poet, the ruler of Florence Lorenzo Medici and a certain Piero Soderini, were reprinted several times, and became very widely known. Amerigo Vespucci suggested the discovery of a new continent and called it the New World. In 1507, the Lorraine cartographer Waldseemüller named this continent America in honor of Amerigo Vespucci. The name gained recognition and was later extended to North America.

Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama(1469-1524) first paved the sea route from Europe to the countries of South Asia. He, unfortunately, is also known for his cruelty and robberies of the population of the countries he conquered.

In 1497, an expedition of 4 ships under the command of Vasco da Gama set sail from Lisbon to India. The ships rounded the Cape of Good Hope, stopped at the Somali port of Molindi, where they took on board the Arab sailor Ahmed ibn Majid, who knew the Indian Ocean, and reached the city of Calicut (now called Kozhikode) on the coast of South India. In 1499 the expedition returned to Lisbon.

During the second expedition (1500-1502), which already included 20 ships, support bases were formed on the coast of India, north of the city of Calicut, the city of Calicut was captured, plundered and destroyed. For these “merits” in 1524, Vasco da Gama was appointed Viceroy of India. During the third expedition he died.

Ferdinand Magellan(approx. 1480-1521) - Portuguese and Spanish navigator, whose expedition first circumnavigated the world, made important geographical discoveries, showed that between Asia and America is located the largest ocean on Earth, which she called the Pacific.

Magellan's expedition, consisting of 5 ships, set off from the Spanish port of Sanluccar de Barrameda (in southern Spain) in September 1519 and reached La Plata Bay on the coast of South America in January 1520 (Buenos Aires is located in this bay ). The voyage was accompanied by great difficulties; there was no agreement between the Portuguese and Spanish sailors who were part of the expedition. From there the ships moved south along the eastern coast of South America. Their eyes met a vast unknown land - a vast plateau, which they called Patagonia.

After wintering in San Julian Bay (in the southern part of the Atlantic coast of South America), the expedition, which already included 4 ships, moved further south. The expedition managed to make an important geographical discovery - to discover a strait connecting two oceans (the Atlantic and the Great, or Pacific), located between the southern end of the South American continent and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, which was later called the Strait of Magellan.

Having passed through it, Magellan's expedition, which consisted of only three ships, entered the ocean called the Pacific, and after a four-month voyage full of hardships (there was not enough food and fresh water) the voyage reached the Philippine Islands, which turned out to be fatal for Magellan - here he was killed in fight with local residents.

The trip around the world was completed by only one ship from Magellan's expedition - the Victoria, led by Captain Elcano, who became the head of the expedition after Magellan's death. Victoria crossed the Indian Ocean, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, entered the Mediterranean Sea and returned to the port of Sanluccar de Barrameda. Of the 265 original participants in Magellan's expedition, only 18 returned.

Magellan's expedition, in addition to geographical discoveries, the most important of which were mentioned, convincingly confirmed that the Earth is spherical in shape, proved that most of the Earth's surface is covered with water of oceans and seas, which together make up a single world ocean.

In the photo: Portrait of Vasco Nunez de Balboa by an unknown artist.

At the beginning of the 16th century, Europeans continued to “discover” the Earth; Researchers attribute this time to the first period of the Age of Discovery. The main role was then played by the Spaniards and Portuguese, rushing to the unexplored lands of America, Africa and Asia.

In 1513, the Spaniards built their first settlements in America, steadily moving from east to west. They were attracted by stories about the mythical Eldorado, buried in gold and precious stones.

In September, the enterprising conquistador Vasco Nunez de Balboa, with 190 Spanish soldiers and many Indian guides, set out from the city of Santa Maria la Antigua, which he had founded three years earlier. He had been looking for success in America for about fifteen years, skillfully combining “carrot and stick” in his relationships with the local population. He could caress and give gifts, or he could, in anger, hunt down an Indian he disliked with dogs, which brought indescribable horror to the aborigines.

For more than three weeks, the detachment literally “struggled” through mountains covered with thickets of vines and ferns, suffering from fever in the swampy lowlands and repelling attacks from warlike local residents. Finally, having crossed the Isthmus of Panama, from the top of Mount Balboa he saw the vast expanse of the sea. Entering the water with a naked sword in one hand and a Castilian banner in the other, the conquistador declared these lands the possessions of the Castilian crown.

Having received a pile of pearls and gold from the natives, Balboa was convinced that he had found the fairyland from the stories about Eldorado. He called the sea he reached “Southern”.

So Vasco Nunez de Balboa discovered the Pacific Ocean. continued.

By the way, when Balboa in 1510 persuaded the first Spanish colonists to follow him into the interior of the mainland, among the latter was the later famous Francisco Pizarro. Then Pizarro did not want to go with the future discoverer of the Pacific Ocean. Pizarro's finest hour came twenty years later. In 1532, he conquered Peru, the Inca Empire, becoming the owner of an unprecedented amount of gold.