Geography
History of geography Graeco-Roman Chinese Islamic Age of Discovery History of cartography Environmental determinism Regional geography Quantitative revolution Critical geography

The Age of Discovery or Age of Exploration was a period from the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century, during which Europeans explored the world by ocean searching for trading partners and particular trade goods. Geography (from Greek γεωγραφία - geografia) is the study of the Earth and its lands features inhabitants and phenomena This article explores the History of Geography. Ancient geography See also Ancient Greek geography Ancient Greeks environment pre-Hellenistic Classical Greece Scylax of Caryanda Anaximander Hecataeus of Miletus Massaliote Periplus See also Geography of China Native Chinese geography begins in the Warring States period (5th century BC Cartography or mapmaking (in Greek chartis = map and graphein = write has been an integral part of the human story for a long time (maybe 8000 years Environmental determinism, also known as climatic determinism or geographical determinism, is the view that the physical environment rather than social conditions Regional geography is a study of regions throughout the world in order to understand or define the unique characteristics of a particular region which consists of natural as well as The quantitative revolution was one of the four major turning points in the history of Geography (the other three being Regional geography, Environmental The development of critical geography can be seen as one of the four major turning points in the history of geography (the other three being Environmental determinism, As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 17th Century was that Century which lasted from 1601 - 1700 in the Gregorian calendar The most desired trading goods were gold, silver and spices. Gold (ˈɡoʊld is a Chemical element with the symbol Au (from its Latin name aurum) and Atomic number 79 Silver (ˈsɪlvɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol " Ag " (argentum from the Ancient Greek: ἀργήντος - argēntos gen A spice is a dried Seed, Fruit, Root, Bark or vegetative substance used in Nutritionally insignificant quantities as a Food additive Western Europeans used these technologies to seek a viable trade route to Asia which would be uncontested by Mediterranean powers. In terms of shipping the most important developments were the creation of the carrack and caravel designs in Portugal. A carrack or nau was a three- or four- masted Sailing ship developed in the Atlantic Ocean in the 15th century by the Portuguese This article is about the Caravel boat type For the carvel type of boat building see Carvel (boat building. Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. These vessels evolved from medieval European designs from the North Sea and both the Christian and Islamic Mediterranean. They were the first ships that could leave the relatively placid and calm Mediterranean, Baltic or North Sea and sail safely on the open Atlantic. The North Sea is a marginal, Epeiric sea of the Atlantic Ocean on the European Continental shelf.

Exploration by Land

The pintle and gudgeon rudder contributed significantly to the success of European seafarers

The prelude to the Age of Exploration was a series of European expeditions crossing Eurasia by land in the late Middle Ages. A rudder is a device used to steer a Ship, Boat, Submarine, Hovercraft, or other conveyance that move through a fluid (generally air or For the superstate in George Orwell 's novel see Nations of Nineteen Eighty-Four. While the Mongols had threatened Europe with pillage and destruction, the Mongol states also unified much of Eurasia creating trade routes and communication lines stretching from the Middle East to China. A series of Europeans took advantage of these to explore eastwards. These were almost all Italians as the trade between Europe and the Middle East was almost completely controlled by traders from the Italian city states. The close Italian links to the Levant created great curiosity and commercial interest in countries which lay further east. See also Names of the Levant The Levant (lə'vænt is a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia, roughly bounded on the north by the The Papacy also launched expeditions in hopes of finding converts, or the fabled Prester John. History See also History of the Papacy Catholics recognize the Pope as a successor to Saint Peter, who Jesus named as the "shepherd" and The legends of Prester John (also Presbyter John) popular in Europe from the 12th through the 17th centuries told of a Christian Patriarch There were many different types of causes and effects on the Age Of Exploration.

The first of these travelers was Giovanni de Plano Carpini who journeyed to Mongolia and back from 1241–1247. Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, or John of Plano Carpini or John of Pian de Carpine or Joannes de Plano (c Mongolia (mɒŋˈɡoʊliə, literally Mongol country/nation,) is a Landlocked Country in East The most famous traveler, however, was Marco Polo who wrote of journeys throughout Asia from 1271 to 1295 in which he described being a guest at the Yuan Dynasty court of Kublai Khan. Marco Polo ( September 15 1254 – January 9 1324 at earliest but no later than June 1325 was a Venetian trader and explorer The Yuan Dynasty ( Pinyin: Yuáncháo Dai Ön Ulus (Дай Юан Улс was a ruling Dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Early years Kublai Khan studied Chinese culture and became enamoured of it His journey was written up as Travels and the work was read throughout Europe. The Travels of Marco Polo is the usual English title of Marco Polo 's travel book nicknamed Il Milione ( The Million In 1439, Niccolò Da Conti published an account of his travels to India and Southeast Asia. Niccolò Da Conti (also Nicolò de' Conti) (1395&ndash1469 was a Venetian merchant and explorer born in Chioggia, who traveled to India and In 1466-1472, a Russian merchant Afanasy Nikitin of Tver described travels to India in his book A Journey Beyond the Three Seas. Afanasy Nikitin ( Афана́сий Ники́тин in Russian) (? - 1472 was a Russian merchant and one of the first Europeans (after Niccolò Tver (Тверь is a city in Russia, the administrative center of Tver Oblast. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country A Journey Beyond the Three Seas (Хожение за три моря Khozheniye za tri morya) is a Russian literary monument in the form of travel notes

These journeys had little immediate effect. The Mongol Empire collapsed almost as quickly as it formed and soon the route to the east became far more difficult and dangerous. The Black Death of the fourteenth century also blocked travel and trade. The Black Death, or the Black Plague, was one of the deadliest Pandemics in human history widely thought to have been caused by a bacterium named Yersinia The land route to the East was controlled by Mediterranean commercial interests and Islamic empires that both controlled the flow and price of goods. The rise of the aggressive and expansionist Ottoman Empire further limited the possibilities of European overland trade. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish

Exploration begins in Portugal

Main article: Portugal in the Age of Discovery

The Fra Mauro map (1459) in Venice, provided one of the first practical descriptions of Europe, Africa and Asia. For additional context see History of Portugal and Portuguese Empire. The Fra Mauro map, "considered the greatest memorial of medieval cartography" according to Roberto Almagià is a map made around 1450 by the Venetian monk Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the

It was not until the carrack and then the caravel were developed in Iberia that Western Europeans seriously considered Asiatic trade and oceanic exploration. A carrack or nau was a three- or four- masted Sailing ship developed in the Atlantic Ocean in the 15th century by the Portuguese This article is about the Caravel boat type For the carvel type of boat building see Carvel (boat building. The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe, and includes modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra Monetarists believe the main reason the Age of Exploration began was because of a severe shortage of bullion in Europe. Monetarism is a school of economic thought concerning the determination of national income and monetary Economics. Precious Metal is the eighteenth episode in the of the popular American Crime drama, which is set in Las Vegas, Nevada. The European economy was dependent on gold and silver currency, but low domestic supplies had plunged much of Europe into a recession. Another factor was Christian European access to the silk trade. The eastern trade routes were controlled by the Ottoman Empire after the Turks took control of Constantinople in 1453, and they barred Europeans from those trade routes. The Silk Road, or Silk Routes, are an extensive interconnected network of Trade routes across the Asian continent connecting East South and Western Asia with the The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish The Turkish people (Türk Halkı also known as " Turks " ( Türkler) are defined mainly as being speakers of Turkish as a First language Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS

The Santa Maria at anchor by Andries van Eertvelt, painted c. The Santa María was the largest of the three Ships used by Christopher Columbus in his first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492 1628 shows the famous carrack of Christopher Columbus. Christopher Columbus (1451 &ndash May 20 1506 was an Italian Navigator, colonizer

The first great wave of expeditions was launched by Portugal under Prince Henry the Navigator. Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. The Infante Henrique Duke of Viseu ( Porto, March 4, 1394 – Sagres, November 13, 1460) pron Sailing into the open Atlantic the Madeira Islands were discovered in 1419, and in 1427 the Azores, they then became Portuguese colonies. History See also History of Madeira Pre-Portuguese times Pliny mentions certain Purple Islands the position of which with reference to the The Azores ( Açores ɐˈsoɾɨʃ or) is a Portuguese Archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, about 1500 km (950  mi) from The main project of Henry the Navigator was exploration of the West Coast of Africa. For centuries the only trade routes linking West Africa with the Mediterranean world were over the Sahara Desert. West Africa or Western Africa is the Westernmost Region of the African Continent. The Sahara (الصحراء الكبرى aṣ-ṣaḥrā´ al-kubra, "The Great Desert" is the world's largest hot Desert and the world's second largest These routes bringing slaves and gold were controlled by the Muslim states of North Africa, long rivals to Portugal and Spain. The Arab Slave trade was the practice of Slavery in West Asia, North Africa, East Africa, and certain parts of Europe (such The Portuguese monarchy hoped that the Islamic nations could be bypassed by trading directly with West Africa by sea. It was also hoped that south of the Sahara the states would be Christian and potential allies against the Muslims in the Maghreb. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth The Maghreb (المغرب العربي al-Maġrib al-ʿArabī) also rendered Maghrib (or rarely Moghreb) meaning "place of Sunset In 1434 the Portuguese explorers surmounted the obstacle of Cape Bojador . Cape Bojador or Cape Boujdour ( رأس بوجادور, pronounced Ra's Boujador in Arabic is a headland on the northern In the bull Romanus Pontifex the trade monopoly for newly discovered countries beyond Cape Bojador was granted to the Portuguese^[1]. A Papal bull is a particular type of Letters patent or charter issued by a Pope. Romanus Pontifex is a papal bull written January 8 1455 by Pope Nicholas V to King Afonso V of Portugal.

Within two decades, the barrier of the Sahara had been overcome and trade in slaves and gold began in what is today Senegal. Senegal (le Sénégal officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country south of the Sénégal River in western Africa. A trading fort was built at Elmina. Elmina is a town situated on a south-facing bay on the Atlantic Ocean coast of Ghana, lying west of Cape Coast. São Tomé e Príncipe became the first sugar producing colony. São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is an Island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial Sugar is a class of edible Crystalline substances mainly Sucrose, Lactose, and Fructose. In 1482 an expedition under Diogo Cão made contact with the Kingdom of Kongo. Diogo Cão (in old Portuguese Cam) (diˈoɣuˈkɐ̃ũ was a Portuguese explorer and one of the most remarkable Navigators of the The Kingdom of Kongo (1400 – 1914 ( Kongo: Kongo dya Ntotila or Wene wa Kongo) was an African kingdom located in west central Africa in what The crucial breakthrough was in 1487 when Bartolomeu Dias rounded (and later named) the Cape of Good Hope and proved that access to the Indian Ocean was possible from the Atlantic. Bartolomeu Dias (baɾtuluˈmeu ˈdiɐʃ Anglicized Bartholomew Diaz) (c The Cape of Good Hope ( Afrikaans: Kaap die Goeie Hoop, Kaap de Goede Hoop Cabo da Boa Esperança Persian Language: دماغه امید نیک The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's Oceanic divisions covering about 20% of the water on the Earth 's surface In 1498 Vasco da Gama made good on this promise by reaching India. Dom Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira ('vaʃku dɐ 'gɐmɐ ( Sines or Vidigueira, Alentejo, Portugal, ca

The Cantino planisphere (1502), one of the oldest surviving Portuguese nautical charts, showing the results of the explorations of Vasco da Gama's to India, Columbus' to Central America and Pedro Álvares Cabral's to Brazil. Dom Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira ('vaʃku dɐ 'gɐmɐ ( Sines or Vidigueira, Alentejo, Portugal, ca Christopher Columbus (1451 &ndash May 20 1506 was an Italian Navigator, colonizer Pedro Álvares Cabral (about 1467/1468/1469 &ndash about 1520 ˈpeðɾʊ ˈaɫvɐɾɨʃ kɐˈβɾaɫ in Portuguese, ˈawvaɾiʃ caˈbɾaw in Brazilian) was The meridian of Tordesillas, separating the Portuguese and Spanish halves of the world is also depicted

A New World?

Main article: European colonization of the Americas

Portugal's rival Castile had been somewhat slower than its neighbour to begin exploring the Atlantic, and it was not until late in the fifteenth century that Castilian sailors began to compete with their Iberian neighbours. Tordesillas is a town and Municipality in the province of Valladolid, part of the autonomous community of Castile-Leon in central Spain. The start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492 although there was at least one earlier colonization effort The Crown of Castile, as a historic entity is usually considered to have begun in 1230 with the third and definitive union of the two kingdoms of León and Castile The first contest was for control of the Canary Islands, which Castile won. The Canary Islands ( English pronunciation kəˈnæriː ˈaɪləndz Spanish: Islas Canarias, ˈizlas kaˈnarjas are a Spanish It was not until the union of Aragon and Castile and the completion of the reconquista that the large nation became fully committed to looking for new trade routes and colonies overseas. The Crown of Aragon was a permanent union of multiple titles and states in the hands of the King of Aragon. The Reconquista (a Spanish and Portuguese word for "Reconquest" Arabic: الاسترداد, "Recapturing" was a period In 1492 the joint rulers of the nation conquered the Moorish kingdom of Granada, that had been providing Castile with African goods through tribute, and they decided to fund Christopher Columbus' expedition that they hoped would bypass Portugal's lock on Africa and the Indian Ocean reaching Asia by travelling west. Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous region of Andalusia, Spain. Christopher Columbus (1451 &ndash May 20 1506 was an Italian Navigator, colonizer

Columbus did not reach Asia, but rather found what was to the Europeans a New World: America. The New World is one of the names used for the non-Eurasian/non-African parts of the Earth specifically the Americas and Australia. The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, consisting of the Continents of North America and South America In 1500, the Portuguese navigator, Pedro Álvares Cabral explored the land that is today called Brazil. Pedro Álvares Cabral (about 1467/1468/1469 &ndash about 1520 ˈpeðɾʊ ˈaɫvɐɾɨʃ kɐˈβɾaɫ in Portuguese, ˈawvaɾiʃ caˈbɾaw in Brazilian) was |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld For the two European monarchies a division of influence became necessary to avoid conflict. This was resolved by Papal intervention in 1494 when the Treaty of Tordesillas divided the world between the two powers. The Treaty of Tordesillas ( Portuguese: Tratado de Tordesilhas, Spanish: Tratado de Tordesillas) signed at Tordesillas (now in The Portuguese "received" everything outside of Europe east of a line that ran 270 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands; this gave them control over Africa, Asia and eastern South America (Brazil). A league is a unit of Length or Area long common in Europe and Latin America, although no longer an official unit in any nation The Republic of Cape Verde ( Portuguese: Cabo Verde, 'kabu 'veɾdɨ is a Republic located on an Archipelago in the Macaronesia The Spanish received everything west of this line, territory that was still almost completely unknown, and proved to be mostly the western part of the American continent plus the Pacific Ocean islands. The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions

Columbus and other Spanish explorers were initially disappointed with their discoveries - unlike Africa or Asia the Caribbean islanders had little to trade with the Spanish ships. The islands thus became the focus of colonization efforts. It was not until the continent itself was explored that Spain found the wealth it had sought in the form of abundant gold. In the Americas the Spanish found a number of empires that were as large and populous as those in Europe. However, small bodies of Spanish conquistadors, with large armies of indigenous Americans groups, managed to conquer these states. This article is about the Spanish explorer soldiers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuriesfor other uses see Conquistador (disambiguation A Conquistador The most notable amongst the conquered states were the Aztec empire in Mexico (conquered in 1521) and the Inca empire in modern Peru and Ecuador (conquered in 1532). Aztec is a term used to refer to certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who achieved political The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. The Inca Empire (or Inka Empire) was the largest empire in Pre-Columbian America. Peru (Perú Piruw Piruw officially the Republic of Peru ( reˈpuβlika del peˈɾu is a country in western South America. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Ecuador topics. During this time, pandemics of European disease such as smallpox devastated the indigenous populations. A pandemic (from Greek παν pan all + δήμος demos people is an Epidemic of Infectious disease that spreads through Once Spanish sovereignty was established, the Spanish focused on the extraction and export of gold and silver.

In 1519 the Spanish crown funded the expedition of the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan. Ferdinand Magellan (Fernão de Magalhães fɨɾˈnɐ̃ũ dɨ mɐgɐˈʎɐ̃ĩʃ Fernando de Magallanes (Spring 1480 &ndash April 27 1521 Mactan Island, Cebu The goal of the mission was to find the Spice Islands by traveling west, which would place the islands in Spain's economic and political sphere. This article covers the historical role of the Maluku Islands as a source of spices since early history when the islands where known as the Spice Islands The expedition managed to cross the Pacific Ocean and reach the Spice Islands, and was the first to circumnavigate the world upon its return three years later. Magellan died in the Pacific, leaving the Spaniard Juan Sebastián Elcano the task of completing the voyage. Juan Sebastián del Cano, then Elcano ( Getaria, in the Basque province of Guipúzcoa, former Kingdom of Castile, Spain The expedition was a failure in the sense that its route was impractical. The Strait of Magellan was too far south and the Pacific Ocean too vast. It was not a realistic alternative to the Portuguese route around Africa. ^[2] The Spanish were able to establish a presence in the Pacific, but not based on Magellan's voyage. Rather, a cross-Pacific route was established, by other explorers, between Mexico and the Philippines. The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP The eastbound route to the Philippines first sailed by Alvaro de Saavedra in 1527. The westbound return route was harder to find, but was eventually discovered by Andrés de Urdaneta in 1565. Andrés de Urdaneta ( Ordizia, November 30[[ 498]] - June 3, 1568, Mexico City) was an Augustinian Friar, sail-captain ^[3] For a long time these routes were used by the Manila galleons, thereby creating a trade link joining China, the Americas, and Europe via the trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic routes. The Manila galleons or Manila-Acapulco galleons ( Galeones de Manila-Acapulco) were Spanish trading Ships that sailed once or twice

Decline of the Portuguese monopoly

Portuguese exploration and colonization continued despite the new rivalry with Spain. The Portuguese became the first Westerners to reach and trade with Japan. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Under the King Manuel I the Portuguese crown launched a scheme to keep control of the lands and trade routes that had been declared theirs. Manuel I (mɐnuˈɛɫ Archaic Portuguese: Manoel I, English: Emmanuel I) the Fortunate ( Port The strategy was to build a series of forts that would allow them to control all the major trade routes of the east. Thus forts and colonies were established on the Gold Coast, Luanda, Mozambique, Zanzibar, Mombassa, Socotra, Ormuz, Calcutta, Goa, Bombay, Malacca, Macau, and Timor. This article is about the British colony in west Africa 1821-1957 For the mystic of the Han Dynasty see Luan Da. Luanda (formerly called Loanda) is the Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique (Moçambique or República de Moçambique, ʁɛ'publikɐ d musɐ̃'bik is a country in southeastern Africa Zanzibar ( is part of the East African republic of Tanzania. It consists of the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Mombasa is the second largest City in Kenya, lying on the Indian Ocean. Socotra or Soqotra ( Arabic سقطرى; Suquṭra) is a small Archipelago of four islands and islets in the Indian Ocean Kingdom of Ormus (also known as Ohrmuzd, Hormuz, and Ohrmazd; Portuguese Ormuz) was a 10th to 17th century kingdom located Goa ( Konkani: गोंय /ɡɔ̃j/ is India 's smallest state in terms of area and the fourth smallest in terms of population. Mumbai ( Marathi:,, IPA: formerly Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the financial For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Macau topics. Timor is an Island at the south end of the Malay Archipelago, north of the Timor Sea.

Portugal had difficulty expanding its empire inland and concentrated mostly on the coastal areas. Over time the Portuguese state proved to simply be too small to provide the funds and manpower sufficient to manage and defend such a massive and dispersed venture. The forts spread across the world were chronically undermanned and ill-equipped. They could not compete with the larger powers that slowly encroached on its empire and trade. The days of near monopoly of east trade were numbered. In 1580 the Spanish King Philip II became also King of Portugal, as rightful heir to the Crown after his cousin Sebastião died without sons (Philip II of Spain was grandson of Manuel I of Portugal). The combined empires were simply too big to go unchallenged. The Dutch, French and English explorers ignored the Papal division of the world. Inter caetera ("Among other " was a Papal bull issued by Pope Alexander VI on 4 May 1493, which granted to Spain The principle of a free seafaring trade was justified in the concept of Mare Liberum by the Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius whose practical application of the principles of international law drew on the work of Spanish theorists such as Fernando Vazquez and the School of Salamanca. JURIST is an online legal news service hosted by the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, written by founder Professor Bernard Hibbitts and a staff of more than Hugo Grotius or Huig de Groot, or Hugo de Groot; ( Delft, 10 April 1583 Rostock, 28 August 1645 Fernando Vazquez was a Catholic theologian of the Sixteenth century. The School of Salamanca is the Renaissance of thought in diverse intellectual areas by Spanish theologians, rooted in the intellectual and pedagogical During the 17th century as the Dutch, English and French established ever more trading posts in the east, at the expense of Portugal, the wealth gained added to their military might while Portugal's weakened as it lost trading posts and colonies in West Africa, the Middle East and the Far East. As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 17th Century was that Century which lasted from 1601 - 1700 in the Gregorian calendar Bombay was given away to the English as a marriage gift. Mumbai ( Marathi:,, IPA: formerly Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the financial Some, like Macau, East Timor, Goa, Angola, and Mozambique, as well as Brazil, remained in Portuguese possession. East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste (officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste) is a country in Southeast Asia. Angola, officially the Republic of Angola (República de Angola Pronounced ʁɛˈpublikɐ dɨ ɐ̃ˈgɔlɐ Repubilika ya Ngola is a country in south-central The Dutch attempted to conquer Brazil, and at one time controlled almost half of the occupied territory, but were eventually defeated.

Northern European involvement

The nations outside of Iberia refused to acknowledge the Treaty of Tordesillas. France, the Netherlands, and England each had a long maritime tradition and, despite Iberian protections, the new technologies and maps soon made their way north. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands The Kingdom of England was a State (927-1707 located in Western Europe dating from the ninth or tenth century to the early eighteenth century when it was legally

The first Northern European mission (1497) was that of the English expedition led by the Italian, John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto). Giovanni Caboto ( c 1450 - c 1498 known in English as John Cabot, was an Italian Navigator and explorer commonly credited as the Giovanni Caboto ( c 1450 - c 1498 known in English as John Cabot, was an Italian Navigator and explorer commonly credited as the It was the first of a series of French and English missions exploring North America. Spain put limited efforts into exploring the northern part of the Americas as its resources were fully stretched by its efforts in Central and South America where more wealth had been found. In 1525, Giovanni da Verrazzano became the first recorded European to visit the East Coast of the present-day United States. Giovanni da Verrazzano (c 1485 &ndash c 1528 was an Italian Explorer of North America, in the service of the French crown. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The expeditions of Cabot, Jacques Cartier (first voyage 1534) and others were mainly hoping to find an oceanic Northwest Passage to Asian trade. Jacques Cartier (December 31 1491&ndashSeptember 1 1557 was a French explorer who claimed what is now Canada for France The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago This was never discovered, but in their travels other possibilities were found and in the early seventeenth century colonists from a number of Northern European states began to settle on the east coast of North America.

It was the Northern Europeans who also became the great rivals to the Portuguese in Africa and around the Indian Ocean. The Dutch, French, and English sent ships which flouted the Portuguese monopoly. They also founded trading forts and colonies of their own. Gradually the Portuguese and Spanish market share declined. The Northern Europeans also took the lead in exploring the last unknown regions of the Pacific Ocean and the North-American west coast. Dutch explorers such as Willem Jansz and Abel Tasman explored the coasts of Australia while in the eighteenth century it was English explorer James Cook who mapped much of Polynesia. Not to be confused with Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571-1638 a contemporary Dutch cartographer Willem Janszoon (c Abel Janszoon Tasman ( 1603 - October 10 1659) was a Dutch seafarer, explorer, and Merchant. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Captain James Cook FRS RN ( – 14 February 1779) was an English Explorer, Navigator and Polynesia (from Greek: πολύς many, νῆσος island) is a Subregion of Oceania, comprising a large grouping of over Cook travelled as far as Alaska, leaving his mark with place names on Bristol Bay and Turnagain Arm in Alaska. Bristol Bay ( Iilgayaq in Central Yup'ik) is the eastern-most arm of the Bering Sea, at 57° to 59° North 157° to 162° West Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent

End of the Age of Exploration

The Age of Exploration is generally said to have ended in the early seventeenth century. By this time European vessels were sufficiently well built and their navigators competent enough to travel to virtually anywhere on the planet by sea. European naval exploration continued. The east coast of Australia was first explored in 1770. Arctic and Antarctic seas were not explored until the 19th century. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar It took much longer for Europeans to explore the interiors of continents. Africa's deep interior was not explored by Europeans until the mid to late 19th and early 20th centuries, due to a lack of trade potential in this region, and to serious problems with contagious tropical diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. Tropical diseases are diseases that are prevalent in or unique to tropical and subtropical regions

Impact of the Age of Exploration on non-European powers

The voracious European appetite for trade, commodities, empire and slaves greatly affected many other areas of the world. Spain participated in the destruction of wealthy oppressive empires in America, only to substitute their own brutal rule. New religions were forced onto people, as were new languages, sexual and political cultures. In areas of the Americas where states did not exist, but the land was perceived by Europeans to be desirable; Europeans ethnically cleansed the local inhabitants, traded with their new neighbours, and set off economic changes which impacted deep within the continent.

Similarly, in coastal Africa, local states supplied the appetite of European slave traders, changing the complexion of coastal African states and fundamentally altering the nature of African slavery, causing impacts on societies and economies deep inland.

Aboriginal Peoples were living in North America at this time and still do today. There were many conflicts between Europeans and Natives. The Europeans had many advantages over the Natives. They gave them diseases that they had not been exposed to before. This wiped out 50-90% of their population. The Europeans also used them as slaves. All these actions are now being forgiven for today.

Economic and cultural impacts of the Age of Exploration on European powers

As a wider variety of global luxury commodities entered the European markets by sea, previous European markets for luxury goods stagnated. The Atlantic trade largely supplanted pre-existing Italian and German trading powers which had relied on their Baltic, Russian and Islamic trade links. The new commodities also caused social change, as sugar, spices, silks and chinawares entered the luxury markets of Europe. Additionally, the increase in wealth experienced by Spain coincided with a major inflationary cycle, both within Spain and within Europe generally.

See also

• Age of Sail
• Chinese exploration
• Colonialism
• Exploration
• History of the west coast of North America
• Muslim age of discovery
• Naval history
• Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact
• Columbian Exchange
• Rafael Perestrello
• Jorge Álvares
• Fernão Pires de Andrade
• Transformation of culture

References

Other references

• Cipolla, Carlo Cipolla. European Culture and Overseas Expansion.  
• DeVoto, Bernard (1952). Bernard Augustine DeVoto ( January 11, 1897 - November 13, 1955) was an American Historian and Author who specialized The Course of Empire. Houghton Mifflin.  
• Fiske, John (1892). The Discovery of America: With Some Account of Ancient America and the Spanish Conquest. Houghton Mifflin.  
• Love, Ronald S. (2006). Maritime Exploration in the Age of Discovery, 1415-1800. Greenwood Press.  
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