List of explorers

A

• Roald Amundsen, (1872-1928), Norwegian, first at the South Pole, first to navigate the Northwest Passage in a single ship
• Roy Chapman Andrews, (1884-1960), US explorer

B

• Vasco Nunez de Balboa, (c. 1475-1519), (- Spanish, first to sight the Pacific Ocean, founded Darién, oldest surviving European settlement in the Western Hemisphere
• William Baffin, (1584-1622), explorer
• Willem Barents, (1550?-1597), Dutch, died on Nova Zembla seeking the Northeast Passage[?]
• Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta, (1304?-1377?), Moroccan Muslim, visited Mecca several times, travelled to Central Asia, East Africa, China, Tombouctou and other places
• Nicholas Baudin[?] - 18th century French explorer, mapped the West Australian coastline.
• Saint Brendan[?] - Irish abbot who sailed the Atlantic Ocean
• Richard Francis Burton, (1821-1890), looking for the source of the Nile, discovered Lake Tanganyika
• Richard E. Byrd, (1888-1957), explorer

• John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) - Italian navigator in English service, crossed the Atlantic Ocean to North America
• Pedro Alvares Cabral, (c. 1467-c. 1520), discovered Brazil and Madagascar
• Juan Sebastian del Cano[?] - completed the first circumnavigation, started by Magellan
• Diego Cao, (died c. 1486), explored the African west coast
• Jacques Cartier, (1491-1557), discovered the St. Lawrence River and sailed up it to Montreal; failed in an attempt to set up a colony
• Thomas Cavendish, (died 1592), English sailor and explorer.
• Samuel de Champlain, (c. 1567-1635), established the French colony in Canada; discovered the Great Lakes
• William Clark, (1770-1838), with Meriwether Lewis led the first American expedition to reach the west coast.
• Christopher Columbus, (1451-1506), reached America looking for a searoute to the Indies; discovered various lands and islands and established a colony on Hispaniola
• James Cook, (1728-1779), explored the Pacific, discovering or mapping many lands and islands
• Hernan Fernando Cortes, conquered the Aztec empire in Mexico; sent out expeditions to Baja California

• Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (died 1997), French marine biologist and explorer
• Alexandra David-Néel, (1868-1969), French explorer, visited Lhasa, Tibet in 1924
• Cavalier de la Salle[?], explorer
• Hernando de Soto, (died 1542), explorer
• Bartolomeu Dias, (1450-1500), Portuguese explorer who first rounded the Cape of Good Hope.
• Sir Francis Drake, (c. 1540-1596), pirate, leader of the second circumnavigation
• Jules Dumont d'Urville, (1790-1842), explorer of the Pacific and Antarctica

• Eric the Red, (c.950-1003), explored and colonized Greenland
• Leif Ericsson, (born 970), attempted to colonize Vinland
• George Everest, (1790-1866)

• Matthew Flinders, (1774-1814), first to circumnavigate Australia and Tasmania, extensively charted the coastline and named such features as the Great Barrier Reef and the Great Australian Bight.

• Vasco da Gama, (1469?-1524), first to reach India from Europe by the sea route
• Thomas Gann[?], explorer
• Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de la Vérendrye, (1685-1749), explorer

H

• Hannu[?] - ancient Egyptian who travelled along the Red Sea to a land called Punt
• Sven Hedin[?], (1865-1952), explorer
• Bjarni Herjulfsson[?] - Viking discoverer of North America
• Thor Heyerdahl, (1914-2002), Norwegian explorer
• Henry Hudson, (died 1570), discovered the Hudson River and sailed up it to Albany, discovered Hudson Bay
• Alexander von Humboldt, (1769-1859), explored Central and South America, visited Siberia

• Helge Ingstad, (1899-2001), Norwegian, Danish explorer, Governor of Greenland

• Louis Joliet, (1645-1700)
• Richard Jobson

• Jean François La Pérouse, (1741-1788), French explorer of the Pacific
• Meriwether Lewis, (1774-1809), leader of the first American expedition to cross the continent
• David Livingstone, (1813-1873), explored south and east Africa, determined the course of the Zambesi, discovered Lake Nyasa

• Fernão de Magalhães, (Ferdinand Magellan, sea explorer)
• Ferdinand Magellan, (c. 1470-1521), leader of first expedition around the world
• Douglas Mawson - Australian explorer of Antarctica

• Fridtjof Nansen, (1861-1930), arctic explorer, scientist and international statesman

• Francisco de Orellana - first to navigate down the Amazon River

• William Parry[?], (born 1790), Arctic explorer
• Robert Edwin Peary, (1856-1920), first man to reach the North Pole
• Auguste Piccard, (1884-1962), physicist and explorer
• Jacques Piccard[?], (born 1922), undersea explorer
• Francisco Pizarro, (1471-1541), conqueror of the Inca Empire
• Marco Polo, (1254-1323), travelled to China in the 13th century.
• John Wesley Powell, (1834-1902), explorer, environmentalist
• Nathaniel Pryor[?], (c 1785-1850), US explorer
• Pytheas, (died 1984), Greek explorer who visited Britain and other north and northwest European countries

• John Rae, (1813-1893), travelled widely through the Canadian Arctic
• Walter Raleigh, (1554?-1618), English explorer
• James Clark Ross, (1800-1862), Explorer

• Robert Falcon Scott, (1868-1912), reached the South Pole less than one month after Amundsen, but died on the return voyage
• Scylax of Caryanda[?] - a Greek explorer sent by the king of Persia to sail down the Indus River and around Arabia to Egypt
• Ernest Shackleton, (1874-1922), attempted to reach the South Pole and came further south than anyone before him
• John Hanning Speke, (1827-1864), discovered Lake Victoria
• Henry Morton Stanley, (1841-1904), found back Livingstone; later explored Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika and the Congo River
• William Stairs, (1863-1892), Victorian explorer, discovered one source of the Nile River, first non-African to ever climb

• Abel Tasman, (1603-1659), discovered Tasmania and New Zealand
• Luis Vaez de Torres[?], sea explorer

V

• Giovanni da Verrazano, (died 1528), sea explorer
• Amerigo Vespucci, (1454-1512), discovered other parts of America and gave his name to the new continent

• Jean-Frédéric Waldeck, (1766-1875), French antiquarian, artist, explorer

• Sir Francis Younghusband, (1863-1942), India and Tibet

• Zhang Qian[?] - spent 12 years starting in 138 BC exploring much of Central Asia for Emperor Han Wu Di[?]
• Zheng He, (1371-1435), Chinese admiral who travelled widely over the Indian Ocean and other seas, reaching Africa and Arabia and many other countries

See also explorations, sea explorers, astronaut, conquistador, the History of Science and Technology and Biography.