List of explorers

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

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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

• Vasco Nuñez 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
• Samuel Baker, Africa
• 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.
• Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, Russian explorer
• 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
• Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, (c. 1510-1554), explored New Mexico and American southwest
• Hernán Cortés, (1485-1547), 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
• Semyon Dezhnev, Russian explorer, first European who sailed through Bering Strait
• 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.
• John C. Fremont, (1813-1890), explored the Oregon Trail and the Sierra Nevada

• Juan Galindo (1802-1839) explorer of Central American ruins
• Vasco da Gama, (1469?-1524), first to reach India from Europe by the sea route
• Thomas Gann, explorer
• Francis Garnier, (1839-1873), Mekong River
• Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de la Vérendrye, (1685-1749), explorer

• Hannu - ancient Egyptian who travelled along the Red Sea to a land called Punt
• Sven Hedin, (1865-1952), explorer
• Louis Hennepin - discoverer of Niagara Falls and the Falls of Saint Anthony (highest waterfall on the Mississippi)
• 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
• Harry Johnston, (1858-1927), Africa, reported the okapi

• Jean François La Pérouse, (1741-1788), French explorer of the Pacific
• Miguel López de Legaspi, Spanish explorer of the Philippines and Mexico
• 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

• 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
• Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, (1832-1901), arctic explorer

• 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
• Zebulon Pike, (1779-1813), explored Louisiana Purchase, Pikes Peak
• Francisco Pizarro, (1471-1541), conqueror of the Inca Empire
• Marco Polo, (1254-1323), travelled to China in the 13th century
• Gaspar de Portolá (fl. 1734-1784), explored California
• 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

• Cavalier de la Salle, 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
• Hernando de Soto, (died 1542), explorer
• 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
• John Lloyd Stephens (1805-1852) explored Middle East, Central America
• Sir Paul Edmund Strzelecki, (1793-1873), Polish explorer and geologist

• Abel Tasman, (1603-1659), discovered Tasmania and New Zealand
• Yermak Timofeyevich, Russian cossack, explored West Siberia and claimed it for Russia
• Luis Vaez de Torres, sea explorer
• Gudridur Thorbjarnardottir, female explorer of the Middle Ages

• Giovanni da Verrazano, (died 1528), sea explorer
• Amerigo Vespucci, (1454-1512), discovered other parts of America and gave his name to the new continent
• Ruy Lopez de Villalobos. Spanish; explored the Pacific and the Philippines, which he named after Philip II of Spain

• 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