Editing List of explorers

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{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
[[File:Viking at MN Capitol-cropped.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Leif Erikson]] ({{circa|970}} – {{circa|1020|lk=no}}) was a famous [[Norsemen|Norse]] explorer who is credited for being the first European to set foot on [[Americas|American]] soil.]]

[[Explorers]] are listed below with their common names, countries of origin (modern and former), centuries of activity and main areas of [[exploration]].

[[File:Marco Polo Mosaic from Palazzo Tursi.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Marco Polo]] (1254–1324) was an Italian explorer who recorded his 24 years-long travels in the ''[[The Travels of Marco Polo|Book of the Marvels of the World]]'', introducing Europeans to Central Asia and China.<ref>{{cite web |title=Marco Polo – Exploration |publisher=History.com |url=http://www.history.com/topics/exploration/marco-polo |access-date=9 January 2017}}</ref>]]
[[File:Zheng He.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Zheng He]] (1371 – {{circa|1435|lk=no}}) was a Chinese explorer who sailed along the Southeast Asian, South Asian, Western Asian, and East African coasts along with his fleet of large ships and several hundred men.]]
[[File:Diogo Cão.jpg|thumb|right|150px|{{flagicon|Portugal|1385}} [[Diogo Cão]] ({{circa|1452|lk=no}} – 1486) was the first European to explore the [[Congo River]] and the west coast of Africa, south of the [[equator]].]]
[[File:Bartolomeu Dias, South Africa House (cut).JPG|thumb|right|150px|{{flagicon|Portugal|1385}} [[Bartolomeu Dias]] ({{circa|1450|lk=no}} – 1500) is known as the first European to sail around the southernmost tip of Africa in 1488, finding the [[Cape Route|eastern sea route]] to the [[Indian Ocean]].]]
[[File:Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio - Ritratto di Cristoforo Colombo (1520).jpg|thumb|right|150px|{{flagicon|Crown of Castile}} [[Christopher Columbus]] (1451–1506) was an Italian explorer who led an expedition to the New World in 1492. [[Voyages of Christopher Columbus|His voyages]] are celebrated as the discovery of the Americas from a European perspective, and they opened a [[Early modern period|new era]] in the history of humankind and sustained contact between the two worlds.]]
[[File:Conquistador Alonso de Ojeda.png|thumb|right|150px|{{flagicon|Crown of Castile}} [[Alonso de Ojeda]] ({{circa|1466|1515|lk=no}}) is noted as the discoverer of South America, as commander of the fleet with [[Juan de la Cosa]] and [[Amerigo Vespucci]].]]
[[File:JohnCabotPainting.jpg|thumb|right|150px|{{flagicon|England}} [[John Cabot]] ({{circa|1450|1500|lk=no}}) was an Italian navigator who was the first European that sailed along to North American coast in 1497 since the Norse 500 years prior.]]
[[File:Vasco da Gama - 1838.png|thumb|right|150px|{{flagicon|Portugal|1495}} [[Vasco da Gama]] ({{circa|1460|lk=no}} – 1524). Famous Portuguese explorer who sailed to India in 1497–98. He accomplished finding a sea route to Asia which Europeans had been attempting to do for decades prior.]]
[[File:Amerigo Vespucci (with turban) - cropped.jpg|thumb|right|150px|{{flagicon|Spain|1506}}
{{flagicon|Portugal|1495}} [[Amerigo Vespucci]] (1451–1512). Italian navigator who made several trips to the [[New World]]. He is known for convincing the Europeans that the New World is not Asia, but an entirely new unknown continent. This new continent was soon named after him, ''[[Americas|America]]''.]]
[[File:Pedro Álvares Cabral.jpg|thumb|right|150px|{{flagicon|Portugal|1495}} [[Pedro Álvares Cabral]] ({{circa|1467|1520|lk=no}}) discovered the land in what is now [[Brazil]] in 1500 and claimed it for [[Colonial Brazil|Portugal]].]]
[[File:Retrato de Afonso de Albuquerque (após 1545) - Autor desconhecido.png|thumb|right|150px|{{flagicon|Portugal|1495}} [[Afonso de Albuquerque]] ({{circa|1453|lk=no}} – 1515) raided, captured, and conquered many coastal cities in Asia that initiated Portugal's dominance in the Indian Ocean. He is also one of the first Europeans to sail to the [[East Indies]] and [[Spice Islands]], along with [[Francisco Serrão]] and [[António de Abreu]].]]
[[File:Juan Ponce de León.jpg|thumb|right|150px|{{flagicon|Spain|1506}} [[Juan Ponce de León]] (1474–1521) was the first [[Governor of Puerto Rico]] and discovered [[Spanish Florida|Florida]] in 1513. He is the first known European to set foot on today's [[contiguous United States]].]]
[[File:Retrato de Vasco Nuñez de Balboa (1475-1517) - Anónimo.jpg|thumb|right|150px|{{flagicon|Spain|1506}} [[Vasco Núñez de Balboa]] ({{circa|1475|lk=no}} – 1519) is known for having crossed the [[Isthmus of Panama]] to the [[Pacific Ocean]] in 1513, becoming the first European to reach and see the Pacific from the America's]]
[[File:Retrato de Hernán Cortés.jpg|thumb|right|150px|{{flagicon|Spain|1506}} [[Hernán Cortés]] (1485–1547). Famous [[Conquistador]] who led the Spanish expedition to explore and [[Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire|conquer]] the [[Aztec Empire]] (1519–1521).]]
[[File:Ferdinand Magellan.jpg|thumb|right|150px|{{flagicon|Spain|1506}} [[Ferdinand Magellan]] (1480–1521) was a Portuguese explorer who led the [[Magellan expedition|successful expedition]] under Spain to find a western sea route to Asia (1519–1521).]]
[[File:Las Glorias Nacionales, 1852 "Juan Sebastian Elcano". (4013953698).jpg|thumb|right|150px|{{flagicon|Spain|1506}} [[Juan Sebastián Elcano]] ({{circa|1486|lk=no}} – 1526) took command after Ferdinand's death and completed the voyage, becoming the first person (along with 17 other crewmates) to [[circumnavigate]] the [[Earth]].]]
[[File:Jacques Cartier 1851-1852.jpg|thumb|right|150px|{{flagicon|Kingdom of France|valois}} [[Jacques Cartier]] (1491–1557) was the first European to travel inland in [[North America]] and claimed the lands he explored for [[New France|France]] in 1534.]]
[[File:Gheeraerts Francis Drake 1591.jpg|thumb|right|150px|{{flagicon|England}} [[Francis Drake]] ({{circa|1540|lk=no}} – 1596) was an English [[privateer]] who plundered many Spanish towns and ships in the [[Caribbean]] and elsewhere. However, he is most notable for completing the second circumnavigation of the world (1577–1580).]]
[[File:Samuel-de-champlain-s.jpg|thumb|right|150px|{{flagicon|Kingdom of France|valois}} [[Samuel de Champlain]] (1567–1635) is known as "The Father of [[New France]]". He founded the first permanent European settlements in [[Canada (New France)|Canada]], and explored many [[Great Lakes|lakes]] and rivers in the interior lands from early age to his death.]]
[[File:HenryHudson.jpg|thumb|right|150px|{{flagicon|Dutch Republic}}{{flagicon|England}} [[Henry Hudson]] ({{circa|1565|1611|lk=no}}) explored what is now [[New York (state)|New York]] and northeastern [[Canada]]. Today he has both a [[Hudson River|river]] and [[Hudson Bay|bay]] named after him.]]
[[File:Abel Tasman - Cuyp (cropped) (adjusted).jpg|thumb|right|150px|{{flagicon|Dutch Republic}} [[Abel Tasman]] (1603–1659) was a Dutch seafarer who was the first known European to sight the islands of [[Tasmania]] (named after him), [[New Zealand]], and [[Fiji]] (1642–43).]]
[[File:Captainjamescookportrait.jpg|thumb|right|150px|{{flagicon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} [[James Cook]] (1728–1779). Famous British explorer who led three voyages to the [[Pacific]]. He is known for exploring and charting many islands in the ocean such as [[Polynesia]], [[New Zealand]], [[The Hawaiian Islands]], and the eastern coast of [[Australia]].]]
[[File:David Livingstone -1.jpg|thumb|right|150px|{{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[David Livingstone]] (1813–1873) is a Scottish explorer and missionary who sought to convert the locals to Christianity and expand British colonization, all the while discovering lakes and rivers within Africa's interior.]]
[[File:Nlc amundsen.jpg|thumb|right|150px|{{flagicon|Norway}} [[Roald Amundsen]] (1872–1928) was a Norwegian explorer of the [[polar regions]]. He led the first successful expedition to the [[South Pole]] in 1911, and eventually also reached the [[North Pole]] by air in 1926.]]

==List==
{{Sticky header}}
{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"
! Name
! Modern (and former) nationality
! Centuries
! Main areas explored
|-
| [[António de Abreu]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Indonesia]]
|-
| [[Francisco Zeimoto]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Japan]]
|-
| [[Thomas Wyndham (Royal Navy officer)|Thomas Wyndham]]
| [[English people|English]]
| 16th
| [[West Africa]]
|-
| [[Richard Guildford|Sir Richard Guildford]]
| [[English people|English]] || 16th
| [[Mediterranean Sea]]
|-
| [[William Adams (sailor, born 1564)|William Adams]]
| [[English people|English]] || 17th
| [[Japan]]
|-
| [[Diogo Afonso]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]]
| 15th
| [[Northwestern Africa|Northwest African]] coast
|-
| [[Estevanico]] 
| [[Moroccan people|Moroccan]] || 16th
| [[North America]]
|-
| [[Crispin Agnew]]
| [[Scottish people|Scottish]]
| 20th
| [[Greenland]], [[Elephant Island]], [[Northern Patagonian Icefield]], [[Himalayas]]
|-
| [[Charles Albanel]]
| [[French people|French]] || 17th
| [[Canada]] (interior)
|-
| [[Afonso de Albuquerque]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Asia]]
|-
| [[Buzz Aldrin]]
| [[American people|American]] || 20th
| [[The Moon]]
|-
| [[Pero de Alenquer]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th/16th
| [[Indian Ocean]]
|-
| [[Alexander the Great]]
| [[Greeks|Greek]] [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|(Macedonian)]]
| 4th BC
| [[Indus River]], [[Hindu Kush]]
|-
| [[Jean Alfonse|Jean Alfonse (João Afonso)]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]]-[[French people|French]] || 15th/16th
| [[Indian Ocean]], [[Southeast Asia]], possibly [[Australia]]; [[Brazil]], [[North America]]
|-
| [[Benedict Allen]]
| [[English people|English]] || 20th/21st
| various
|-
| [[Diego de Almagro]]
| [[Spanish people|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Peru]], [[Chile]]
|-
| [[László Almásy]]
| [[Hungarian people|Hungarian]] || 19th/20th
| [[Africa]]
|-
| [[Francisco de Almeida]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[India]]
|-
| [[Lourenço de Almeida]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Sri Lanka]], [[India]]
|-
| [[Pedro de Alvarado]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Mexico]], [[Guatemala]], [[Honduras]]
|-
| [[Francisco Álvares]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Ethiopia]]
|-
| [[Gonçalo Álvares]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[Gough Island]], [[Namibia]]
|-
| [[Jorge Álvares]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[China]]
|-
| [[Roald Amundsen]]
| [[Norwegians|Norwegian]]
| 20th || [[South Pole]], [[Antarctica]], [[Northwest Passage]]
|-
| [[José Alberto de Oliveira Anchieta]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 19th
| [[Gough Island]]
|-
| [[Charles John Andersson]]
| [[Swedish people|Swedish]] || 19th
| [[Southern Africa]]
|-
| [[António de Andrade]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th/17th
| [[India]], [[Tibet]]
|-
| [[Fernão Pires de Andrade]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Ming Dynasty|Ming China]]
|-
| [[Salomon August Andrée]]
| [[Swedish people|Swedish]] || 19th
| [[Arctic]]
|-
| [[Roy Chapman Andrews]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 20th
| China, [[Mongolia]]
|-
| [[Juan Bautista de Anza]]
| [[Spanish people|Spanish]] || 18th
| [[California]]
|-
| [[Moncacht-Apé]]
| [[Yazoo people|Yazoo]]
| 17th/18th
| [[North America]]
|-
| [[Dominick Arduin]]
| [[French people|French]] || 20th/21st
| [[North Pole]]
|-
| [[Henryk Arctowski]]
| [[Polish people|Polish]] || 20th
| [[Antarctic]], [[South America]]
|-
| [[Neil Armstrong]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 20th
| [[Moon|The Moon]]
|-
| [[Ingólfur Arnarson]]
| [[Norsemen|Norse]] || 9th
| [[Iceland]]
|-
| [[Vladimir Arsenyev]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 20th
| [[Far East]]
|-
| [[Michael Asher (explorer)|Michael Asher]]
| [[English people|English]] || 20th
| [[Africa]]
|-
| [[Pero de Ataíde]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th/17th
| [[Indian Ocean]]
|-
| [[Vasco de Ataíde]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th/17th
| [[India]], [[Tibet]]
|-
| [[Vladimir Atlasov]]
| [[Siberian Cossacks|Siberian Cossack]] || 17th
| [[Kamchatka Peninsula]]
|-
| [[François Xavier Aubry]]
| [[French Canadian]] || 19th
| [[American Southwest]]
|-
| [[Väinö Auer]]
| [[Finnish people|Finnish]] || 20th
| [[Tierra del Fuego]] and [[Patagonia]]
|-
| [[Pedro Menéndez de Avilés]]
| [[Spanish people|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Florida]]
|-
| [[Juan de Ayala]]
| [[Spanish people|Spanish]] || 18th
| [[California]]
|-
| [[Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]]
| 16th
| [[South Carolina]]
|-
| [[Diogo de Azambuja]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[West Africa]]n coast
|-
| [[George Back]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th
| Canada (Arctic)
|-
| [[William Baffin]]
| [[English people|English]] || 17th
| [[Northwest Passage]], Canada (Arctic)
|-
|[[Ralph Bagnold]]
|British
|20th
|[[Libyan Desert]]
|-
| [[Abu Bakr II]] 
| [[Mali Empire]] || 14th
| [[Atlantic Ocean]], [[New World|trans-Atlantic]] (allegedly)
|-
| [[Samuel Baker]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th
| [[Africa]]
|-
| [[Vasco Núñez de Balboa]]
| [[Spanish people|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Panama]], 'discovered' the Pacific Ocean
|-
| [[Robert Ballard]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 20th
| deep sea wrecks, ''[[Titanic]]''
|-
| [[Ann Bancroft]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 20th/21st
| [[Arctic]], [[Antarctic]]
|-
| [[Joseph Banks]]
| [[English people|English]] || 18th
| [[Newfoundland and Labrador]], [[Oceania|South Pacific]]
|-
| [[Hong Bao]]
| [[Chinese people|Chinese]]
| 15th
| [[South Asia]], [[Southeast Asia]], [[Middle East]], [[East Africa]]n coast
|-
| [[Giosafat Barbaro]]
| [[Italians|Italian]] || 15th
| [[Black Sea]], [[Near East]]
|-
| [[Duarte Barbosa]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th/16th
| [[Indian Ocean]], 1st [[circumnavigation]]
|-
| [[Pero de Barcelos]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th/16th
| [[North America]]
|-
| [[Afonso Gonçalves Baldaia]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[Western Sahara]]
|-
| [[Jeanne Baré]]
| [[French people|French]] || 18th/19th
| [[Pacific Ocean]]
|-
| [[Willem Barentsz]]
| [[Dutch people|Dutch]] || 16th
| [[Northeast Passage]], [[Novaya Zemlya]], [[Svalbard]]
|-
| [[Heinrich Barth]]
| [[Germans|German]] || 19th
| Central and northern [[Africa]]
|-
| [[Robert Bartlett (explorer)|Robert Bartlett]]
| [[Newfoundland Colony|Newfoundlander]]
| 20th
| [[Arctic]]
|- 
| [[William Bartram]]
| [[Americans|American]]
| 18th
| [[Southern United States]]
|-
| [[George Bass]]
| [[English people|English]] || 18th
| [[Australia]], [[Tasmania]]
|-
| [[Henry Walter Bates]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th
| [[Amazon basin]]
|-
| [[Ibn Battuta|Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.silk-road.com/artl/srtravelmain.shtml/|title=Travellers on the Silk Road before the year 1000 AD - Silk-Road.com|access-date=14 June 2022|archive-date=11 April 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010411045209/http://www.silk-road.com/artl/srtravelmain.shtml/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/Ibn_Battuta/Battuta's_Trip_Three.html Battuta's Travels: Part Three – Persia and Iraq] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080423014420/http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/Ibn_Battuta/Battuta%27s_Trip_Three.html |date=23 April 2008 }}</ref>
| [[Marinid dynasty|Marinid]] || 14th
| [[Africa]], [[Central Asia]], [[China]], [[Europe]], [[Indian subcontinent]], [[Middle East|Middle&nbsp;East]], [[Russia]], [[Southeast Asia]]
|-
| [[Nicolas Baudin]]
| [[French people|French]] || 18th
| [[Australia]]
|-
| [[James Beckwourth]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th
| [[Sierra Nevada]]
|-
| [[William Beebe]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 20th
| deep sea
|-
| [[Pyotr Beketov]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 17th
| [[Siberia]]
|-
| [[Gertrude Bell]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th/20th
| the [[Syria (region)|region of Syria]] [[Mesopotamia]] [[Asia Minor]] [[Arabia]]
|-
| [[Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen]]
| [[Baltic Germans|Baltic German]] || 19th
| [[Antarctica]]
|-
| [[Joseph René Bellot]]
| [[French people|French]] || 19th
| Arctic
|-
| [[Móric Benyovszky]]
| [[Hungarians|Hungarian]] || 18th
| northern [[Pacific Ocean]]<ref name="WDL">{{cite web |url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/2547/ |title = Memoirs and Travels of Mauritius Augustus Count de Benyowsky: Consisting of His Military Operations in Poland, His Exile into Kamchatka, His Escape and Voyage from that Peninsula through the Northern Pacific Ocean, Touching at Japan and Formosa, to Canton in China, with an Account of the French Settlement He Was Appointed to Form upon the Island of Madagascar |website = [[World Digital Library]] |year = 1790 |access-date = 6 July 2013 |archive-date = 22 April 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090422153250/http://www.wdl.org/en/item/2547/ |url-status = live }}</ref>
|-
| [[Vitus Bering]]
| [[Russia|Russian]] (Danish-born) || 18th
| Northern Pacific Ocean, [[Bering Strait]], [[Alaska]] (North America)
|-
| [[Jean de Béthencourt]]
| [[French people|French]] || 15th
| [[Canary Islands]]
|-
| [[Hiram Bingham III]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 20th
| [[Machu Picchu]], [[Peru]]
|-
| [[Laura Bingham]]
| [[English people|English]] || 20th/21st
| [[South America]]
|-
| [[Isabella Bird]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th/20th
| [[North America]], [[Hawaii]], [[Japan]], [[Korea]], [[China]], [[Vietnam]], [[Singapore]], [[Malaysia]], [[India]], [[Persia]], [[Kurdistan]], [[Turkey]], [[Morocco]]
|-
| [[Stephen Bishop (cave explorer)|Stephen Bishop]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th
| [[Mammoth Cave]]
|-
| [[John Blashford-Snell]]
| [[English people|English]] || 20th/21st
| various
|-
| [[Adriaen Block]]
| [[Dutch people|Dutch]] || 17th
| [[East Coast of the United States]]
|-
| [[Nellie Bly]]
| [[Americans|American]]|| 19th/20th
| [[circumnavigation|trip around the world]] in 72 days
|-
| [[Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 18th
| [[Pacific Northwest]]
|-
| [[Benjamin Bonneville]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th
| [[Oregon Country]], [[Great Basin]]
|-
| [[Daniel Boone]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 18th
| [[Kentucky]], [[Appalachian Mountains]]
|-
| [[Vittorio Bottego]]
| [[Italians|Italian]] || 19th
| [[Somalia]]
|-
| [[Adam Brand (explorer)|Adam Brand]]
| [[Germans|German]] || 17th
| [[Russia]], [[China]]
|-
| [[Pietro Savorgnan di Brazza|Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza]]
| [[Italians|Italian]]-[[French people|French]] || 19th
| [[Republic of the Congo|Congo]]
|-
| [[Brendan the Navigator|Saint Brendan]]
| [[Irish people|Irish]] || 6th
| [[Atlantic Ocean]], [[Iceland]]
|-
| [[Jim Bridger]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th
| Western United States
|-
| [[James Bruce]]
| [[Scottish people|Scottish]] || 18th
| [[Algeria]], the [[Middle East]], [[Egypt]]
|-
| [[William S. Bruce]]
| [[Scottish people|Scottish]] || 20th
| [[Antarctica]]
|-
| [[Jørgen Brønlund]]
| [[Greenland]]ic || 20th
| [[Greenland]]
|-
| [[Étienne Brûlé]]
| [[French people|French]] || 17th
| Canada (interior)
|-
| [[Bungaree]]
| [[Aboriginal Australian]] || 18th/19th
| [[Coastline of Australia|Australian coasts]]
|-
| [[Lafayette Bunnell]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th
| [[Yosemite Valley]]
|-
| [[Johann Ludwig Burckhardt]]
| [[Switzerland|Swiss]] || 19th
| [[Middle East]], [[Sudan]]
|-
| [[Robert O'Hara Burke]]
| [[Irish people|Irish]] || 19th
| [[Australia]]
|-
| [[Frederick Russell Burnham]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th/20th
| [[Africa]], [[Mexico]]
|-
| [[Richard Francis Burton]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th
| [[East Africa]]
|-
| [[Thomas Button]]
| [[Welsh people|Welsh]]
| 17th
| [[Northwest Passage]]
|-
| [[José de Bustamante y Guerra]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 18th
| [[Pacific Ocean]]
|-
| [[Richard E. Byrd]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 20th
| [[North Pole]], [[Antarctica]]
|-
| [[Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Southwestern United States]], [[Mexico]], [[Argentina]]
|-
| [[John Cabot]]<ref>Giovanni Caboto.</ref>
|[[Italian People|Italian]] || 15th
| [[North America]]n mainland (Canada)
|-
| [[Sebastian Cabot (explorer)|Sebastian Cabot]]
| [[Italian People|Italian]] || 15th
| [[Northwest Passage]] (Canada), [[Río de la Plata]], [[Paraná River]] (South America)
|-
| [[João Cabral]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Bhutan]] & [[Nepal]]
|-
| [[Pedro Álvares Cabral]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th/16th
| [[Brazil]], [[Madagascar]]
|-
| [[Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] or [[Spanish people|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[California]]
|-
| [[Estêvão Cacella]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Himalayas]]
|-
| [[Alvise Cadamosto]]
| [[Italians|Italian]] || 15th
| [[Cape Verde]] islands
|-
| [[Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac]]
| [[French people|French]] || 18th
| [[North America]]
|-
| [[René Caillié]]
| [[French people|French]] || 19th
| [[North Africa]]
|-
| [[Álvaro Caminha]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[São Tomé and Príncipe]] islands
|-
| [[Pero Vaz de Caminha]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[Brazil]]
|-
| [[Alberto del Canto]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th/16th
| Northwestern [[Mexico]]
|-
| [[Diogo Cão]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| west coast of [[Africa]] (including the [[Congo River]])
|-
| [[Hermenegildo Capelo|Hermenegildo de Brito Capelo]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 19th
| [[Africa|African continent]]
|-
| [[Giovanni da Pian del Carpine|John Carpini]]
| [[Italians|Italian]] || 13th
| [[Central Asia]], [[Mongolia]]
|-
| [[Juan Carrasco (explorer)|Juan Carrasco]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 18th
| [[Pacific Northwest]]
|-
| [[Kit Carson]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th
| [[Rocky Mountains]], [[California]], [[Oregon]], [[Great Basin]]
|-
| [[Jan Carstenszoon|Jan Carstensz]]
| [[Dutch people|Dutch]] || 17th
| [[New Guinea]] coast, [[Gulf of Carpentaria]]
|-
| [[Jacques Cartier]]
| [[French people|French]] || 16th
| [[St. Lawrence River]]
|-
| [[João de Castro]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[India]], [[Arabian Peninsula]] & [[Red Sea]]
|-
| [[René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle|René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle]]
| [[French people|French]] || 17th
| [[Mississippi embayment]]
|-
|[[Bodhidharma]]
|[[Indian people|Indian]]/[[Persians|Persian]] 
|5th/6th
|[[China]] and [[Southeast Asia]] (semi-legendary)
|-
| [[Thomas Cavendish]]
| [[English people|English]] || 16th
| [[Virginia]], Pacific coast of [[Central America|Central]] and [[South America]]
|-
| [[Merieme Chadid]]
| [[Moroccan people|Moroccan]], [[French people|French]] || 20th/21st
| [[Antarctica]], [[South America]], [[Asia]], [[Astronomer]]
|-
| [[Paul Du Chaillu]]
| [[French people|French]] || 19th
| [[Africa]]
|-
| [[Harriet Chalmers Adams]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th/20th
| [[South America]], [[Asia]], [[South Pacific Ocean|South Pacific]]
|-
| [[Samuel de Champlain]]
| [[French people|French]] || 16th/17th
| [[Quebec]], [[Great Lakes]]
|-
| [[Qiu Chuji|Chang Chun]]
| [[Chinese people|Chinese]] || 13th
| [[Central Asia]], [[Mongolia]]
|-
| [[Jean Chardin]]
| [[French people|French]] || 17th
| [[Safavid Empire|Persia]], [[India]]
|-
| [[Semion Chelyuskin]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 18th
| [[Great Northern Expedition]]
|-
| [[Vasily Chichagov]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 18th
| [[Northern Sea Route]]
|-
| [[Aleksei Chirikov]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 18th
| [[Great Northern Expedition]]
|-
| [[Fletcher Christian]]
| [[English people|English]] || 18th
| [[Polynesia]]
|-
| [[Boris Chukhnovsky]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 20th
| [[Arctic]]
|-
| [[Hugh Clapperton]]
| [[Scottish people|Scottish]] || 19th
| [[West Africa|west]] and [[Central Africa]]
|-
| [[William Clark (explorer)|William Clark]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th
| [[Lewis and Clark Expedition|Western United States]]
|-
| [[Gonçalo Coelho]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th/16th
| South American coast
|-
| [[Nicolau Coelho]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[Brazil]]
|-
| [[Frank Cole (filmmaker)|Frank Cole]]
| [[Canadians|Canadian]] || 20th
| [[Sahara]]
|-
| [[Bartholomew Columbus]]
| [[Republic of Genoa|Genoese]]
| 15th/16th
| [[Hispaniola]], [[The Antilles]]
|-
| [[Christopher Columbus]]<ref>Cristoforo Colombo.</ref>
| [[Republic of Genoa|Genoese]] || 
15th/16th
| [[Bahamas]], [[Caribbean]], [[Central America]], [[South America]] ([[Colombia]] and [[Venezuela]])
|-
|[[Diego Columbus]]
|[[Portuguese people|Portuguese]]
|16th
|[[Hispaniola]] (Mainly [[Dominican Republic]])
|-
| [[George Comer]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th/20th
| [[Arctic]]
|-
|[[Megasthenes]]
|[[Greeks|Greek]]
|3rd BCE
|[[India]]
|-
| [[Niccolò Da Conti]]
| [[Italians|Italian]] [[Republic of Venice|(Venetian)]] || 
15th
| [[India]], [[Southeast Asia]]
|-
| [[Frederick Cook]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th/20th
| [[Arctic]]
|-
| [[James Cook]]
| [[English people|English]] || 18th
| [[Australasia]], [[Oceania]]
|-
| [[Francisco Vásquez de Coronado]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[New Mexico]]
|-
|[[Mahinda (Buddhist monk)|Mahinda]]
|[[Indian people|Indian]]
|3rd BCE
|[[Sri Lanka]]
|-
| [[Caramuru|Diogo Álvares Correia]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Brazil]]
|-
| [[Gaspar Corte-Real|Gaspar Côrte-Real]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], [[Greenland]]
|-
| [[João Vaz Corte-Real|João Côrte-Real]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[Azores]], [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]] (Possible exploration of North America in 1473)
|-
| [[Miguel Corte-Real|Miguel Côrte-Real]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Greenland]], [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], [[Massachusetts]]
|-
| [[Hernán Cortés]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Mexico]]
|-
| [[Juan de la Cosa]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 15th/16th
| [[Caribbean]], [[South America]]
|-
| [[Thomas Coulter]]
| [[Irish people|Irish]] || 19th
| [[Mexico]], [[Alta California]]
|-
| [[Jean Cousin (navigator)|Jean Cousin]]
| [[French people|French]] || 15th
| Possibly the Americas around 1488. Possibly mouth of the [[Amazon River]]
|-
| [[Jacques-Yves Cousteau]]
| [[French people|French]] || 20th
| the [[deep sea]]
|-
| [[Pero da Covilhã]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th/16th
| [[India]], [[Ethiopia]]
|-
| [[Tom Crean (explorer)|Tom Crean]]
| [[Irish people|Irish]] || 20th
| [[Antarctica]]
|-
| [[Andrew Croft]]
| [[English people|English]] || 20th
| [[Arctic]]
|-
| [[Tristão da Cunha]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Tristan da Cunha]] islands
|-
| [[William Healey Dall]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th
| [[Alaska]], [[Yukon]]
|-
| [[William Dampier]]
| [[English people|English]] || 17th/18th
| [[Australia]], [[Panama]], many other locations
|-
| [[Alexandra David-Néel]]
| [[French people|French]]-[[Belgians|Belgian]]
| 20th
| [[Tibet]] (Traveled to [[Lhasa]])
|-
| [[Isaac Davis (Hawaii)|Isaac Davis]]
| [[Welsh people|Welsh]] || 18th
| [[Hawaii]]
|-
|[[Faxian]]
|[[Chinese people|Chinese]]
|5th
|[[India]], [[Sri Lanka]], and [[Southeast Asia]]
|-
| [[John Davis (English explorer)|John Davis]]
| [[English people|English]] || 16th
| [[East Indies]], [[Falkland Islands]]
|-
| [[Wang Dayuan]]
| [[Chinese people|Chinese]]
| 14th
| [[Southeast Asia]], [[Singapore]]
|-
| [[Semyon Dezhnev]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 17th
| [[Siberia]], [[Bering Strait]] (80 years before Vitus Bering)
|-
| [[Bartolomeu Dias]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[Africa]]
|-
| [[Dinis Dias]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]]
| 15th
| [[Northwest Africa]]n coast
|-
| [[Diogo Dias]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Madagascar]], [[Somalia]]
|-
| [[Pero Dias]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]]
| 15th
| [[Africa]]n coast
|-
| [[Dicuil]]
| [[Irish people|Irish]] || 8th
| England, [[Scotland]]
|-
| [[Karl von Ditmar]]
| [[Baltic German]] || 19th
| [[Kamchatka]]
|-
| [[Raphaël Domjan]]
| [[Swiss people|Swiss]] || 21st
| various
|-
| [[Francis Drake]]
| [[English people|English]] || 16th
| [[Caribbean]], Pacific Coast of North America
|-
| [[Gil Eanes]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[Northwest Africa]]n coast
|-
| [[Juan Sebastián Elcano]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| completed [[Ferdinand Magellan]]'s [[circumnavigation]]
|-
| [[Francisco de Eliza]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 18th
| [[Strait of Juan de Fuca]] and [[Strait of Georgia]]
|-
| [[Lincoln Ellsworth]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 20th 
| [[Arctic]] and [[Antarctica]]
|-
| [[Franz Engel]]
| [[Germans|German]] || 19th 
| [[South America]]
|-
|[[Kaundinya I|Kaundinya]]
|[[Indian people|Indian]]
|1st
|[[Southeast Asia]]
|-
| [[Leif Eriksson]]
| [[Norsemen|Norse]] [[Viking]] || 11th
| [[Vinland]] ([[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]]) and [[North America]]n mainland (Canada)
|-
| [[Erik the Red]]
| [[Norsemen|Norse]] [[Viking]] || 10th
| [[Greenland]]
|-
| [[Pedro Escobar]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[São Tomé and Príncipe]] islands
|-
| [[St Vincent Whitshed Erskine]]
| [[British people|British]]-[[South Africa]]n || 19th
| [[Gazaland]] & [[Limpopo River]]
|-
| [[Eudoxus of Cyzicus]]
| [[Greeks|Greek]] || 2nd BC
| [[Indian Ocean]], attempted [[circumnavigation]] of [[Africa]]
|-
| [[Euthymenes]]
| [[Greeks|Greek]] || 6th BC
| [[Northwest Africa]]n coast
|-
| [[George Everest]]
| [[Welsh people|Welsh]] || 19th
| [[India]]
|-
| [[Evliya Çelebi]]
| [[Turkish people|Turkish]] || 17th
| [[Turkey]], [[Egypt]], [[Africa]], [[Europe]]
|-
| [[Ahmad ibn Fadlan]]
| [[Abbasid Caliphate]] || 10th
| [[Eastern Europe]], [[Middle East]], [[Russia]]
|-
| [[João Álvares Fagundes]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]]
| 16th
| [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]] and [[Nova Scotia]]
|-
| [[Edmund Fanning]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 18th/19th
| [[Oceania]]
|-
| [[Percy Harrison Fawcett]]
| [[English people|English]] || 20th
| [[Amazon Rainforest]]
|-
| [[Álvaro Fernandes]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[West Africa]]n coast
|-
| [[Baltasar Fernandes]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 17th
| [[Brazil]]
|-
| [[Duarte Fernandes]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Thailand]]
|-
| [[Juan Fernández (explorer)|Juan Fernández]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Juan Fernández Islands]], [[Pacific Ocean]]
|-
| [[Salvador Fidalgo]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 18th
| [[Pacific Northwest]]
|-
| [[Peter Fidler]]
| [[English people|English]] || 18th
| [[Western Canada]]
|-
| [[Ranulph Fiennes|Sir Ranulph Fiennes]]
| [[English people|English]] || 20th/21st
| [[Arctic]], [[Antarctica]]
|-
| [[Matthew Flinders]]
| [[English people|English]] || 18th/19th
| [[Australia]], [[Tasmania]]
|-
| [[Alexander Forbes (explorer)|Alexander Forbes]]
| [[Scottish people|Scottish]] || 19th
| [[California]]
|-
| [[Peter Forsskål]]
| [[Finns|Finnish]]|| 18th
| [[Arabian Peninsula]]
|-
| [[John Franklin]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th
| [[Northwest Passage]]
|-
|-
| [[Simon Fraser (explorer)|Simon Fraser]]
| [[Scottish people|Scottish]] || 18th/19th
| [[British Columbia]]
|-
| [[Lançarote de Freitas]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]]
| 15th
| [[Northwest Africa]]n coast
|-
| [[John C. Frémont]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th
| [[Oregon Trail]], [[Sierra Nevada]]
|-
| [[Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne]]
| [[French people|French]] || 18th
| [[Oceania]]
|-
| [[Louis de Freycinet]]
| [[French people|French]] || 19th
| [[Western Australia]], [[Oceania]]
|-
| [[Martin Frobisher]]
| [[English people|English]] || 16th
| [[Northwest Passage]], Canada
|-
|[[Afanasy Nikitin]]
|[[Russians|Russian]]
|15th
|[[Ottoman Empire]], [[Iran|Persia]] and [[India]]
|-
| [[Xu Fu]]
| [[Chinese people|Chinese]] || 3rd BC
| [[Japan]]
|-
| [[Juan de Fuca]]
| [[Greeks|Greek]]-[[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Strait of Juan de Fuca]], [[Canada–United States border]]
|-
| [[Vivian Fuchs]]
| [[English people|English]] || 20th
| [[Antarctica]]
|-
| [[Alfons Gabriel]]
| [[Austrians|Austrian]] || 20th
| [[Iran]]
|-
| [[Yuri Gagarin]]
| [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] || 20th
| [[Geocentric orbit|Earth orbit]]
|-
| [[Martín Galeano]]
| [[Italians|Italian]] [[Republic of Genoa|(Genoese)]]-[[Spaniards|Spanish]]
| 16th
| [[Colombia]]
|-
| [[Dionisio Alcalá Galiano]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 18th
| [[Pacific Northwest]]
|-
| [[Juan Galindo]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]]/[[Irish people|Irish]] || 19th
| [[Mesoamerica]] ([[Maya civilization|Maya]]n remains)
|-
| [[Estêvão da Gama (c.1470)|Estevão da Gama]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Trindade and Martim Vaz]] islands, [[Indian Ocean]]
|-
| [[João da Gama]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Hokkaido]], [[Kuril islands]], [[North Pacific]], [[North America]]
|-
| [[Paulo da Gama]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| sea route from [[Europe]] to [[India]]
|-
| [[Vasco da Gama]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th/16th
| sea route from [[Europe]] to [[India]]
|-
| [[Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa]]
| [[Spanish people|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Solomon Islands]]
|-
| [[Thomas Gann]]
| [[Irish people|Irish]] || 19th/20th
| Mesoamerica (Mayan remains)
|-
| [[Francisco Garcés]]
| [[Spanish people|Spanish]] || 18th
| [[Southwestern United States]], northwestern Mexico
|-
| [[Aleixo Garcia]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Brazil]], [[Paraguay]] and [[Bolivia]]
|-
| [[García Jofre de Loaísa|Francisco García Jofre de Loaísa]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Pacific Ocean]]
|-
| [[Francis Garnier]]
| [[French people|French]] || 19th
| [[Mekong River]]
|-
| [[Adrien de Gerlache]]
| [[Belgians|Belgian]] || 19th/20th
| [[Antarctica]], [[Arctic]]
|-
| [[Romolo Gessi]]
| [[Italians|Italian]] || 19th
| the [[Nile]], [[Sudan]]
|-
| [[Humphrey Gilbert]]
| [[English people|English]] || 16th
| [[North America]]
|-
| [[Ernest Giles]]
| [[Australians|Australian]] || 19th
| [[Central Australia]]
|-
| [[Diogo Gomes]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]]
| 15th
| [[West Africa]]n coast
|-
| [[André Gonçalves (explorer)|André Gonçalves]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th/16th
| [[Brazil]]
|-
| [[Antão Gonçalves]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[West Africa]]n coast
|-
| [[Lopes Gonçalves]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[Atlantic Ocean]]
|-
| [[Binot Paulmier de Gonneville]]
| [[French people|French]] || 15th/16th
| [[Brazil]] (Santa Catarina)
|-
| [[James Augustus Grant]]
| [[Scottish people|Scottish]] || 19th
| [[East Africa]]
|-
| [[João Grego]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| African coast
|-
| [[Juan de Grijalva]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Mexico]], [[Nicaragua]]
|-
| [[Grigory Grum-Grshimailo]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 19th/20th
| [[Central Asia]], [[Tuva]], [[Far East]]
|-
| [[Gonzalo Guerrero]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Yucatán Peninsula]]
|-
| [[Mikhail Gvozdev]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 18th
| [[First Kamchatka Expedition]], [[Great Northern Expedition]]
|-
| [[Charles Gwynn]]
| [[Irish people|Irish]] || 19th/20th
| [[Sudan]]
|-
| [[Niels Peter Høeg Hagen]]
| [[Denmark|Danish]] || 20th
| [[Greenland]]
|-
| [[Hanno the Navigator]]
| [[Carthage|Carthaginian]] || 6th BC
| [[West Africa]]n coast
|-
| [[Hannu]]
| [[Egyptians|Egyptian]] || 21st/20th BC
| [[East Africa]]
|-
| [[Gonzalo López de Haro]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 18th
| [[Pacific Northwest]]
|-
| [[Alfred Harrison]]
| [[English people|English]] || 20th
| [[Arctic]]
|-
| [[Dirk Hartog]]
| [[Dutch people|Dutch]] || 17th
| [[Western Australia]]n coast
|-
| [[Ahmed Hassanein|Ahmed Pasha Hassanein]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://saharasafaris.org/hassaneinbey/|title=The World of Ahmed Bey Hassanein|website=saharasafaris.org|access-date=14 June 2022|archive-date=3 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503143939/http://saharasafaris.org/hassaneinbey/|url-status=live}}</ref>
| [[Egyptians|Egyptian]] || 20th
| [[Jebel Uweinat|Oweinat]] and the [[Sahara]]
|-
| [[Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th
| [[Rocky Mountains]] and the [[Western United States]]
|-
| [[Zheng He]]
| [[Chinese people|Chinese]]
| 15th
| [[South Asia]], [[Southeast Asia]], [[Middle East]], [[East Africa]]n coast
|-
| [[Samuel Hearne]]
| [[English people|English]] || 18th
| [[North Canada]], [[Arctic]]
|-
| [[Bruno de Heceta]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 18th
| [[Pacific Northwest]]
|-
| [[Sven Hedin]]
| [[Swedish people|Swedish]] || 19th/20th
| [[Central Asia]]
|-
| [[Matthew Alexander Henson]]
| [[Americans|American]]|| 20th
| [[Arctic]]
|-
| [[Louis Hennepin]]
| [[Belgians|Belgian]]-[[French people|French]] || 17th
| [[North America]]n interior
|-
| [[Pedro de Heredia]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| Northern [[Colombia]]
|-
| [[Bjarni Herjulfsson]]
| [[Norsemen|Norse]] [[Viking]] || 10th
| [[North America]]
|-
| [[William Lewis Herndon]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th
| [[Amazon basin]]
|-
| [[Herodotus]]
| [[Greeks|Greek]] || 5th BC
| [[Near East]], [[Middle East]], [[North Africa]]
|-
| [[Thor Heyerdahl]]
| [[Norwegians|Norwegian]] || 20th
| [[Anthropology|anthropological]] ocean voyages
|-
| [[Sir Edmund Hillary]]
| [[New Zealanders|New Zealander]] || 20th
| [[Mount Everest]], [[Antarctica]]
|-
| [[Himilco the Navigator]]
| [[Carthage|Carthaginian]] || 6th BC
| Northwestern coast of [[Europe]]
|-
| [[Hippalus]]
| [[Greeks|Greek]] || 1st BC
| [[Indian Ocean]]
|-
| [[Clement Hodgkinson]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th
| [[New South Wales]] (Australia)
|-
| [[Pelham Aldrich]]
| [[English people|English]]
| 19th/20th
| [[Arctic]]
|-
| [[Emil Holub]]
| [[Czech people|Czech]] || 19th
| [[Africa]]
|-
| [[Robert Hottot]]
| [[French people|French]] || 20th
| [[Congo River]]
|-
| [[Cornelis de Houtman]]
| [[Dutch people|Dutch]] || 16th
| sea route from Europe to [[Indonesia]]
|-
| [[Frederick de Houtman]]
| [[Dutch people|Dutch]] || 16th/17th
| Western Australian coast
|-
| [[William Hovell]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th
| Southern [[New South Wales]]
|-
| [[Du Huan]]
| [[Chinese people|Chinese]]
| 8th
| [[Central Asia]], [[Middle East]], [[East Africa]]n coast
|-
| [[Henry Hudson]]
| [[English people|English]] || 17th
| [[Northwest Passage]], [[Hudson River]]&nbsp;and&nbsp;[[Hudson Bay]]
|-
| [[Alexander von Humboldt]]
| [[Germans|German]] || 19th
| [[Latin America]], [[Siberia]]
|-
| [[Hamilton Hume]]
| [[Australians|Australian]] || 19th
| Australian interior
|-
| [[James S. Hutchinson]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 20th
| [[Sierra Nevada]]
|-
| [[Hyecho]]
| [[Koreans|Korean]] || 8th
| [[India]], [[Greater Iran|Persia]] and [[Central Asia]]
|-
| [[João Infante]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[Africa]]n coast
|-
| [[Helge Ingstad]]
| [[Norwegians|Norwegian]] || 20th
| [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], [[Greenland]], [[Alaska]]
|-
| [[James Irwin]]
| [[Americans|American]]
| 20th
| [[The Moon]]
|-
| [[Kurbat Ivanov]]
| [[Siberian Cossacks|Siberian Cossack]] || 17th
| [[Siberia]], [[Russian Far East]], discoverer of [[Lake Baikal]]
|-
| [[Roberto Ivens]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 19th
| [[Africa|African continent]]
|-
| [[Cristóvão Jacques]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Paraná River]], [[Brazil]], [[Uruguay]], [[Argentina]]
|-
| [[James of Ireland]]
| [[Irish people|Irish]] || 14th
| [[Sumatra]], [[China]]
|-
| [[Willem Janszoon]]
| [[Dutch people|Dutch]] || 17th
| [[Australia]] ([[Queensland]])
|-
| [[Anthony Jenkinson]]
| [[English people|English]] || 16th
| [[Tsardom of Russia|Russia]], [[Iran|Persia]]
|-
| [[Louis Jolliet]]
| [[French Canadian]] || 17th
| [[Mississippi River]]
|-
| [[Jørgen Jørgensen]]
| [[Danes|Danish]] || 18th/19th
| [[Tasmania]]
|-
| [[Friar Julian]]
| [[Hungarian people|Hungarian]] || 13th
| [[Volga Bulgaria]]
|-
| [[Conrad Carel Käyser]]
| [[Dutch people|Dutch]] || 20th
| [[Suriname]]
|-
| [[Thorfinn Karlsefni]]
| [[Icelanders|Icelandic]] || 11th
| [[Vinland]]
|-
| [[Johann Karl Ehrenfried Kegel]]
| [[Germans|German]] || 19th
| [[Kamchatka Peninsula|Kamchatka]]
|-
| [[George Kennan (explorer)|George Kennan]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th/20th
| [[Russia]]<ref>[[Kamchatka Peninsula|Kamchatka]], [[Caucasus]], [[Siberia]].</ref>
|-
| [[Edmund Kennedy]]
| [[British people|British]]-[[Australians|Australian]] || 19th
| [[Australia]]n interior
|-
| [[Robert Kennicott]]
| [[Americans|American]]|| 19th
| [[Alaska]], [[Siberia]], [[Yukon]] and Northern Canada
|-
| [[Yerofey Khabarov]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 17th
| Second Russian to explore the [[Amur River|Amur]] region
|-
| [[Khashkhash Ibn Saeed Ibn Aswad]]
| [[Al-Andalus|Andalusian]] || 9th
| [[Atlantic Ocean]] (possibly mythical)
|-
| [[Mary Kingsley]]
| [[English people|English]]
| 19th
| [[Cameroon]], [[Gabon]], [[Congo Basin|Congo]], and other South West African regions
|-
| [[Eusebio Kino]]
| [[Italians|Italian]] || 17th/18th
| [[California]]s, [[Sonora]] and [[Arizona]]
|- 
| [[Maria Klenova]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 20th
| One of the founders of [[marine geology]]
|-
| [[Amyr Klink]]
| [[Brazilians|Brazilian]] || 20th
| [[Antarctica]]
|-
| [[John Knight (seafarer)|John Knight]]
| [[English people|English]] || 17th
| [[Greenland]], [[Labrador]]
|-
| [[Johan Peter Koch]]
| [[Denmark|Danish]] || 20th
| [[Greenland]]
|-
| [[Alexander Kolchak]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 20th
| [[Russian Arctic]]
|-
| [[Ferdinand Konščak]]
| [[Croat]]ian || 17th
| [[Baja California Peninsula]]
|-
| [[Fyodor Konyukhov]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 20th/21st
| [[circumnavigation]], [[Explorers Grand Slam]], [[pole of inaccessibility]]
|-
| [[Otto von Kotzebue]]
| [[Baltic German]] || 19th
| [[Pacific Ocean]]
|-
| [[Pyotr Kozlov]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 20th
| [[Mongolia]], [[Tibet]]
|-
| [[Johann Ludwig Krapf]]
| [[Germans|German]] || 19th
| [[Ethiopia]], [[Kenya]]
|-
| [[Pyotr Krenitsyn]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 18th
| [[Alaska]], [[Aleutian Islands]], [[Kamchatka Peninsula]]
|-
| [[Adam Johann von Krusenstern]]
| [[Baltic German]] || 19th
| [[First Russian circumnavigation]]
|-
| [[Francisco de Lacerda]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]]
| 18th
| [[Zambia]]
|-
| [[Juan Ladrillero]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]]
| 16th
| [[Chile]]
|-
| [[Ernest Doudard de Lagrée]]
| [[French people|French]]
| 19th
| [[Indochina]], [[Mekong]] and [[Yunnan]]
|-
| [[Alexander Gordon Laing]]
| [[Scottish people|Scottish]] || 19th
| [[West Africa]] ([[Niger River]] and [[Timbuktu]])
|-
| [[Pierre Martin de La Martinière]]
| [[French people|French]] || 17th
| [[Norway]], [[Sápmi|Lapland]], northern [[Russia]], [[Novaya Zemlya]], [[Greenland]] and [[Iceland]]
|-
| [[Richard Lemon Lander]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th
| [[West Africa]] ([[Niger River|Niger]] and [[Benue River]]s)
|-
| [[Grigori Ivanovitch Langsdorff]]
| [[Russians|Russian]]–[[Germans|German]] || 19th
| [[Brazil]]
|-
| [[Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse]]
| [[French people|French]] || 18th
| [[Pacific Rim]]
|-
| [[Khariton Laptev]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 18th
| [[Great Northern Expedition]]
|-
| [[Anthony de la Roché]]
| [[English people|English]] || 17th
| [[Antarctica]]
|-
| [[Gadifer de la Salle]]
| [[French people|French]] || 15th
| [[Canary Islands]]
|-
| [[João Fernandes Lavrador]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th/16th
| [[Labrador]]
|-
| [[Joseph N. LeConte]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 20th
| [[Sierra Nevada]]
|-
| [[Albert von Le Coq]]
| [[Germans|German]] || 19th/20th
| [[Central Asia]]
|-
| [[John Ledyard]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 18th
| [[Australasia]], [[Oceania]], [[Russia]]
|-
| [[Miguel López de Legazpi]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Philippines]]
|-
| [[Ludwig Leichhardt]]
| [[Germans|German]] || 19th
| [[Australia]]n interior
|-
| [[Jacob Le Maire]]
| [[Dutch people|Dutch]] || 17th
| [[Oceania|South Pacific]] ([[Cape Horn]], [[Tonga Islands]], [[Wallis and Futuna]])
|-
| [[Gaspar de Lemos]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[Brazil]]
|-
| [[Dragutin Lerman]]
| [[Croat]]ian || 19th/20th
| [[Republic of the Congo|Congo]]
|-
| [[Mikhail Levashev]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 18th
| [[Alaska]], [[Aleutian Islands]], [[Kamchatka Peninsula]]
|-
| [[Meriwether Lewis]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 18th/19th
| [[Lewis and Clark Expedition|Western United States]]
|-
| [[Sir Martin Lindsay, 1st Baronet]]
| [[Scottish people|Scottish]] || 20th
| East [[Greenland]]
|-
| [[João de Lisboa]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th/16th
| [[Indian Ocean]], [[Brazil]], [[Uruguay]] and [[Argentina]]
|-
| [[St. George Littledale]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th
| [[Central Asia]] and [[North America]]
|-
| [[David Livingstone]]
| [[Scottish people|Scottish]] || 19th
| [[Southern Africa|Southern]] and [[East Africa]]
|-
| [[Louis-Philippe Loncke]]
| [[Belgians|Belgian]]|| 21st
| [[Australia]], the [[Andes]] and [[Iceland]]
|-
| [[Jim Lovell]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 20th
| [[Outer Space]]
|-
| [[Alexander Mackenzie (explorer)|Alexander Mackenzie]]
| [[Scottish Canadian]] || 18th/19th
| Canada
|-
| [[Ferdinand Magellan]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th/16th
| 1st [[circumnavigation]], [[Philippines]], [[Strait of Malacca]], [[Indian Ocean]]
|-
| [[Jacques Mahu]]
| [[French people|French]]-[[Dutch people|Dutch]]
| 16th
| [[Cape Verde]] islands
|-
| [[Alessandro Malaspina]]
| [[Italians|Italian]]-[[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 18th
| [[Pacific Ocean]]
|-
| [[Teoberto Maler]]
| [[Germans|German]]-[[Italians|Italian]] || 19th
| [[Mesoamerica]] ([[Maya civilization|Maya]]n remains)
|-
| [[George Mallory]]
| [[English people|English]] || 20th
| [[Mount Everest]]
|-
| [[Lancelotto Malocello]]
| [[Italians|Italian]] || 13th/14th
| [[Lanzarote]] ([[Canary Islands]])
|-
| [[Albert Hastings Markham]]
| [[British people|British]] || 19th
| [[Arctic]]
|-
| [[Lourenço Marques (explorer)|Lourenço Marques]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Mozambique]]
|-
| [[Jacques Marquette]]
| [[French people|French]] || 17th
| [[Mississippi River]]
|-
| [[Álvaro Martins]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], [[Cape of Good Hope]]
|-
| [[Pedro Mascarenhas]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Indian Ocean]], [[Diego Garcia]]
|-
| [[John Minor Maury]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th
| [[Darién Gap]]
|-
| [[Douglas Mawson]]
| [[Australians|Australian]] || 20th
| [[Antarctica]]
|-
| [[Robert McClure]]
| [[Irish people|Irish]] || 19th
| [[Arctic]]
|-
| [[Robert McCormick (explorer)|Robert McCormick]]
| [[British people|British]]
| 19th
| [[Arctic Ocean|Arctic]] and [[Antarctic Ocean]]s
|-
| [[Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira|Álvaro de Mendaña]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Pacific Ocean]]
|-
| [[António Lopes Mendes]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]]
| 19th
| [[Brazil]], [[India]]
|-
| [[Cristóvão de Mendonça]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[East Asia]], [[Australasia]]
|-
| [[Pedro de Mendoza]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]]
| 16th
| [[South America]]
|-
| [[Jorge de Menezes]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Papua New Guinea]]
|-
| [[Archibald Menzies]]
| [[Scottish people|Scottish]] || 18th/19th
| [[Pacific Ocean]], [[circumnavigation]]
|-
| [[Alexander von Middendorff]]
| [[Russians|Russian]]-[[Baltic Germans|Baltic German]] || 19th
| [[Siberia]], [[Far East]], [[Sápmi|Lapland]], [[Fergana Valley]]
|-
| [[Ejnar Mikkelsen]]
| [[Denmark|Danish]] || 20th
| [[Greenland]]
|-
| [[Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 19th
| [[New Guinea]]
|-
| [[Thomas Mitchell (explorer)|Thomas Mitchell]]
| [[Scottish people|Scottish]] || 19th
| [[Australia]]n interior
|-
| [[Richard Mohun]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th/20th
| [[Congo Free State]]
|-
| [[Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons]]
| [[French people|French]] || 16th/17th
| [[North America]]
|-
| [[George Fletcher Moore]]
| [[Irish people|Irish]] || 19th
| [[Australia]]
|-
| [[John Moresby]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th
| [[Papua (Australian territory)|New Guinea]] coast
|-
| [[Ivan Moskvitin]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 17th
| First European to reach the [[Sea of Okhotsk]]
|-
|[[António Mota]]
|[[Portuguese people|Portuguese]]
|16th
|[[Japan]]
|-
| [[Henri Mouhot]]
| [[French people|French]] || 19th
| [[South East Asia]]
|-
| [[Francisco Antonio Mourelle]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 18th
| [[Pacific Northwest]] and [[Pacific Ocean]]
|-
| [[Bimal Mukherjee]]
| [[Indian people|Indian]] || 20th
| [[circumnavigation]]
|-
| [[Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen]]
| [[Denmark|Danish]] || 20th
| [[Greenland]]
|-
| [[Gustav Nachtigal]]
| [[Germans|German]] || 19th
| [[Africa]]<ref name="WDL2">{{cite web |url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/7312/ |title = Sahara and Sudan: The Results of Six Years Travel in Africa |website = [[World Digital Library]] |date = 1879–1889 |access-date = 2 October 2013 |archive-date = 3 May 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210503160659/https://www.wdl.org/en/item/7312/ |url-status = live }}</ref>
|-
| [[Naddoddur]]
| [[Norsemen|Norse]] [[Viking]] || 9th
| [[Iceland]]
|-
| [[Nain Singh Rawat]] ([[Pundit (explorer)|Pundit]] Brothers)
| [[Indian people|Indian]] || 19th
| [[Tibet]], [[Himalayas]] and [[Central Asia]]
|-
| [[Fridtjof Nansen]]
| [[Norwegians|Norwegian]] || 19th/20th
| [[Arctic]]
|-
| [[José María Narváez]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 18th
| [[Pacific Northwest]]
|-
| [[Nearchus]]
| [[Greeks|Greek]] || 4th BC
| [[Arabian Sea]], [[Persian Gulf]]
|-
| [[Nehsi]]
| [[Egyptians|Egyptian]] || 15th BC
| [[Land of Punt]]
|-
| [[Arthur Henry Neumann]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th
| [[Africa]]
|-
| [[Gennady Nevelskoy]] 
| [[Russian people|Russian]] || 19th 
| [[Sakhalin]]
|-
| [[Jean Nicolet]]
| [[French people|French]] || 17th
| [[Northwest Territory]] (United States)
|-
| [[Joseph Nicollet]]
| [[French people|French]]-[[Americans|American]] || 19th
| [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]] and [[Missouri River]]s
|-
| [[António Noli]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[Cape Verde]] islands
|-
| [[Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld]]
| [[Finns|Finnish]]|| 19th
| Arctic
|-
| [[Tenzing Norgay]]
| [[Nepal]]ese || 20th
| [[Mount Everest]]
|-
| [[Fernão de Noronha]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th/16th
| [[Atlantic Ocean]]
|-
| [[João da Nova]]
| [[Galicians|Galician]]-[[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] and [[Indian Ocean]]s
|-
| [[Paulo Dias de Novais]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Angola]]
|-
| [[Kazimierz Nowak]]
| [[Polish people|Polish]] || 20th
| [[Africa]]
|-
| [[Vanessa O'Brien]]
| [[Americans|American]] and [[British people|British]] || 20th/21st
| [[Mountaineering]] and [[Challenger Deep]] in [[Marianas Trench]]
|-
| [[Sebastián de Ocampo]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Caribbean]], [[Gulf of Mexico]]
|-
| [[Addison O'Dea]]
| [[Americans|American]]|| 21st
| [[Sahara|The Sahara]]
|-
| [[Odoric of Pordenone]]
| [[Italians|Italian]] || 14th
| [[Persia]], [[India]] and [[China]]
|-
| [[Peter Skene Ogden]]
| [[Canadians|Canadian]] || 19th
| [[Snake River]] country, [[Western United States]]
|-
| [[Alonso de Ojeda]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]]
| 15th/16th
| [[South America]] (north), [[Caribbean]]
|-
| [[Juan de Oñate]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Southwestern United States|American Southwest]]
|-
| [[Francisco de Orellana]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[South America]], [[Amazon River]]
|-
| [[:de:Simone Orlandini|Simone Orlandini]]
| [[Italians|Italian]] || 21st
| [[Arctic]], [[Tibet]]
|-
| [[Yñigo Ortiz de Retez|Íñigo Órtiz de Retes]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Papua New Guinea]]
|-
| [[John Oxenham]]
| [[English people|English]] || 16th
| [[Panama]], [[Pacific Ocean]]
|-
| [[John Oxley]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th
| [[Australia]]<ref>[[New South Wales]], southeastern [[Queensland]].</ref>
|-
| [[Pedro Páez]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th/17th
| [[Ethiopia]]
|-
| [[Juan Pardo (explorer)|Juan Pardo]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]]
| 16th
| [[Southeastern United States]]
|-
| [[Mungo Park (explorer)|Mungo Park]]
| [[Scottish people|Scottish]] || 18th/19th
| [[West Africa]] ([[Niger River]])
|-
| [[William Edward Parry|William Parry]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th
| [[Arctic]]
|-
| [[James Ohio Pattie]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th
| [[Western United States]]
|-
| [[Fiann Paul]]
| [[Icelandic people|Icelandic]]
| 21st
| [[Arctic]], [[Antarctic]], [[Ocean]]s
|-
| [[Nathaniel Pearce]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th
| Ethiopia
|-
| [[Robert Peary]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th/20th
| Arctic
|-
| [[Paul Pelliot]]
| [[French people|French]] || 19th/20th
| [[central Asia]]
|-
| [[Diogo Fernandes Pereira]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th/16th
| [[Madagascar]], [[Mascarenes]] ([[Réunion]], [[Mauritius]], and [[Rodrigues]])
|-
| [[Duarte Pacheco Pereira]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[Atlantic Ocean]], [[Brazil]]
|-
| [[Bartolomeu Perestrelo]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[Madeira Islands]]
|-
| [[Juan José Pérez Hernández|Juan Pérez]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 18th
| [[Pacific Northwest]]
|-
| [[Maksim Perfilyev]]
| [[Siberian Cossacks|Siberian Cossack]] || 17th
| [[Eastern Siberia]], first Russian to reach [[Transbaikalia]]
|-
| [[Ivan Petlin]]
| [[Siberian Cossacks|Siberian Cossack]] || 17th
| First Russian to reach [[China]]
|-
| [[Auguste Piccard]]
| [[Swiss people|Swiss]] || 20th
| [[Earth's atmosphere]], the [[deep sea]]
|-
| [[Jacques Piccard]]
| [[Swiss people|Swiss]] || 20th
| the deep sea
|-
| [[Antonio Pigafetta]]
| [[Italians|Italian]] [[Republic of Venice|(Venetian)]] || 16th
| Survived the [[Magellan's circumnavigation|1st circumnavigation of the world]]
|-
| [[Zebulon Pike]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th
| [[Louisiana Purchase]] (United States)
|-
| [[Alonso Alvarez de Pineda]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Gulf Coast of the United States|Gulf Coast]]
|-
| [[Fernão Mendes Pinto]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[India]], [[Far East]], [[Japan]]
|-
| [[Alexandre Alberto da Rocha de Serpa Pinto|Serpa Pinto]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 19th
| [[Southern Africa]]
|-
| [[Martin Alonzo Pinzón]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 15th
| [[Caribbean]]
|-
| [[Vicente Yáñez Pinzón]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 15th/16th
| Caribbean, [[Brazil]]
|-
| [[Luís Pires]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| abortive voyage to Brazil
|-
| [[Francisco Pizarro]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Hispaniola]], [[Panama]], [[Peru]]
|-
| [[Fernão do Pó]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[West Africa]]n coast
|-
| [[Marco Polo]]
| [[Italians|Italian]] [[Republic of Venice|(Venetian)]] || 13th/14th
| [[China]], [[Mongol Empire]], [[India]]
|-
| [[Juan Ponce de León]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 15th/16th
| [[Florida]]
|-
| [[Peter Pond]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 18th/19th
| Canada interior
|-
| [[Fedot Alekseyevich Popov|Fedot Popov]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 17th
| The first European expedition through the [[Bering Strait]]
|-
| [[António da Silva Porto]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]]
| 19th
| [[Angola]] interior
|-
| [[Gaspar de Portolà]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 18th
| [[Alta California|Alta]] and [[Baja California]]
|-
| [[Posidonius]]
| [[Greeks|Greek]] || 1st BC
| [[Gaul]]
|-
| [[Sydney Possuelo]]
| [[Brazilians|Brazilian]] || 20th/21st
| [[Amazon Basin|Amazon]] 
|-
| [[Panayotis Potagos]]
| [[Greeks|Greek]] || 19th
| [[Africa]]
|-
| [[Grigory Potanin]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 19th
| [[Inner Asia]]
|-
| [[John Wesley Powell]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th
| [[Western United States]]
|-
| [[Vassili Poyarkov]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 17th
| First Russian explorer of the [[Amur River|Amur]] region
|-
| [[Mandil Pradhan]]
| [[Nepalis|Nepalese]]
| 21st
| Himalayas
|-
| [[Gavriil Pribylov]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 18th
| [[Pribilof Islands]]
|-
| [[Vasili Pronchishchev]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 18th
| [[Great Northern Expedition]]
|-
| [[Maria Pronchishcheva]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 18th
| The first female [[Arctic]] explorer
|-
| [[Nathaniel Hale Pryor]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th
| [[Lewis and Clark Expedition|western United States]]
|-
| [[Nikolai Przhevalsky]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 19th
| [[Central Asia]]
|-
| [[Peter Puget]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th
| [[Puget Sound]]
|-
| [[Pytheas]]
| [[Greeks|Greek]] || 4th BC
| [[Northern Europe]]
|-
| [[Zhang Qian]]
| [[Chinese people|Chinese]]
| 2nd BC
| [[Central Asia]]
|-
| [[Pedro Fernandes de Queirós]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th/17th
| [[Oceania]]
|-
| [[Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Spanish conquest of the Muisca|From Santa Marta to the Bogotá savanna]]; quest for ''[[El Dorado]]''
|-
| [[Hernán Pérez de Quesada]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Caquetá Department|Caquetá]], Colombia; quest for ''El Dorado''
|-
| [[Manuel Quimper]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 18th
| [[Pacific Northwest]]
|-
| [[Emil Racoviță]] 
| [[Romanians|Romanian]] || 19th/20th 
| [[Antarctica]]
|-
| [[John Rae (explorer)|John Rae]]
| [[Scottish Canadian]] || 19th
| [[Northwest Passage]], Canada (Arctic)
|-
| [[Walter Raleigh|Sir Walter Raleigh]]
| [[English people|English]] || 16th/17th
| [[Virginia]], [[Orinoco River]]
|-
| [[Knud Rasmussen]]
| [[Danes|Danish]] || 20th
| [[Arctic]]
|-
| [[Piri Reis]]
| [[Turkish people|Turkish]] || 15th/16th
| [[Mediterranean Sea]]
|-
| [[Matteo Ricci]]
| [[Italians|Italian]] || 16th
| [[China]]
|-
| [[Mario Rigby]]
| [[Turks and Caicos Islander]] || 21st
| [[Africa]]
|-
| [[Arthur Rimbaud]]
| [[French people|French]] || 19th
| [[Horn of Africa]] ([[Ethiopian Empire|Abyssinia]])
|-
| [[Luigi Robecchi Bricchetti|Luigi Robecchi]]
| [[Italians|Italian]] || 19th
| [[Africa]]
|-
| [[Anthony de la Roché]]
| [[English people|English]] || 17th
| [[Antarctic]] ([[South Georgia Island|South Georgia]])
|-
| [[Diogo Rodrigues]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Mascarene Islands]]
|-
| [[Nicholas Roerich]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 20th
| [[Central Asia]], [[Northeast Asia]]
|-
| [[Jacob Roggeveen]]
| [[Dutch people|Dutch]] || 18th
| [[Oceania|South Pacific]] ([[Easter Island]])
|-
| [[Cândido Rondon]]
| [[Brazilians|Brazilian]] || 19th/20th
| [[Brazil]]ian interior ([[Amazon Basin]])
|-
| [[James Clark Ross]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th
| [[Arctic]], [[Antarctic]]
|-
| [[John Ross (Royal Navy officer)|Sir John Ross]]
| [[Scottish People|Scottish]] || 19th
| [[Arctic]]
|-
| [[John Ross (explorer)|John Ross]]
| [[Scottish Australian]] || 19th
| [[Northern Territory]]
|-
| [[William of Rubruck]] 
| [[Flemish people|Flemish]] || 13th 
| [[Central Asia]]
|-
| [[Nikolay Rudanovsky]] 
| [[Russian people|Russian]] || 19th 
| [[Sakhalin]]
|-
| [[Henry Russell (explorer)|Henry Russell]]
| [[Irish people|Irish]] || 19th
| [[Pyrenees]]
|-
| [[Ahmad ibn Rustah]]
| [[Persian people|Persian]] || 10th
| [[Russia]], [[Scandinavia]], [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]]
|-
| [[João de Sá]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]]
| 15th/16th
| [[India]], [[Africa]]n coast
|-
| [[Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón|Álvaro de Saavedra]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Papua New Guinea]], [[Caroline Islands]], [[Marshall Islands]]
|-
| [[Edward Sabine]]
| [[Irish people|Irish]] || 19th
| [[Arctic]]
|-
| [[Sacagawea]]
| [[Lemhi Shoshone]] || 18th/19th
| [[Lewis and Clark Expedition|Western United States]]
|-
| [[Anatoly Sagalevich]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 20th/21st
| Explorer of the [[World Ocean]], seabed at the [[North Pole]]
|-
| [[Kira Salak]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 20th/21st 
| [[Papua New Guinea]], [[Mali]], [[Bhutan]]
|-
| [[Alonso de Salazar]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Marshall Islands]], [[Pacific Ocean]]
|-
| [[Agustín Lizárraga]]
| [[Peru]]vian || 20th
| [[Machu Picchu]]
|-
| [[Gadiel Sánchez Rivera]]
| [[Peru]]vian || 21st
| [[Amazon River|Amazon]], [[Lake Titicaca]]
|-
| [[Sándor Kőrösi Csoma]]
| [[Hungarian people|Hungarian]] || 19th
| [[Tibet]]
|-
| [[Yakov Sannikov]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 19th
| [[New Siberian Islands]]
|-
| [[João de Santarém]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[São Tomé and Príncipe]] islands
|-
| [[Gavril Sarychev]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 18th/19th
| [[Sea of Okhotsk]], [[Baltic Sea]], [[Aleutian Islands]]
|-
| [[Martin Sauer (explorer)|Martin Sauer]]
| [[English people|English]] || 18th
| [[Siberia]], [[Alaska]]
|- 
| [[Rabban Bar Sauma]]
| [[Turkic people|Turco]]-[[Mongols|Mongol]] || 13th
| [[Europe]], [[Middle East]]
|-
| [[Johann Schiltberger]]
| [[Germans|German]] || 15th
| [[Central Asia]]
|-
| [[Adolf Schlagintweit]]
| [[Germans|German]] || 19th
| [[Central Asia]]
|-
| [[Eduard Schlagintweit]]
| [[Germans|German]] || 19th
| [[Central Asia]]
|-
| [[Emil Schlagintweit]]
| [[Germans|German]] || 19th
| [[Central Asia]]
|-
| [[Hermann Schlagintweit]]
| [[Germans|German]] || 19th
| [[Central Asia]]
|-
| [[Robert Schlagintweit]]
| [[Germans|German]] || 19th
| [[Central Asia]]
|-
| [[Ulrich Schmidl]]
| [[Germans|German]]
| 16th
| [[Río de la Plata]]
|-
| [[Willem Schouten]]
| [[Dutch people|Dutch]] || 17th
| [[Oceania|South Pacific]] ([[Cape Horn]], [[Tonga Islands]], [[Wallis and Futuna]])
|-
| [[Georg August Schweinfurth]]
| [[Baltic Germans|Baltic German]] || 19th
| East and Central Africa
|-
| [[Robert Falcon Scott]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th/20th
| [[Antarctica]] ([[South Pole]])
|-
| [[Scylax of Caryanda]]
| [[Greeks|Greek]] || 6th BC
| [[Indus River]], [[Indian Ocean]], [[Red Sea]]
|-
| [[Tibor Sekelj]]
| [[Croats|Croat]] || 20th
| [[Argentina]]
|-
| [[Mirko and Stjepan Seljan]]
| [[Croats|Croat]] || 20th
| [[Ethiopia]], [[South America]]
|-
| [[Frederick Courtney Selous]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th
| Africa
|-
| [[Symon Semeonis]]
| [[Hiberno-Norman]] || 14th
| [[Jerusalem]], [[Albania]]
|-
| [[Gomes de Sequeira]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th 
| [[Caroline Islands]], [[Pacific Ocean]]
|-
| [[João Serrão]]
| [[Portuguese people|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 people|Portuguese]] || 15th/16th
| [[Indonesia]]
|-
| [[Ernest Shackleton]]
| [[English people|English]]-[[Irish people|Irish]] || 20th
| [[Antarctica]]
|-
| [[Robert Barkley Shaw]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th
| [[Central Asia]]
|-
| [[Eric Shipton]]
| [[English people|English]] || 20th
| [[Mount Everest]], southern [[Patagonia]]
|-
| [[Tanaka Shōsuke]]
| [[Japanese people|Japanese]] || 17th
| [[Mexico]]
|-
| [[Diogo Silves]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[Azores]]
|-
| [[James Simpson (explorer)|James Simpson]]
| [[English people|English]] || 20th
|  North [[Greenland]]
|-
| [[Pero de Sintra]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[West Africa]]n coast, [[Sierra Leone]]
|-
| [[Pierre-Jean De Smet]]
| [[Belgians|Belgian]] || 19th
| [[North America]]
|-
| [[Jedediah Smith]]
| [[Americans|American]]
| 19th
| [[Western United States]], [[Rocky Mountains]]
|-
| [[John Smith (explorer)|John Smith]]
| [[English people|English]]
| 17th
| [[North America]]
|-
| [[William Smith (mariner)|William Smith]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th
| [[South Shetland Islands]]
|-
| [[Eugene Smurgis]]
| [[Russian people|Russian]]
| 20th
| [[Arctic Ocean]]
|-
| [[J. Dewey Soper]]
| [[Canadians|Canadian]] || 20th
| [[Canadian Arctic]]
|-
| [[Hernando de Soto (explorer)|Hernando de Soto]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Central America]], [[Southern United States]]
|-
| [[Martim Afonso de Sousa]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 16th
| [[Brazil]]ian interior
|-
| [[John Hanning Speke]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th
| [[East Africa]]
|-
| [[Hans Staden]]
| [[Germans|German]] || 16th
| [[Brazil]]
|-
| [[Ed Stafford]]
| [[English people|English]] || 21st
| [[Amazon Basin|Amazon]]
|-
| [[William Grant Stairs]]
| [[Canadians|Canadian]] || 19th
| [[Central Africa]]
|-
| [[Henry Morton Stanley]]
| [[Welsh people|Welsh]] || 19th
| East Africa
|-
| [[Vilhjalmur Stefansson]]
| [[Icelandic Canadians|Icelandic Canadian]] || 20th
| [[Canadian Arctic]]
|-
| [[Marc Aurel Stein]]
| [[Hungarians|Hungarian]]-[[British people|British]] || 19th/20th
| [[Central Asia]]
|-
| [[John Lloyd Stephens]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th
| [[Middle East]], [[Mesoamerica]] ([[Maya civilization|Maya]]n remains)
|-
| [[Paweł Edmund Strzelecki|Paweł Strzelecki]]<ref>Sir Paul de Strzelecki.</ref>
| [[Polish people|Polish]]-[[British people|British]] || 19th
| the [[Americas]], [[Australia]] ([[Gippsland]])
|-
| [[John McDouall Stuart]]
| [[Scottish people|Scottish]] || 19th
| [[Australian Interior]]
|-
| [[Charles Sturt]]
| [[British people|British]] || 19th
| [[Australian Interior]]
|-
| [[Gardar Svavarsson]]
| [[Swedes|Swedish]] || 9th
| [[Iceland]]
|-
| [[Anders Svedlund]]
| [[Swedish people|Swedish]]
| 20th
| [[Ocean]]s
|-
| [[Otto Sverdrup]]
| [[Norwegians|Norwegian]] || 19th/20th
| [[Arctic]]
|-
| [[Ignacije Szentmartony]]
| [[Croats|Croat]] || 18th
| [[Amazon River]]
|-
| [[Abel Tasman]]
| [[Dutch people|Dutch]] || 17th
| [[Australasia]], including [[Tasmania]]
|-
| [[António Raposo Tavares]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 17th
| [[Paraguay River]], part of the [[Andes|Andes mountain range]], [[Rio Grande (Paraná River)|Grande River]], [[Mamoré River]], [[Madeira River]], [[Amazon River]]  ([[Brazil]], [[Paraguay]], [[Bolivia]]) Union of [[Río de la Plata Basin|La Plata Basin]] to the Amazon River – circumnavigation of Brazil.
|-
| [[Jean-Baptiste Tavernier]]
| [[French people|French]] || 17th
| [[Safavid dynasty|Persia]], [[Mughal Empire|India]]
|-
| [[Mikhail Tebenkov]]
| [[Russians|Russian]] || 19th
| [[Alaska]], [[Aleutian Islands]], [[Amur River]]
|-
| [[Pedro Teixeira]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 17th
| [[Amazon River]]
|-
| [[Tristão Vaz Teixeira]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[Madeira Islands]]
|-
| [[Wilfred Thesiger]]
| [[English people|English]]|| 20th
| [[Africa]], [[Middle East]]
|-
| [[David Thompson (explorer)|David Thompson]]
| [[Welsh people|Welsh]]–[[English people|English]]|| 18th/19th
| Western Canada, [[Pacific Northwest]]
|-
| [[Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir]]
| [[Icelanders|Icelandic]] ||| 11th
| [[North America]]
|-
| [[Harold William Tilman]]
| [[English people|English]]||| 20th
| [[Himalayas]], [[Patagonia]]
|-
| [[Yermak Timofeyevich]]
| [[Russians|Russian]]<ref>[[Cossack]].</ref> || 16th
| [[Siberia]]
|-
| [[Tenjiku Tokubei]]
| [[Japanese people|Japanese]] || 17th
| [[South East Asia]], [[India]]
|-
| [[Eduard Toll]]
| [[Baltic German]] || 19th
| [[Arctic]]
|-
| [[Luis Váez de Torres]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] [[Galicians|Galician]]|| 16th/17th
| Australasia
|-
| [[Nuno Tristão]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[West Africa]]n coast, [[Guinea-Bissau]]
|-
| [[Petrus Johannes Truter]]
| [[Dutch people|Dutch]] || 19th
| [[Bechuanaland]]
|-
| [[Hasekura Tsunenaga]]
| [[Japanese people|Japanese]] || 17th
| [[Mexico]], [[Europe]]
|-
| [[Benjamin of Tudela]]
| [[Jewish]] [[Kingdom of Navarre|Navarrese]] || 12th
| [[Mediterranean Sea]], [[Arabian Peninsula]], [[Red Sea]], [[Persian Gulf]]
|-
| [[Andrés de Urdaneta]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Pacific Ocean]], [[Manila Galleon]] route
|-
| [[Jules Dumont d'Urville]]
| [[French people|French]] || 19th
| [[Antarctica]]
|-
| [[Cayetano Valdés y Flores]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 18th
| [[Pacific Northwest]]
|-
| [[George Vancouver]]
| [[English people|English]]|| 18th
| Pacific coast of North America<ref>[[West Coast of the United States|U.S. Pacific Coast]], [[Pacific Northwest]].</ref>
|-
| [[Ludovico di Varthema]]
| [[Italians|Italian]]|| 15th/16th
| [[Arabian Peninsula]], Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia
|-
| [[Gonçalo Velho]]
| [[Portuguese people|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 people|French]] || 18th
| [[Great Plains]]
|-
| [[Giovanni da Verrazzano]]
| [[Italians|Italian]] || 16th
| [[East Coast of the United States]]
|-
| [[Amerigo Vespucci]]
| [[Italians|Italian]] || 15th/16th
| Eastern [[South America]]n coast, [[Caribbean]]
|-
| [[Flóki Vilgerðarson]]
| [[Norsemen|Norse]] [[Vikings|Viking]]
| 9th
| [[Iceland]]
|-
| [[Ruy López de Villalobos]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| [[Pacific Ocean]], [[Philippines]]
|-
| [[Vandino and Ugolino Vivaldi]]
| [[Italians|Italian]]
| 13th
| Africa, in a failed attempt to reach India
|-
| [[Sebastián Vizcaíno]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]] || 16th
| Northwest Pacific, California Coast
|-
| [[Willem de Vlamingh]]
| [[Dutch people|Dutch]] || 17th
| [[Southwest Australia]]n coast
|-
| [[Maarten Gerritsz Vries]]
| [[Dutch people|Dutch]] || 17th
| Northwest Pacific ([[Hokkaido]], [[Sakhalin]])
|-
| [[Lionel Wafer]]
| [[Welsh people|Welsh]] || 17th
| Malay Archipelago, Isthmus of Panama
|-
| [[Jean-Frédéric Waldeck]]
| [[French people|French]] || 19th
| [[Mesoamerica]] ([[Maya civilization|Maya]]n remains)
|-
| [[Thomas Walker (explorer)|Thomas Walker]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 18th
| [[Eastern United States]]<ref>[[Allegheny Mountains]], [[Cumberland Plateau]].</ref>
|-
| [[Samuel Wallis]]
| [[British Empire|British]] 
| 18th
| First recorded visit to [[Tahiti]]
|-
| [[Gino Watkins]]
| [[English people|English]] || 20th
|  East [[Greenland]] & Labrador
|-
| [[Langdon Warner]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 20th
| the [[Silk Road]]
|-
| [[Alfred Wegener]]
| [[German people|German]] || 20th
| [[Greenland]]
|-
| [[John White (colonist and artist)|John White]] 
| [[English people|English]] || 16th
| [[Roanoke Island]]
|-
| [[Jim Whittaker]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 20th
| [[Mount Everest]], [[Antarctica]]
|-
| [[Frederick Whymper]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th
| [[Alaska]], [[Kamchatka]], [[Yukon]]
|-
| [[Charles Wilkes]]
| [[Americans|American]] || 19th
| [[Pacific Ocean]]
|-
| [[Edward Adrian Wilson]]
| [[English people|English]] || 19th/20th
| [[Antarctica]]
|-
| [[Ernest Henry Wilson]]
| [[English people|English]]
| 19th/20th
| [[East Asia]], [[East Africa]], [[Central America|Central]] and [[South America]], [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]]
|-
| [[James Wilson (explorer)|James Wilson]]
| [[British people|British]]
| 18th
| [[Pacific Islands]]
|-
| [[Thomas Braidwood Wilson]]
| [[Scottish Australian]]
| 19th
| [[Australia]]
|-
| [[Harry de Windt]]
| [[French people|French]] || 19th/20th
| [[Eurasia]]
|-
| [[Fanny Bullock Workman]]
| [[Americans|American]]
| 19th/20th
| Himalaya
|-
| [[Ferdinand von Wrangel]]
| [[Baltic German]]|| 19th
| Northern [[Russia]]
|-
| [[Xuanzang]]
| [[Chinese people|Chinese]] || 7th
| [[Indian subcontinent]], [[Central Asia]]
|-
| [[John Young (Hawaii)|John Young]]
| [[Scottish people|Scottish]]-[[English people|English]] || 18th
| [[Hawaii]]
|-
| [[Francis Younghusband|Sir Francis Younghusband]]
| [[British people|British]] || 19th/20th
| [[Central Asia]]
|-
| [[Topa Inca Yupanqui]]
| [[Inca Empire|Inca]]
| 15th
| [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]]
|-
| [[João Gonçalves Zarco]]
| [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] || 15th
| [[Madeira Islands]]
|-
| [[Gonzalo García Zorro]]
| [[Spaniards|Spanish]]
| 16th
| [[Colombia]]
|-
| [[Karl Helbig]]
| [[Germans|German]]
| 20th
| [[Java]], [[Sumatra]], [[Borneo]], [[Central America]]
|-
|}

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Age of Discovery]]
* [[Astronaut]]/[[List of cosmonauts|Cosmonaut]]/[[List of Chinese astronauts|Taikonaut]]
** [[International Space Station]]
** [[List of Apollo astronauts#Apollo astronauts who walked on the Moon|List of people who have walked on the Moon]]
* [[Bandeirantes]]
* [[Chronology of European exploration of Asia]]
* [[Conquistador]]
* [[Exploration]]
* [[List of explorations]]
* [[List of lost expeditions]]
* [[List of female explorers and travelers]]
* [[List of maritime explorers]]
* [[List of Russian explorers]]
* [[List of travelers]]
* [[Maritime timeline]]
* [[Portuguese discoveries]]
* [[Radhanite]]s
* [[Silk Road]]
* [[Spice trade]]
* [[The Exploration Museum]]
* [[Timeline of maritime migration and exploration]]
* [[Trans-Saharan trade]]
* [[Travel literature]]
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://historyscoper.com/explorerscope.html" The Historyscoper – explorers]

{{Exploration}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Lists of explorers| ]]