Famous Explorers

Ronald Amundsen

Norwegian; explored the South Pole

Vasco Nunez de Balboa

Spanish; Isthmus of Panama, eastern shore of Pacific Ocean

John Cabot

Italian/worked for England; Grand Banks, part of eastern Canada

Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo

Portuguese/Spanish; Guatemala, California coast

Antoine de Cadillac

French; Detroit, Great Lakes area

Jacques Cartier

French; St. Lawrence River, Montreal

Samuel de Champlain

French; Quebec, Lake Champlain

Christopher Columbus

Italian/explored for Spain; West Indies, coastal Central and South America

James Cook

English; New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii, Pacific Northwest

Francisco Vasquez de Coronado

Spanish; northwestern Mexico, southwestern U.S.

Hernando de Cortes

Spanish; Veracruz, Aztec Empire (Mexico)

Vasco da Gama

Portuguese; around Africa to India

Hernando de Soto

Spanish; Southern U.S., Mississippi River

Alberto Nunez Cabeza de Vaca

Spanish; northwest Mexico, Paraguay

Bartolomeu Dias

Portuguese; Cape of Good Hope (South Africa)

Francis Drake

English; second voyage around the world

Leif Erikson

Viking/ Iceland; Newfoundland

Martin Frobisher

English; Baffin Bay, north Atlantic

Henry Hudson

English; Hudson River, Hudson Bay, searched for Northwest Passage

Louis Joliet

French; upper Mississippi, Illinois, Wisconsin

Sieur de La Salle

French; Mississippi River to Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana

Ferdinand Magellan

Portuguese; first voyage around the world, Strait of Magellan (South America)

Jacques Marquette

French; upper Mississippi, Illinois, Wisconsin

Robert Peary

US; North Pole

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish; South America, Incan Empire (Peru)

Juan Ponce de Leon

Spanish; Florida, Puerto Rico

Walter Raleigh

English; Roanoke, Virginia

George Vancouver

English; Puget Sound, Vancouver Island, Mount Rainier

Giovanni da Verrazzano

Portuguese; east coast of North America

Amerigo Vespucci

Italian/ worked for Spain; coastal Venezuela and Brazil

Alexander Mackenzie

British/Scottish; first European to reach Canada's west coast by travelling over land, Mackenzie River, northwest Canada