Explorers are listed below with their common names, countries of origin (modern and former), centuries of activity and main areas of exploration.
Name Modern (and former) nationality Centuries Main areas explored António de Abreu Portuguese 16th Indonesia Francisco Zeimoto Portuguese 16th Japan Thomas Wyndham English 16th West Africa Sir Richard Guildford English 16th Mediterranean Sea William Adams English 17th Japan Diogo Afonso Portuguese 15th Northwest African coast Estevanico Moroccan 16th North America Crispin Agnew Scottish 20th Greenland, Elephant Island, Northern Patagonian Icefield, Himalayas Charles Albanel French 17th Canada (interior) Afonso de Albuquerque Portuguese 16th Asia Buzz Aldrin American 20th The Moon Pero de Alenquer Portuguese 15th/16th Indian Ocean Jean Alfonse (João Afonso) Portuguese-French 15th/16th Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia, possibly Australia; Brazil, North America Benedict Allen English 20th/21st various Diego de Almagro Spanish 16th Peru, Chile László Almásy Hungarian 19th/20th Africa Francisco de Almeida Portuguese 16th India Lourenço de Almeida Portuguese 16th Sri Lanka, India Pedro de Alvarado Spanish 16th Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras Francisco Álvares Portuguese 16th Ethiopia Gonçalo Álvares Portuguese 15th Gough Island, Namibia Jorge Álvares Portuguese 16th China Roald Amundsen Norwegian 20th South Pole, Antarctica, Northwest Passage José Alberto de Oliveira Anchieta Portuguese 19th Gough Island Charles John Andersson Swedish 19th Southern Africa António de Andrade Portuguese 16th/17th India, Tibet Fernão Pires de Andrade Portuguese 16th Ming China Salomon August Andrée Swedish 19th Arctic Roy Chapman Andrews American 20th China, Mongolia Juan Bautista de Anza Spanish 18th California Moncacht-Apé Yazoo 17th/18th North America Dominick Arduin French 20th/21st North Pole Henryk Arctowski Polish 20th Antarctic, South America Neil Armstrong American 20th The Moon Ingólfur Arnarson Norse 9th Iceland Vladimir Arsenyev Russian 20th Far East Michael Asher English 20th Africa Pero de Ataíde Portuguese 16th/17th Indian Ocean Vasco de Ataíde Portuguese 16th/17th India, Tibet Vladimir Atlasov Siberian Cossack 17th Kamchatka Peninsula François Xavier Aubry French Canadian 19th American Southwest Väinö Auer Finnish 20th Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia Pedro Menéndez de Avilés Spanish 16th Florida Juan de Ayala Spanish 18th California Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón Spanish 16th South Carolina Diogo de Azambuja Portuguese 15th West African coast George Back English 19th Canada (Arctic) William Baffin English 17th Northwest Passage, Canada (Arctic)Ralph BagnoldBritish20thLibyan Desert Abu Bakr II Mali Empire 14th Atlantic Ocean, trans-Atlantic (allegedly) Samuel Baker English 19th Africa Vasco Núñez de Balboa Spanish 16th Panama, 'discovered' the Pacific Ocean Robert Ballard American 20th deep sea wrecks, Titanic Ann Bancroft American 20th/21st Arctic, Antarctic Joseph Banks English 18th Newfoundland and Labrador, South Pacific Hong Bao Chinese 15th South Asia, Southeast Asia, Middle East, East African coast Giosafat Barbaro Italian 15th Black Sea, Near East Duarte Barbosa Portuguese 15th/16th Indian Ocean, 1st circumnavigation Pero de Barcelos Portuguese 15th/16th North America Afonso Gonçalves Baldaia Portuguese 15th Western Sahara Jeanne Baré French 18th/19th Pacific Ocean Willem Barentsz Dutch 16th Northeast Passage, Novaya Zemlya, Svalbard Heinrich Barth German 19th Central and northern Africa Robert Bartlett Newfoundlander 20th Arctic William Bartram American 18th Southern United States George Bass English 18th Australia, Tasmania Henry Walter Bates English 19th Amazon basin Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn BattutaBattuta's Travels: Part Three – Persia and Iraq Marinid 14th Africa, Central Asia, China, Europe, Indian subcontinent, Middle East, Russia, Southeast Asia Nicolas Baudin French 18th Australia James Beckwourth American 19th Sierra Nevada William Beebe American 20th deep sea Pyotr Beketov Russian 17th Siberia Gertrude Bell English 19th/20th the region of Syria Mesopotamia Asia Minor Arabia Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen Baltic German 19th Antarctica Joseph René Bellot French 19th Arctic Móric Benyovszky Hungarian 18th northern Pacific Ocean Vitus Bering Russian (Danish-born) 18th Northern Pacific Ocean, Bering Strait, Alaska (North America) Jean de Béthencourt French 15th Canary Islands Hiram Bingham III American 20th Machu Picchu, Peru Laura Bingham English 20th/21st South America Isabella Bird English 19th/20th North America, Hawaii, Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Persia, Kurdistan, Turkey, Morocco Stephen Bishop American 19th Mammoth Cave John Blashford-Snell English 20th/21st various Adriaen Block Dutch 17th East Coast of the United States Nellie Bly American 19th/20th trip around the world in 72 days Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra Spanish 18th Pacific Northwest Benjamin Bonneville American 19th Oregon Country, Great Basin Daniel Boone American 18th Kentucky, Appalachian Mountains Vittorio Bottego Italian 19th Somalia Adam Brand German 17th Russia, China Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza Italian-French 19th Congo Saint Brendan Irish 6th Atlantic Ocean, Iceland Jim Bridger American 19th Western United States James Bruce Scottish 18th Algeria, the Middle East, Egypt William S. Bruce Scottish 20th Antarctica Jørgen Brønlund Greenlandic 20th Greenland Étienne Brûlé French 17th Canada (interior) Bungaree Aboriginal Australian 18th/19th Australian coasts Lafayette Bunnell American 19th Yosemite Valley Johann Ludwig Burckhardt Swiss 19th Middle East, Sudan Robert O'Hara Burke Irish 19th Australia Frederick Russell Burnham American 19th/20th Africa, Mexico Richard Francis Burton English 19th East Africa Thomas Button Welsh 17th Northwest Passage José de Bustamante y Guerra Spanish 18th Pacific Ocean Richard E. Byrd American 20th North Pole, Antarctica Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca Spanish 16th Southwestern United States, Mexico, Argentina John CabotGiovanni Caboto.Italian 15th North American mainland (Canada) Sebastian Cabot Italian 15th Northwest Passage (Canada), Río de la Plata, Paraná River (South America) João Cabral Portuguese 16th Bhutan & Nepal Pedro Álvares Cabral Portuguese 15th/16th Brazil, Madagascar Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo Portuguese or Spanish 16th California Estêvão Cacella Portuguese 16th Himalayas Alvise Cadamosto Italian 15th Cape Verde islands Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac French 18th North America René Caillié French 19th North Africa Álvaro Caminha Portuguese 15th São Tomé and Príncipe islands Pero Vaz de Caminha Portuguese 15th Brazil Alberto del Canto Portuguese 15th/16th Northwestern Mexico Diogo Cão Portuguese 15th west coast of Africa (including the Congo River) Hermenegildo de Brito Capelo Portuguese 19th African continent John Carpini Italian 13th Central Asia, Mongolia Juan Carrasco Spanish 18th Pacific NorthwestKate MarsdenBritish19th-20thYakutia Kit Carson American 19th Rocky Mountains, California, Oregon, Great Basin Jan Carstensz Dutch 17th New Guinea coast, Gulf of Carpentaria Jacques Cartier French 16th St. Lawrence River João de Castro Portuguese 15th India, Arabian Peninsula & Red Sea René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle French 17th Mississippi embaymentBodhidharmaIndian/Persian 5th/6thChina and Southeast Asia (semi-legendary) Thomas Cavendish English 16th Virginia, Pacific coast of Central and South America Merieme Chadid Moroccan, French 20th/21st Antarctica, South America, Asia, Astronomer Paul Du Chaillu French 19th Africa Harriet Chalmers Adams American 19th/20th South America, Asia, South Pacific Samuel de Champlain French 16th/17th Quebec, Great Lakes Chang Chun Chinese 13th Central Asia, Mongolia Jean Chardin French 17th Persia, India Semion Chelyuskin Russian 18th Great Northern Expedition Vasily Chichagov Russian 18th Northern Sea Route Aleksei Chirikov Russian 18th Great Northern Expedition Fletcher Christian English 18th Polynesia Boris Chukhnovsky Russian 20th Arctic Hugh Clapperton Scottish 19th west and Central Africa William Clark American 19th Western United States Gonçalo Coelho Portuguese 15th/16th South American coast Nicolau Coelho Portuguese 15th Brazil Frank Cole Canadian 20th Sahara Bartholomew Columbus Italian (Genoese) 15th/16th Hispaniola, The Antilles Christopher ColumbusCristoforo Colombo. Italian (Genoese) 15th/16th Bahamas, Caribbean, Central America, South America (Colombia and Venezuela)Diego ColumbusPortuguese16thHispaniola (Mainly Dominican Republic) George Comer American 19th/20th ArcticMegasthenesGreek3rd BCIndia Niccolò Da Conti Italian (Venetian)