Questions tagged [exploration]
For questions relating to voyages of exploration, whether on land, sea, or space.
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Why was Africa colonized last of the continents in the Age of Discovery?
One thing that I always wondered is during the time where European powers were dividing up the world amongst themselves (1500-1900 roughly), why was it that Africa seemed to lag behind in colonization,...
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Did anyone in Europe predict the existence of the Americas?
According to the answer of this question, Columbus was pretty much unique in his belief that the world was small enough and Asia was big enough to make sailing west to Asia possible. Everyone else ...
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When the Portuguese began the exploration of the West African Coast, did they believe the Indian Ocean was an enclosed sea?
The Ptolemy map shows the Indian Ocean as an enclosed sea separated from the Atlantic by land extending from Africa to Malaya. Therefore, it suggests it is impossible to reach the Indian Ocean from ...
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How did people travel to remote islands like Easter Island?
Easter Island is extremely remote, being thousands of kilometers from its nearest neighbor. How did people get there safely, and how did they even know it was there?
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Why could Phoenicians sail past Cape Bojador but later Europeans could not until 1434?
Cape Bojador is unknown to most people today but it was considered as the edge of the world for much of the worlds history. Any ship that sailed past it never returned. Only in the 15th century, the ...
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To what extent were Polynesians in contact with one-another before European contact?
Motivation
Pacific islanders (Polynesians, Melanesians, Micronesians) before contact with Europeans were able seafarers that had discovered and settled virtually all Pacific islands that could ...
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Where was the furthest extent of Arabian trade explorations?
Traders from Arabia travelled to and traded with Roman and Asian empires and this Nabataean Sea Merchants article. How far did Arabian traders travel - where was the furthest extent of their ...
user2434
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Why was the spice trade so profitable in the 15th century?
During the 16th century, the Portuguese captured Melaka to dominate the lucrative spice trade; other city states such as Aceh, Banten, Brunei and Pegu also sprung up by exporting and trading spices. ...
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Is there evidence of ancient Chinese exploration of Australia?
Is there any evidence of ancient Chinese exploration of Australia? Specifically, up through the Middle Ages, before there was extensive contact with Europeans?
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When & where were three masted ships invented?
My friend and I got a speaking assignment for History about three-masted ships (and how they changed exploration trips), we've been googling for a few hours now but we can't seem to find a lot of ...
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Did Naddodd really discover Iceland?
I searched who discovered Iceland? and it said: According to the Landnámabók, Naddod discovered Iceland but then a went to a few other websites that said Pytheas discovered Iceland... I'm confused, ...
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