The great geographical discoveries

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Major geographical discoveries in human history were made in the XV - XVII centuries.The period witnessed a number of important journeys made by Europeans, which led to the opening of new trade routes, land, as well as the seizure of territories.

great geographical discoveries, as it is called these events, historians, made possible largely thanks to advances in science and technology.It is at this historical period has to create reliable sailing vessels, the improvement of navigation and coastal maps, and compass, support the idea of ​​the sphericity of the Earth and so on. D. In many ways, the beginning of such an active investigation contributed to a shortage of precious metals in the highly developed commodity economy, as well as the rule of the Ottoman EmpireAfrica, Asia Minor and the Mediterranean, which made it difficult to trade with the world of the East.

discovery and conquest of America associated with the name H. Columbus, who discovered the Antilles and the Bahamas, and in 1492 - and America itself.Amerigo Vespucci sailed to the coast of Brazil as a result of expeditions 1499-1501 years.

1497-1499 year - the time when Vasco da Gama was able to find a continuous sea route to India from Western Europe along the coast of South Africa.By 1488 Bartolomeu Dias, the Portuguese navigator, as well as a number of other travelers made voyages of discovery to the south and west coast of Africa.The Portuguese have been on the Malay Peninsula, the Moluccas and Japan.

Between 1498 and 1502 years H. Columbus, A. Ojeda, A. Vespucci and other Portuguese and Spanish sailors explored the northern coast of South America, including its eastern (the territory of modern Brazil) coast and part of the Caribbean coast of Central America.

In the period from 1513 by 1525 the Spaniards (B. Nunez de Balboa) managed to cross the Isthmus of Panama and reach the Pacific Ocean.In the years 1519-1522 Ferdinand Magellan made the first voyage around the earth: walked into the Pacific Ocean, rounding South America, and thus proved that the Earth has a spherical shape.The second time, in the years 1577-1580, did Francis Drake.

Languages ​​Aztecs were conquered by Hernan Cortes in the years 1519-1521, the Incas - Francisco Pizarro in the years 1532-1535, the Maya - in the years 1517-1697, and so on. D.

geographical discoveries England were connected with the search for the northwest route toAsia, as a result of which they discovered the Island of Newfoundland and the coast of North America (1497-1498 gg., J. Cabot), Hudson Bay, Greenland et al. (from 1576 to 1616 sailed G. Hudson, William Baffin and others.).French travelers mastered the coast of Canada (Jacques Cartier, 1534-1543 gg.), The Great Lakes and the Appalachian Mountains (1609-1648 gg., S. Champlain, etc.).

great traveler of the world began their voyage not only from European ports.Among the explorers were a lot of Russian.It Poyarkov V., I. Moskvitin, E. Khabarov, S. Dezhnev and others who explored Siberia and the Far East.Among the pioneers of the Arctic Barents be called B., G. Hudson, J. Davis, William Baffin and others.Dutch Tasman A. and B. Yanszon famous for their travel to Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand.In the XVIII century (1768), the region re-examined James Cook.

Geographic opening XV - XVII centuries, as a result of which a substantial part was investigated by the earth's surface, helped establish the modern contours of the continents, with the exception of the shores of America and Australia.It was a new era in the study of the geography of the Earth, which has led to serious geopolitical and socio-economic consequences and has been important for the further development of a number of natural sciences.

discovery of new lands, countries, trade routes contributed to the further development of trade, industry and relations between states.This led to the beginning of the formation of the world market and of the colonial era.It was artificially interrupted the development of the Indian civilizations of the New World.