America remained unknown to Europe until the end of the 15-th century. Of great importance at that time was trade with India and China. Some people thought that they could reach India by travelling west across the Atlantic Ocean.

Christopher Columbus (1451 – 1506) was an experienced Spanish sailor, who asked the king of Spain to give him ships. He wanted to look for a new route to India. In 1492 he sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. They had been sailing for more than two months. At last they saw land which proved to be part of the Greater Antilles. He thought that it was India, so he called the native people of the islands Indians. He also discovered the Sargasso Sea and the Lesser Antilles.

A lot of expeditions visited the New World later. But it was called America only when another explorer from Spain Amerigo Vespucci (1454 – 1512) described it as a new part of the world. He was the first to think about it and to prove it, exploring the land.

After that a lot of people went to America to live there and explore the continent. They were mostly from Europe. One of them was Alexander Humboldt (1769 – 1859) a German sailor, who explored the northern coastline of South America. Together with the French biologist Emi Bonplan he went deep into the continent. There they discovered the Orinoco River.

At the beginning of the 19-th century the German sailor Gregory Langsdorf (1774 – 1852) became a leader of the Russian expedition to America. He studied nature and native people of the continent. During his travelling he made a lot of discoveries at the Brazilian Highlands.

Name of the explorer Life years CountryContribution to the exploration of the continent Christopher Columbus Amerigo Vespucci Alexander Humboldt Gregory Langsdorf Task: Complete the table.