Exploration is the act of searching or traveling a terrain for the purpose of discovery, e.g. of unknown people, including space (space exploration), for oil, gas, coal, ores, caves, water (Mineral exploration, or prospecting), or information.

Although exploration has existed as long as human beings, its peak is seen as being during the Age of Discovery when European navigators traveled around the world discovering new lands and cultures.

Other uses

The term may also be used metaphorically, for example persons may speak of exploring the internet, sexuality, etc.

In scientific research, exploration is one of three purposes of research (the other two being description and explanation). Exploration is the attempt to develop an initial, rough understanding of some phenomenon.

Notable Female Explorers

• Sacagawea; accompanied and assisted Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806), the first American overland expedition to the Pacific coast and back.
• Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (b. 26 May 1689 – d. 21 August 1762) Explored Turkey.
• Isabella Bird (b. October 15, 1831 – d. October 7, 1904) She was the first woman inducted into the Royal Geographical Society; she travelled extensively, exploring the Far East, Central Asia, and the American West.
• Mary Kingsley (b. October 13, 1862 – d. June 3, 1900) Explored the Upper Ogawe River in Gabon and journeyed alone into unknown regions of the Congo jungle.
• Freya Stark (b. 31 Jan1893, Paris France - d. 9 May1993) She was not only one of the first Western women to travel through the Arabian deserts (Hadhramaut); she often traveled solo into areas where few Europeans, let alone women, had ever been.
• Robyn Davidson (b. September 6, 1950) She was the first person to make a solo crossing of the Australian Outback by camel; she also explored the remote desert regions of India.
• Valentina Tereshkova, one of the first people in space; first female cosmonaut.
• Kira Salak (b. September 4, 1971) A National Geographic Emerging Explorer , Salak was the first woman to cross the island of New Guinea; she was also the first person in the world to kayak 600 miles alone to Timbuktu. Salak has done solo exploration to regions such as Borneo, Libya, Iran, Madagascar, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Notable Male Explorers

• Pytheas (380 – c. 310 BC) - Greek explorer. First to circumnavigate Great Britain and to explore Germany. Reached Thule, most commonly thought to be the Shetland Islands or Iceland.
• Xu Fu (b. 255 BC) - Chinese court sorcerer who led two voyages to the Eastern Seas in 219 BC and 210 BC.
• Brendan the Navigator (c. 484 – c. 577) - Irish monk, allegedly found Iceland and America in the 6th century.
• Dicuil (born in the 8th century) - Irish monk and geographer, author of "De mensura Orbis terrae".
• The Papar - Irish monks who lived in Iceland, 8th-9th centuries, before the Vikings.
• Ahmad ibn Fadlan - 10th century Iraqi explorer.
• Erik the Red (950 - 1003) - Norwegian Viking explorer. After being cast out from Iceland, he sailed to Greenland and settled there.
• Leif Ericson (980 - 1020) - Icelandic explorer. Believed to have been the first European to land in North America.
• Friar Julian (traveled in 1235) - Hungarian Dominican friar.
• Marco Polo (1254 - 1324) - Venetian explorer.
• Ibn Battuta (1304 - 1377) - Moroccan explorer.
• Wang Dayuan (fl. 1311-1350) Chinese explorer made two major trips on ships. During 1328-1333, he sailed along the South China Sea and visited many places in Southeast Asia and reached as far as South Asia, landing in Sri Lanka and India. In 1334-1339 he visited north Africa and East Africa.
• James of Ireland (fl.1316 - 1330) - Irish companion of Odoric of Pordenone.
• Simon FitzSimon (fl.1323), Irish author of a itenerum through Egypt and the Holy Land.
• Zheng He (1371 - 1433) - Chinese admiral made seven voyages to Arabia, East Africa, India, Indonesia and Thailand.
• João Fernandes Lavrador (1445? - 1501) - Portuguese explorer. First European reaching Labrador/Newfoundland. Fernandes charted the coasts of Southwestern Greenland and of adjacent Northeastern North America around 1498. In 1501, Fernandes set sail again in discovery of lands and was never heard from again.
• John Cabot (c. 1450 - 1499) - Italian explorer for England. Discovered Newfoundland and claimed it for the Kingdom of England.
• Bartolomeu Dias (c. 1450 - 1500) - Portuguese explorer. He sailed from Portugal and reached the Cape of Good Hope.
• Christopher Columbus (1451 - 1506) - Genoese explorer for Spain. Sailed in 1492 and discovered the "New World" of the Americas.
• Amerigo Vespucci (c. 1454 - 1512) - Italian explorer for Spain. Sailed in 1499 and 1502. He explored the east coast of South America.
• Juan Ponce de León (c. 1460 - 1521) - Spanish explorer. He explored Florida while attempting to locate a Fountain of Youth.
• Piri Reis (c. 1465/1470 – 1554/1555) - Ottoman explorer.
• Pedro Álvares Cabral (c. 1467 - c. 1520) - Portuguese explorer, generally regarded as the European discoverer of Brazil.
• Vasco da Gama (c. 1469 - 1524) - Portuguese explorer. The first European to sail from Europe to India by rounding the Cape of Good Hope.
• Vasco Núñez de Balboa (c. 1475 - 1519) - Spanish explorer. The first European to cross the Isthmus of Panama and view the Pacific ocean from American shores.
• Francisco Pizarro (c. 1475 - 1541) - Spanish explorer. Conquered the Inca Empire.
• Juan Sebastián Elcano (1476 - 1526) - Spanish explorer. Completed the first circumnavigation of the globe in a single expedition after its captain, Magellan, was killed.
• Ferdinand Magellan (1480 - 1521) - Portuguese explorer for Spain. Initiated the first circumnavigation of the globe in a single expedition. Sailed through Strait of Magellan and named Pacific Ocean. Died in the Philippines after claiming them for Spain.
• Giovanni da Verrazzano (c. 1485 - 1528) - Italian explorer for France. Explored the northeast coast of America, from about present day South Carolina to Newfoundland.
• Hernán Cortés (1485 - 1545) - Spanish explorer. Conquered the Aztec Empire for Spain.
• Jacques Cartier (1491 – 1557) - French explorer. Discovered Canada.
• Hernando de Soto (c. 1496 - 1542) - Spanish explorer. Explored Florida, mainly northwest Florida, and discovered the Mississippi River.
• Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (c. 1510 - 1554) - Spanish explorer. Searched for the Seven Cities of Gold and discovered the Grand Canyon in the process.
• Francisco de Orellana (1511-1546) - Spanish explorer in 1541-42 sails the length of the Amazon River.
• Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa (1532 - 1592) Spanish explorer of the Pacific.
• Sir Francis Drake (c. 1540 - 1596) - English explorer. The first English captain to sail around the world and survive.
• Alvaro de Mendaña de Neyra 1541-1596 - Spanish explorer of the Pacific.
• Willem Barentsz 1550-1597 Dutch navigator and explorer, leader of early expeditions to the far north.
• Pedro Fernandes de Queirós 1565-1614 Portuguese navigator. Explored the Pacific in the service of the Spanish Crown.
• Luis Váez de Torres (c. 1565- ) Spanish or Portuguese navigator. Explored the Pacific in the service of the Spanish Crown.
• Henry Hudson (1570 - 1611) - English explorer. Explored much of the North Atlantic, including Labrador, the coast of Greenland, and Hudson Bay. Presumed dead in a 1611 mutiny of his own crew.
• António de Andrade (1580 - 1634) - Portuguese explorer. First European reaching Tibet. His reports were the only account of the Tibet culture and geography until the second half of the 18^th century.
• Abel Tasman (1603 - 1659) - Dutch explorer. Discovered New Zealand and Tasmania.
• Evliya Çelebi (1611 - 1682) - Ottoman traveller.
• Vitus Bering (1681 - 1741) - Danish explorer. Explored the Siberian Far East and Alaska and claimed it for Russia.
• James Cook (1728 - 1779) - British naval captain. Explored much of the Pacific including New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii.
• Jean François La Pérouse (1741–1788) was a French Navy officer and explorer whose expedition vanished in Oceania
• Alessandro Malaspina (1754-1810) - Italian explorer. Explored the Pacific and the west coast of North America in the service of Spanish Crown
• Alexander MacKenzie (1764-1820) Scottish-Canadian explorer who in 1789, looking for the Northwest Passage, followed the river now named after him to the Arctic Ocean and then in 1793 crossed the Rockies and reached the Pacific in 1793, thus beating Lewis and Clark by 12 years.
• Alexander von Humboldt (1769 - 1859) - German explorer and scientist whose work was foundational to the field of biogeography.
• Mungo Park (1771-1806) Was the first Westerner to discover the Niger River; he was the first Western explorer to reach Timbuktu, though he didn't live to share his discovery with the world.
• Captain Meriwether Lewis (1774 - 1809) - American explorer and field scientist who led the Lewis and Clark Expedition into the Louisiana Purchase and the Pacific Northwest in 1804-1806.
• Edward Sabine(October 14, 1788 – May 26, 1883) - Irish participant in the Ross and Perry Arctic expeditions.
• Thomas Coulter (1793 – 1843) - Irish botanist and explorer of Mexico and Arizona.
• Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877) - American naval officer and explorer who commanded the United States Exploring Expedition
• George Fletcher Moore (10 December 1798 – 30 December 1886) - early Irish explorer of Australia
• Pierre-Jean De Smet (1801 - 1873) - Belgian missionary and explorer in North America.
• David Livingstone (1813 – 1873) - Scottish missionary and explorer in central Africa. He was the first European to see Victoria Falls, which he named in honour of Queen Victoria.
• John Rae (1813 - 1893) - Scottish doctor in Northern Canada. He discovered the Northwest Passage and reported the fate of the Franklin Expedition.
• Robert O'Hara Burke (1821 – c.28 June 1861) - Irish leader of the Burke and Wills expedition.
• Richard Francis Burton (1821 – 1890) - English explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, ethnologist, linguist, poet, hypnotist, fencer and diplomat; known for his travels and explorations within Asia and Africa as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures; according to one count, he spoke 29 European, Asian, and African languages.
• Henry Morton Stanley (1841 – 1904) - Welsh journalist and explorer in central Africa best remembered for his search for David Livingstone, and upon finding him saying: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
• George Comer (1858 - 1937) - American polar explorer. The Comer Strait of northern Southampton Island and the Gallinula comeri flightless bird of Gough Island were named in his honor.
• Fridtjof Nansen (1861 - 1930) - Norwegian explorer, scientist and diplomat. He was the first to cross the Greenland ice cap in 1888 and drifted across the Arctic ocean with the Fram in 1893-1896 where he attempted to reach the North Pole with Hjalmar Johansen.
• Otto Sverdrup (1854 - 1930) - Norwegian explorer. Joined Fridtjof Nansen acoss Greenland in 1888 and captain on the Fram on the polar drift in 1893-1896 and the 2nd Fram expedition in 1898-1902. Mapped the Northernmost part of Canada in 1898-1902.
• Roald Amundsen (1872 - 1928) - Norwegian explorer. He led the first successful Antarctic expedition between 1910 and 1912. He was also the first ever person to successfully traverse the North West Passage.
• Ernest Shackleton (1874 - 1922) - Irish Explorer, noted for his ill-fated Endurance expedition to Antarctica.
• Hiram Bingham III (1875 - 1956) - U.S. Senator from Connecticut and explorer best known for uncovering Machu Picchu.
• Robert Bartlett (1875 - 1946) - Newfoundland captain. Led over 40 expeditions to the Arctic, more than anyone before or since. Was the first to sail north of 88° N latitude.
• Tom Crean (20 July 1877 – 27 July 1938) - Irish Antarctic explorer.
• Knud Rasmussen (1879 - 1933) - Greenlandic polar explorer and anthropologist. Rasmussen was the first to cross the Northwest Passage via dog sled.
• Auguste Piccard (1884-1962), physicist, balloonist, hydronaut- Explored the stratosphere and the deep sea
• Ahmed Pasha Hassanein (1889 - 1946) - Egyptian explorer, diplomat, one of two non-European winners of Gold Medal of Royal Geographical Society in 1924, King's chamberlain, fencing participant to 1924 Olympics, photographer, author and discoverer of Jebel Uweinat, and writer of "The Lost Oases" book in three languages.
• Colonel Noel Andrew Croft (1906 - 1998) - held the record for the longest self-sustaining journey across the Arctic in the 1930s for 60 years.
• Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (1919–2008) - New Zealand explorer, together with Tenzing Norgay, the first to climb Mount Everest on May 29, 1953.
• Yuri Gagarin (March 9, 1934 – March 27, 1968) - Soviet cosmonaut who on April 12 1961 became the first man in space and the first human to orbit Earth.
• Neil Armstrong (born August 5, 1930) - American astronaut - First human being to set foot on the Moon on July 20, 1969.
• Robert Ballard - born in 1942) - undersea explorer; discovered the shipwreck of the RMS Titanic'.
• Dr. E. Lee Spence (1947- ) - undersea explorer and pioneer underwater archaeologist: discovered numerous shipwrecks including H.L. Hunley the first submarine in history to sink an enemy ship; and the Georgiana, said to have been the most powerful Confederate cruiser.
• Reinhold Messner (born September 17, 1944) - Italian mountaineer, first man to climb all the 14 peaks higher than 8,000 meters.
• Frank Cole (1954 - 2000) - Canadian explorer, filmmaker and life extensionist. He was the first North American to cross the Sahara desert in 1990 alone on camel. He was murdered by bandits during a second crossing in 2000.
• Jeremy Curl (1982-) - British explorer; the youngest to traverse the Sahara on foot and the first non African to cross the desolate Tanezrouft area of the Sahara by camel.
• Michael Asher (1953-) - British explorer. In 1986-7 Michael Asher and his wife, Italian-born photographer and Arabist, Mariantonietta Peru, made the first ever west-east crossing of the Sahara desert by camel and on foot.
• Ranulph Fiennes (1944-) British explorer. First journey around the world on its polar axis using surface transport only, covered 52,000 miles and visited both poles by land. First unsupported crossing of Antarctica.