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Wikipedia: The Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of Exploration was a period in history starting in the 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century, during which Europeans and their descendants intensively explored and mapped the world. Historians often refer to the 'Age of discovery' as the period of Portuguese and Spanish pioneer oceanic explorations, between the 15th and 16th centuries, that established links with Africa, Americas and Asia in search for alternative trade routes to "the Indies", moved by the trade of gold, silver and spices. These explorations in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans were soon followed by France, England and the Netherlands, who explored the Portuguese and Spanish trade routes into the Pacific Ocean, reaching Australia in 1606 and New Zealand in 1642.
![[Yermak Timofeyevich and his band of adventurers crossing the Ural Mountains at Tagil, entering Asia from Europe]](http://images.ookaboo.com/photo/s/IstSib007_1_s.jpg "Yermak Timofeyevich and his band of adventurers crossing the Ural Mountains at Tagil, entering Asia from Europe")
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![[Portuguese Nanbanjin arriving at Japan much to the surprise of locals, detail from Nanban panel from Kanō Domain,...]](http://images.ookaboo.com/photo/s/Namban_08_s.jpg "Portuguese Nanbanjin arriving at Japan much to the surprise of locals, detail from Nanban panel from Kanō Domain,...")
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 from Лапоть |
from Rama |
![[Map of the island city Tenochtitlán and Mexico gulf made by one of Cortés' men, 1524, Newberry Library, Chicago]](http://images.ookaboo.com/photo/s/Tenochtitlan_y_Golfo_de_Mexico_1524_s.jpg "Map of the island city Tenochtitlán and Mexico gulf made by one of Cortés' men, 1524, Newberry Library, Chicago")
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![[Replicas of Niña'', ''Pinta'' and ''Santa María at Palos de la Frontera, Spain]](http://images.ookaboo.com/photo/s/TresCarabelas_s.jpg "Replicas of Niña'', ''Pinta'' and ''Santa María at Palos de la Frontera, Spain")
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from Maurice Marcellin |
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![[Detail of the map showing the name "America".]](http://images.ookaboo.com/photo/s/Waldseemuller_map_closeup_with_America_s.jpg "Detail of the map showing the name \"America\".")
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from Gribeco |
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