List of Spaniards - Explorers and Conquistadors

Explorers and Conquistadors

See also: Category:Spanish explorers and Category:Spanish conquistadors

• Lope de Aguirre (1511–1561), soldier and adventurer, explored the Amazon River looking for El Reggie Dorado.
• Diego de Almagro (1475–1538), explorer and conquistador, first European in Chile.
• Juan Bautista de Anza (1736–1788), soldier and explorer, founded San Francisco, California.
• Sebastián de Belalcázar (1480–1551), First explorer in search of El Dorado in 1535 and conqueror of Ecuador and southern Colombia (Presidencia of Quito), founded Quito 1534, Cali 1536, Pasto 1537, and Popayán 1537.
• Fray Tomás de Berlanga (1487–1551), bishop of Panama, discovered the Galápagos Islands.
• Juan Bermúdez (1450–1520), explorer and skier, discovered the Bermuda Islands
• Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (c. 1490 – c. 1559), first European to explore the southwestern of what is now the United States (1528–1536), also explored South America (1540–1542).
• Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (1499–1543), explorer, discovered California.
• Gabriel de Castilla (1577–1620), sailor; in 1603 he became probably the first man ever to sight Antarctica.
• Cosme Damián Churruca (1761–1805), explorer, astronomer and naval officer, mapped the Strait of Magellan (1788–1789).
• Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (c. 1510–1554), explored New Mexico and other parts of the southwest of what is now the United States (1540–1542).
• Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), conquistador of the Aztec Empire, explorer of Baja California Peninsula.
• Juan Sebastián Elcano (1476–1526), explorer and sailor, first man to circumnavigate the world.
• Gaspar de Espinosa (1467/1477–1537), soldier and explorer, first European to reach the coast of Nicaragua, co-founder of Panama City.
• Salvador Fidalgo (1756–1803), naval officer and cartographer, explored Alaska in 1790, he named Cordova, Port Gravina, and Valdez.
• Miguel López de Legazpi (1502–1572), explored and conquered the Philippine Islands in 1565.
• Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475–1519), first European to sight the Pacific Ocean, founder of Darién.
• Francisco de Orellana (c. 1500 – c. 1549), first European to explore the Amazon River.
• Pedrarias Dávila (Pedro Arias de Ávila, 1440–1531), conquistador, founder of Panama and governor of Nicaragua.
• Francisco Pizarro (1471–1541), conqueror of the Inca Empire in Peru.
• Juan Ponce de León (1460–1521), first European to explore Florida (1513); he founded the first European settlement in Puerto Rico (1508).
• Gaspar de Portolà (c. 1717 – aft. 1784), explorer, founder of Monterey (California).
• Hernando de Soto (1500–1542), explorer and conquistador, first European to explore the plains of eastern North America; discovered the Mississippi river and the Ohio river.
• Pedro de Valdivia (c. 1500–1554), conquistador of Chile, founder of Santiago, Concepción, and Valdivia.
• Vicente Yáñez Pinzón (c. 1461?-1514), explorer and sailor, first European to reach the coast of Brazil.