First circumnavigation of the globe, 1519–1522

First circumnavigation of the globe

The Spanish expedition of Ferdinand Magellan, completed by Juan Sebastián Elcano, found a strait from the Atlantic into the Pacific and was the first to sail around the globe.

Date

10 August 1519 – 8 September 1522exact date · duration: ≈ 3 yearsDate in the Julian calendar

Place

Sevilletoday: Seville, Spain · Western and Central Europe

Route

Seville → Sanlúcar de Barrameda → Santa Cruz de Tenerife → Atlantic off Cape Blanc → Atlantic off Cap-Vert → Atlantic off the Bissagos Islands → Atlantic off the Guinea coast → Off Cape Santo Agostinho → Atlantic off the Abrolhos Bank → Atlantic off Espírito Santo → Off Cabo Frio → Bay of Santa Lucia (Rio de Janeiro) → Atlantic off the coast of Santa Catarina → Atlantic off Mirim Lagoon → Off Cape Santa María (Uruguay) → Mouth of the Río de la Plata → Off Cape San Antonio → Atlantic off Mar del Plata → Off the Valdés Peninsula → Off Cape Tres Puntas → Atlantic off Puerto Deseado → Atlantic off San Julián Bay → San Julián Bay → Atlantic off San Julián Bay → Mouth of the Santa Cruz River → Cape Vírgenes → First Narrows of the Strait of Magellan → Strait of Magellan off Punta Arenas → Strait of Magellan off Port Famine → Cape Froward → Strait of Magellan (Paso Tortuoso) → Cape Pilar — exit to the Pacific → Pacific off the Madre de Dios Archipelago → Pacific off the Taitao Peninsula → Pacific off the coast of Chile (38° S) → Pacific (30° S, turning west-northwest) → San Pablo (Puka-Puka atoll?) → Tiburones (Caroline or Vostok Island?) → Pacific: crossing the equator → Pacific north of the Marshall Islands → Guam → Homonhon Island → Limasawa Island → Cebu → Mactan → Bohol Sea → Sulu Sea off Mindanao → Sulu Sea off Palawan → Off the Kudat Peninsula → Brunei → Off the Kudat Peninsula → Sulu Sea → Off southwestern Mindanao → Tidore → Timor → Indian Ocean (away from Portuguese routes) → Indian Ocean → Off the coast of southern Africa → Off Cape Agulhas → Cape of Good Hope → Ribeira Grande (Santiago Island, Cape Verde Islands) → Atlantic west of the Canary Islands → Sanlúcar de Barrameda → Seville

Participants

Ferdinand Magellan, Juan Sebastián Elcano, Spanish Empire

Threads

Age of Discovery and the New World

Also known as

Экспедиция Магеллана; Экспедиция Магеллана — Элькано

The five ships of the Armada de Molucca (with between 235 and 280 men, by various estimates) sought a western route to the Spice Islands. The fleet left Seville on 10 August 1519 and put to sea from Sanlúcar de Barrameda on 20 September. After surviving a mutiny while wintering at San Julián Bay, the expedition passed in November 1520 through the strait later named after Magellan and crossed the Pacific in 98 days.

After Magellan was killed in the Philippines, the survivors reached the Moluccas, and the only remaining ship, the Victoria, under Elcano’s command, returned across the Indian Ocean and around Africa: it reached Sanlúcar on 6 September 1522 and Seville on 8 September. Just 18 members of the expedition were still on board. The route across the open ocean is shown approximately.

Connections

Includes

Battle of Mactan27 April 1521 · Southeast Asia and Oceania

Related events

Balboa reaches the Pacific Ocean25–29 September 1513 · Latin AmericaMagellan was seeking a passage into the South Sea discovered by Balboa

First Russian circumnavigation26 July (7 August) 1803 – 7 (19) August 1806 · Eastern EuropeThe first circumnavigation of the globe in history and the first circumnavigation under the Russian flag

Same participants

Capture of Malacca25 July – between 10 August and 24 August 1511 · Southeast Asia and Oceaniavia Ferdinand Magellan

Spanish conquest of the Aztec EmpireFebruary 1519 – 13 August 1521 · Latin Americavia Spanish Empire

First circumnavigation of the globe

Connections

Includes

Related events

Same participants

Meanwhile in the world

Eastern Europe

Balkans and Anatolia

Middle East and Egypt

Africa

South Asia

Southeast Asia and Oceania

Latin America

The same period

Sources