Continental Discoveries (Podcast)

How did the world become such a small place? Learn about the discoveries by European sailors and explorers of continents across the world, that connected different cultures and nations with each other! If listening isn't your thing then just read the transcript. 

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Hi Everyone,

This is Arjun, I hope you enjoyed my earlier podcasts and are sharing it with your friends and family too. On the Curiologist Facebook page you can also find links to listen to my podcast on Apple or Android applications. Now, let’s listen to my 4^th podcast. This one’s about different places and the stories of their discovery. So, let’s get started.

The first and most famous places to be discovered were the American continents: The Americas are 2 continents-North and South America. The North American continent is made up of 23 countries like the U.S.A, Canada, Mexico, Greenland, and the Caribbean islands like Cuba or Costa Rica. While the South American continent is made up of 16 independent countries like Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and many others.

 The American continents were discovered in 1492 by Christopher Columbus. Christopher Columbus was an Italian sailor from Genoa. He had been given a fleet of ships by the Spanish monarchs, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella who believed in his theory that he could reach India by going west instead of east. However, instead of reaching Asia he discovered the Americas. He arrived at the modern-day island of San Salvador on 10^th October 1492. Columbus thought that he had reached India, but he had actually reached the Americas! This led him to call the native population Red Indians. After Columbus returned, the Spanish followed up with successive expeditions in 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502. 

As word spread in Europe, that a new continent had been discovered, many European powers like the Portuguese, French, English, and the Dutch tried to get control of the Americas. And as we know, the rest is history.

Now let’s hear about another continent.

The Australian continent consists of the Pacific islands like Tonga, American Samoa, Kangaroo Island, Fiji and larger countries like Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and some islands belonging to Indonesia as well. This collection of diverse islands and countries has come to be known as Oceania.

 Oceania received its first European visitors between 1512 and 1526. Later, in the 18^th century explorers like the famous James Cook discovered the country of Australia. Tasmania and the Tasman Sea is named after the 17^th century explorer Abel-Tasman. You might have also heard of the now extinct Tasmanian tiger which actually belonged to the wolf species. A 16^th century Spanish sailor named Ferdinand Magellan who was also the first man to sail around the world, sighted the islands near the Australian mainland. Francois Visscher was another explorer who mapped substantial portions of Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, and the Fijian islands.

 Now let’s go to not a continent but a subcontinent this time. You must have guessed it by now, I am talking about the Indian subcontinent. After all it’s where I come from.

 

The Indian subcontinent is made up of countries like India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives.

 The first Europeans to arrive in India via a direct sea route were the Portuguese. The Portuguese arrived in 1498 under Vasco da Gama. Vasco da Gama had been sent by the king and queen of Portugal to find a route to India so that they could trade with it and get valuable spices that weren’t available in Europe. Vasco da Gama first arrived in Calicut, Kerala which is modern-day Kozhikode. He built a storehouse in Calicut. Later, he and other Portuguese sailors returned and conquered the kingdom of Calicut, Goa, Daman, Diu, Bombay which is modern-day Mumbai, and Cochin. 

This opened the floodgates for British, Dutch, and French trading companies who eventually colonized the Indian subcontinent. Now let’s go to an icy and penguin inhabited place. If you said Antarctica you’re right.

 

Antarctica is a continent lying in the southernmost part of the world. It is also one of the latest geographic discoveries. It is near the continents of South America and Oceania. Roald Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer. He was the first person to discover Antarctica. On December 14^th, 1911 Amundsen discovered Antarctica just 4 days before a British exploration team also achieved the same feat. Did you know that Roald Amundsen and his team of explorers had to survive by making a meal out of their sledge dogs?! Ewww! 

Antarctica is important for science because it contains a unique record of what are planet’s climate was like over the past 1 million years. This continent continues to be a thing of interest to researchers and explorers across the world.

And with that we come to thee end of my 4^th podcast. I hope you will look forward to more. If you would like to get a notification on your device every time a new post is published, then click the ‘Follow’ button on the sidebar of the Curiologist site at curiologist.blogspot.com.

 Goodbye and see you next time!