| The Age of Discovery is a historical period of European global exploration that started in the early 15th century with the first Portuguese expeditions to Africa and India, as well as the Discovery of America by Spain in 1492 and a series of European naval expeditions across the Atlantic and later the Pacific, which continued until the 18th century. It is sometimes regarded as a bridge between the Middle Ages and the Modern era, along with its contemporary Renaissance movement. The Age of Discovery triggered the early modern period and the rise of European nation states. European overseas expansion led to the rise of colonial empires, with the contact between the Old and New Worlds producing the Columbian Exchange: a wide transfer of plants, animals, foods, human populations (including slaves), communicable diseases and culture between the Eastern and Western hemispheres. This represented one of the most-significant global events concerning ecology, agriculture, and culture in history. European exploration allowed the global mapping of the world, resulting in a new world-view and distant civilizations acknowledging each other, reaching the most-remote boundaries much later. |
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