Why the Age of Exploration Was Not Exclusively European

While European nations were prominent, the Age of Exploration involved multiple civilizations:

• Arab/Muslim Contributions: Advanced astronomy, navigation (astrolabe, compass); explorers like Ibn Battuta.
• Chinese Exploration: Admiral Zheng He's 15th-century voyages to Southeast Asia, India, East Africa.
• Southeast Asian Mariners: Majapahit Empire trade missions across Asia.
• Polynesian Navigators: Settled Pacific islands using traditional wayfinding.
• Indigenous Americans: Explored and settled the Americas millennia before Europeans.
• African Maritime Activity: Swahili city-states in Indian Ocean trade.

European powers (Portugal, Spain, England, Netherlands) were major but not sole actors; global exploration was a multi-civilizational endeavor.