Skip to main content

Where Was the Last Place Discovered on Earth?


It seems like today the world is full of people. There are 7.4 billion of us after all, and it seems like everywhere has already been discovered there are satellites, an international space station, gps, and there have even been explorers like this gentleman after all but it didn't always used to be like this.
The world used to be a much larger place. The question is where and when was the last piece of land on Earth that was discovered by humans.
To start literally at the beginning of humanity we go back to Ethiopia in 195,000 BC. We don't really know exactly when humanity discovered certain parts of the world this long ago but we do have our best guesses that we can make based off of fossil evidence that has been discovered.
So let's go with our best guesses for now the oldest Homo sapiens fossils to date were found in Ethiopia. So human exploration likely started from here with an entire world to explore it took until 140,000 to 160,000 years ago for humans to discover modern-day Sudan but by 125,000 years ago humans had reached the southern point of the African continent and at the same time had also crossed the sea into Arabia or modern-day Yemen this new group of Arabian based humans had reached Israel.
By 100,000 years ago and Oman by 75,000 to 125,000 years ago back in Africa. Ninety thousand years ago humanity had reached the Democratic Republic of the Congo, back over again in Asia.
70,000 years ago humans first arrived in India and sixty seven thousand years ago had reached the Philippines marking the first time that humans arrived in Oceania
50,000 years ago humans first arrived in Taiwan, and fifty thousand to 80,000 years ago humans also arrived in Egypt for the first time humans arrived in Australia.
Forty-eight thousand years ago those early settlers to Australia and their descendants would remain almost completely undisturbed by the rest of the human population until 1770 with the arrival of Captain James Cook, a guy who liked doing that a lot we'll get back to him later.
So about 47,000 years ago humans arrived in Japan and 1,000 years later arrived in Laos and Indonesia. Finally 45,000 years ago humans arrived increase which was the first place and first time the humans arrived in Europe.
Usually when humans arrived somewhere for first time things die. So naturally the Neanderthals of Europe would mysteriously vanish 5,000 years later.
Humans settled Italy 43,000 years ago and based on our knowledge of fossils somehow skipped France and arrived in the UK around 43,000 years ago and Germany 42,000 years ago.
On the other side of the world humans have discovered China 39,000 to 42,000 years ago, Tasmania 41,000 years ago and New Guinea 40,000 years ago.
Sometime later thirty-four thousand years ago he was got around to discovering Sri Lanka and then we discovered another new continent North America was settled 25,000 to 40,000 years ago from across that land bridge that used to exist because walking somewhere is somewhat easier than inventing boat to sail there and that's why there are millions of people already here when Columbus arrived. But anyway by 28,000 years ago a good chunk of Europe had been explored including France, the Czech Republic, Romania, Poland and Russia.

Portugal was finally reached 24,500 years ago and Sicily 20,000 years ago. So strangely this means that humans had reached in North America before humans reached Portugal but anyway the mainland United States was first reached 16,000 years ago and humans first arrived in South America 14,800 years ago where the oldest remains have been found in Chile.
Back across the ocean in Europe. Scandinavia was first settled by humans and around 9200 BC and Ireland 7700 BC. The Baltic states were first settled around then and 7600 BC.
Over in Asia Cambodia was reached in 7,000 BC, and this super remote island above Siberia called Shakhov island was somehow discovered back in 6300 BC which is weird because there's still a lot left undiscovered.
Jumping back a continent Malta was discovered at 5,200 BC and across another ocean Porto Rico was eventually discovered in 4,000 BC which coincidentally is when the Sid Meier's Civilization games all began.
This is presumably when people started sending out there settlers for the first time.
Greenland was reached in 2000 BC. Fiji, Vanuatu and Samoa were all reached around 1000 BC by the Polynesian. A while went by with no new discoveries until 290 AD when Hawaii was also finally discovered by the Polynesians. They remained there undisturbed by the rest of humanity until 1778 when that same guy named James Cook had to land on their islands as well. Anyway the next big discovery was Madagascar which despite being enormous and right next to Africa remained undiscovered by humans until 500 AD.
The Roman Empire rose and fell and in that entire time there were no humans on Madagascar what else is weird is that the first settlers here didn't come from Africa like you would think but came on canoes all the way from Borneo across the entire Indian Ocean. So moving on the Faroe Islands above Scotland were discovered in 680 AD, the Bahamas and 850 AD and Iceland remained untouched by humanity until the vikings founded in 874 AD.
The final significantly large and habitable place to be discovered by humans was New Zealand which saw no humans until the arrival of the Maori Polynesians sometime between 1250 and 1300. Next we enter the great age of European exploration in which we're about to find out only resulted in the real human discoveries of a few scattered islands.
The Portuguese are the first humans to land on six of these islands in a row, Madeira in 1420, the Azores in 1439, Cape Verde in 1462, Annobon in 1474, Sao Tome and Principe in 1485 and one poor exiled Portuguese soldier landed on st. Helena in 1516.
The only place the Spanish were the first to arrive at where the Bonin islands south of Japan in 1543 and the Polynesians landed on the Chatham islands and 1550- the last such Polynesian discovery.

Back over in Europe this frozen hellhole called Svalbard remained untouched by until an English Whaler landed here in 1604. Bermuda was landed on by a group of shipwreck Englishman in 1609 and Jan Mayan was also first landed on by a whaler in 1615.
Mauritius was landed on by the Dutch in 1638 and the dodo quickly vanished from the island afterwards. Reunion island was reached in 1642 by the French, Tristan da Cunha by the Dutch in 1543. The Falkland islands by the English in 1690 which would remain almost totally irrelevant until Margaret Thatcher. Rodriguez island in 1691 by the French. Il Saint-Paul and Ile Amsterdam both by the Dutch in 1696.
Ascension island was first landed on in 1701 by 60 shipwrecked Englishman who were stranded there for two months. The Seychelles in 1770 by the French. The Kerguelen Islands in 1772 also by the French. South georgia in 1775 by that overachiever James Cook. Once again Lord Howe Island in 1788 by the British and Prince Edward Island in 1799 by the French. By 1,800 there really wasn't a whole lot left to discover but that didn't stop people from trying and succeeding. The South Shetland islands were landed on an 1819 by the British, Matt Corey island in 1820 by the Russians, the South Orkney islands in 1821 by the British, and the Crow islands also in 1821 by some British sailors that got shipwrecked and stranded there for over two years.
The seventh continent that's bigger than Australia at the bottom of the globe Antarctica was never even seen with human eyes until 1821 this russian explorer discovered it but failed to actually land on it. That means that humans had seen the planet Uranus before anybody had ever seen Antarctica so after seeing it in 1820 it took a while to actually land on the continent. It wasn't until 1895 that the first confirmed landing happened by a team of Norwegians and with that moment every piece of land on planet Earth from 195,000 BC all the way until 1895 had been finally landed on by the human species. 

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.


Popular posts from this blog

Find cities with similar climate

This map has been created using The Global environmental stratification. The Global environmental stratification (GEnS), based on statistical clustering of bioclimate data (WorldClim). GEnS, consists of 125 strata, which have been aggregated into 18 global environmental zones (labeled A to R) based on the dendrogram. Interactive map >> Via www.vividmaps.com Related posts: -  Find cities with similar climate 2050 -  How global warming will impact 6000+ cities around the world?

Moose population in North America

The moose ( Alces alces ) is the largest member of the deer family, characterized by its massive size, long legs, and distinctive broad, palmate antlers found in males. They have a dark brown or black coat and a humped shoulder. Moose are primarily found in the boreal and mixed deciduous forests of North America, Europe, and Asia. They are solitary animals, often found near bodies of water, and are herbivores that feed on leaves, bark, twigs, and aquatic vegetation. Despite their size, moose are strong swimmers and can run up to 35 miles per hour. The moose population in North America is shrinking swiftly. This decrease has been correlated to the opening of roadways and landscapes into this animal's north range.   In North America, the moose range includes almost all of Canada and Alaska, the northern part of New England and New York, the upper Rocky Mountains, northern Minnesota and Wisconsin, Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and Isle Royale.    In 2014-2015, the North Americ...

Map of Fox Species Distribution

Foxes are small to medium-sized members of the Canidae family, which also includes wolves, dogs, and other related animals. There are about 37 species of foxes distributed around the world, and they inhabit a wide range of environments, from forests and grasslands to deserts and urban areas. Below is the map of fox species distribution  created by Reddit user isaacSW Here are some of the most well-known fox species and their distribution: Red Fox ( Vulpes vulpes ): The red fox is one of the most widely distributed fox species and is found in North America, Europe, Asia, and parts of North Africa. They are adaptable and can live in a variety of habitats, including forests, grasslands, and urban areas. Arctic Fox ( Vulpes lagopus ): The Arctic fox is found in the Arctic regions of North America, Europe, and Asia. They have adaptations that help them survive in cold climates, such as a thick coat that changes color with the seasons. Gray Fox ( Urocyon cinereoargenteus ): The gray ...