Some of the major European explorations conducted in Africa.

• Diogo Cão (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
• Diogo de Azambuja (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
• Bartolomeu Dias (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
• Pêro de Alenquer (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
• João Infante (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
• João Grego (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
• Álvaro Martins (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
• Pêro Dias (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
• Gil Eanes (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
• Nuno Tristão (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
• Antão Gonçalves (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
• Dinis Dias (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
• António Fernandes (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
• Pêro de Sintra (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
• Lopes Gonçalves (15th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic and of the African coast)
• Alvise Cadamosto (15th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic islands and of the African coast)
• Diogo Dias (15th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic islands, of the African coast and the Indian Ocean, discovered Madagascar)
• António Noli (15th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic islands and of the African coast)
• Fernão da Po (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
• Alvaro Caminha (15th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic islands and of the African coast)
• João de Santarém (15th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic islands and of the African coast)
• Pedro Escobar (15th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic islands and of the African coast)
• Duarte Pacheco Pereira (15th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic and of the African coast)
• Vasco da Gama (Portuguese, Lead the discovery of the sea route to India in 1498 along the African coast)
• Pedro Álvares Cabral (Portuguese, discoverer of Brazil in 1500, from there it's fleet went to India along the African coast)
• Pero da Covilhã (15th century/16th century Portuguese diplomat and explorer in Ethiopia)
• Paulo Dias de Novais (16th century Portuguese explorer and colonizer of Africa)
• Lourenço Marques (16th century Portuguese trader and explorer in East Africa)
• Francisco Alvarez (16th century Portuguese missionary and explorer in Ethiopia)
• Serpa Pinto (19th century Portuguese explorer, soldier and colonizer of Africa)
• Richard Francis Burton (19th century British explorer, great lakes of Africa}
• John Hanning Speke (19th century British explorer, source of the Nile)

Africa as 'Dark Continent'

For many centuries, Africa was known to the Western world as the 'dark continent', meaning an unexplored but also savage and untamed area, populated by heathens and wild animals. The mind of the explorer is typically excited by the prospect of negotiating hostile and unchartered environments, and hence Africa became a magnet to many European explorers.

Attitudes to exploration of Africa

Exploration took with it a certain Christian (and perhaps Victorian, though many European explorers were not British) mindset. Many explorers felt that it was their duty to introduce Western civilisation and Christianity to savage negro peoples, and hence exploration was seen by most people during the post-Renaissance era as a useful expenditure of energy. It was also a source of national pride to have an explorer reach a certain goal, and explorers certainly competed as the stakes of hubris were high for the men who could identify the source of the Nile or reach other landmarks.

It should be noted that exploration was an activity mostly practised by well-educated, wealthy men, who had the resources and the initiative to explore. Explorers' ability to conquer uncharted territory (to non-natives) should not be underestimated, but neither should the resources available to such men.