GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

Detailed explanation-1: -These were Portugal, Spain, England, France, and the Netherlands. Two explorers from Portugal: Bartolomeu Dias and Vasco da Gama were appointed by King John II to find a new trade route to Asia. In 1488, Dias became the first European explorer to round the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa.

Detailed explanation-2: -Europeans wanted the power and resulting wealth that would come from controlling trade. Finding all-water routes to Asia and its riches would allow European merchants to cut out Middle Eastern middlemen and reap all the profits of eastern trade.

Detailed explanation-3: -In 1498, Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese sailor, found a sea route directly from Europe to India by going around Africa. After Vasco da Gama’s discovery of the new sea route to India, other countries of Southeast Asia and China came on the trade radar.

Detailed explanation-4: -After the Spanish and Portuguese explorers found eastern and southwestern routes to Asia, English, French, and Dutch (Netherlands) explorers set out to search for a northwest route to Asia. This is known as the Northwest Passage.