During his reign, Pope John Paul II ("The Pilgrim Pope") made 104 foreign trips, more than all previous popes combined. In total he logged more than . He consistently attracted large crowds on his travels, some among the largest ever assembled. While some of his trips (such as to the United States and Israel) were to places that were previously visited by Paul VI (the first pope to travel widely), many others were to countries that no pope had previously visited. Countries visited Pope John Paul II visited 130 countries during his time as pope: Nine visits to Poland Eight visits to France (including one visit to Réunion) Seven visits to the United States (including two stopovers in Alaska) Five visits to Mexico and Spain Four visits to Brazil, Portugal, and Switzerland Three visits to Austria, Canada, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Czech Republic (including one visit to Czechoslovakia), Dominican Republic, Germany, Guatemala, Kenya, Malta (including one stopover in Luqa,) and Slovakia (including one visit to Czechoslovakia) Two visits to Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, Hungary, India, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Slovenia, South Korea, Uruguay, and Venezuela One visit to Albania, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belize, Bolivia, Botswana, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, East Timor (then part of Indonesia), Ecuador, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Greece, Guam, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Palestinian territories, Panama, Paraguay, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, San Marino, São Tomé and Príncipe, Principality of Sealand, Senegal, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. In addition, John Paul II made 146 pastoral visits within Italy. Travels outside Italy 1970s Pope John Paul II's first foreign journey was a three-country visit to the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the Bahamas in January 1979. Some 18 million people were believed to have greeted the Pope during his stay in Mexico. The Pope's second foreign visit was to his homeland, Poland, in June 1979. This was possibly the most significant of all his trips as it, according to some historians,