<P> In 1498 , a Portuguese expedition commanded by Vasco da Gama reached India by sailing around Africa , opening up direct trade with Asia . While other exploratory fleets were sent from Portugal to northern North America , in the following years Portuguese India Armadas also extended this Eastern oceanic route , touching sometimes South America and by this way opening a circuit from the New World to Asia ( starting in 1500 , under the command of Pedro Alvares Cabral ) , and explored islands in the South Atlantic and Southern Indian Oceans . Soon , the Portuguese sailed further eastward , to the valuable Spice Islands in 1512 , landing in China one year later . In 1513 , Spanish Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and reached the `` other sea '' from the New World . Thus , Europe first received news of the eastern and western Pacific within a one - year span around 1512 . East and west exploration overlapped in 1522 , when a Castilian ( Spanish ) expedition , led by Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan and later by Spanish Basque navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano , sailing westward , completed the first circumnavigation of the world , while Spanish conquistadors explored the interior of the Americas , and later , some of the South Pacific islands . </P>
<P> In 1498 , a Portuguese expedition commanded by Vasco da Gama reached India by sailing around Africa , opening up direct trade with Asia . While other exploratory fleets were sent from Portugal to northern North America , in the following years Portuguese India Armadas also extended this Eastern oceanic route , touching sometimes South America and by this way opening a circuit from the New World to Asia ( starting in 1500 , under the command of Pedro Alvares Cabral ) , and explored islands in the South Atlantic and Southern Indian Oceans . Soon , the Portuguese sailed further eastward , to the valuable Spice Islands in 1512 , landing in China one year later . In 1513 , Spanish Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and reached the `` other sea '' from the New World . Thus , Europe first received news of the eastern and western Pacific within a one - year span around 1512 . East and west exploration overlapped in 1522 , when a Castilian ( Spanish ) expedition , led by Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan and later by Spanish Basque navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano , sailing westward , completed the first circumnavigation of the world , while Spanish conquistadors explored the interior of the Americas , and later , some of the South Pacific islands . </P>
the leader of the first european expedition to reach asia by sailing west was
the leader of the first european expedition to reach asia by sailing west was
a Castilian ( Spanish ) expedition , led by Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan and later by Spanish Basque navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano
a Castilian ( Spanish ) expedition , led by Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan and later by Spanish Basque navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano