Final answer:
Homo sapiens began spreading out from Africa around 200,000 years ago, first within the continent and then globally by following coasts and land bridges. By 70,000 years ago, they had reached Asia, and populations eventually made their way to Europe, Australia, and much later, the Americas by 12,000 years ago through the Bering Land Bridge.
Step-by-step explanation:
Expansion of Homo sapiens
Archeological findings suggest that Homo sapiens started to spread out from eastern and southern Africa around 200,000 years ago. Initially, the movement took them through Africa, and by approximately 100,000 years ago, they embarked on a global migration. This migration included crossing into Asia, India, and China by 70,000 years ago and later reaching places such as Papua New Guinea and Australia, evidenced by settlements that are at least 45,000 years old.
Populating Europe and Asia involved migrations around forty thousand years ago through southwest Asia into Europe and by twenty-five thousand years ago, Homo sapiens had reached Siberia. Around fifteen thousand years ago, some Homo sapiens crossed into North America from Asia over the Bering Land Bridge. By about 12,000 years ago, humans had settled in the Americas.
Homo sapiens enjoyed advantages over other hominids, such as longer limbs and greater social cooperation in larger groups, which may have aided in their dispersion and survival over different regions and climates.