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The Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of Exploration and the Great Navigations, was a period in European history from the early 15th century to the early 17th century. During this period, Europeans engaged in intensive exploration and early colonization of many parts of the world, establishing direct contact with Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Oceania. Historians often refer to the Age of Discovery to mean the pioneering period of the Portuguese and Spanish long-distance maritime travels in search of alternative trade routes to the Indies. The contact between the “Old World” of Europe and the so-called “New World” of the Americas produced what is called the Columbian Exchange: the wide transfer of plants, animals, foods, communicable diseases, people (including slaves), and culture between the Eastern and Western hemispheres.Early Explorations