Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira, (c. 1460s – December 23, 1524) is a Portuguese explorer.

He is the first European to reach India by sea, linking Europe and Asia for the first time by ocean route, as well as the Atlantic and the Indian oceans entirely and definitively, and in this way, the West and the Orient.

This is accomplished on his first voyage to India (1497–1499).

Da Gama's discovery is significant and opens the way for an age of global imperialism and for the Portuguese to establish a long-lasting colonial empire in Asia.

The route means that the Portuguese will not need to cross the highly disputed Mediterranean nor the dangerous Arabian Peninsula, and that the whole voyage will be made by sea.

The sum of the distances covered in the outward and return voyages make this expedition the longest ocean voyage ever made until then, far longer than a full voyage around the world by way of the Equator.

One century after the discovery, European powers such as England, the Netherlands and France will finally be able to challenge and break Portugal's monopoly and naval supremacy in the Cape Route around Africa, the Indian Ocean and in the Far East, opening a new era of European imperialism in the East.

After decades of sailors trying to reach the Indies with thousands of lives and dozens of vessels lost in shipwrecks and attacks, da Gama lands in Calicut on 20 May 1498.

Reaching the legendary Indian spice routes unopposed helps the Portuguese Empire improve its economy that, until da Gama's discovery, is based mainly on trading along northern and coastal West Africa.

The spices obtained are mostly pepper and cinnamon at first, but soon include other products, all new to Europe and leading to a commercial monopoly for several decades.

Da Gama leads two of the armadas destined for India, the first and the fourth, which is the largest and made only four years after his return from the first one.

For his contributions he is appointed the Governor of India in 1524, under the title of Viceroy, and given the newly created County of Vidigueira in 1519.

Vasco da Gama remains a leading figure in the history of exploration to this day.

Numerous homages have been made worldwide to celebrate his explorations and accomplishments.

The Portuguese national epic, Os Lusíadas, is written in his honor.

His first trip to India is widely considered a milestone in world history as it marks the beginning of the first wave of global multiculturalism.