Which explorer is credited with opening a sea route to Asia by rounding Africa's southern tip in 1488?

• A. Bartholomew Dias
• B. Vasco da Gama
• C. Christopher Columbus
• D. Ferdinand Magellan

Answer: (A)

The main point is about pioneering a sea route to Asia by sailing around the southern tip of Africa. In 1488, Bartholomeu Dias became the first to round the Cape of Good Hope and enter the Indian Ocean, proving that a sea passage to Asia existed by going around Africa. This established a direct maritime route opened by European powers, which future explorers would later exploit to reach India and other parts of Asia by sea.

Vasco da Gama later completed the voyage to India by sailing around Africa as well, but his successful trip happened in 1498 after Dias showed the route was possible. Columbus sought a westward route to Asia and landed in the Americas in 1492, while Magellan’s voyage later circumnavigated the globe, confirming global sea travel but not the first opening of the Asia route around Africa.