The Most Famous

Explorers from Netherlands

Icon of occuation in country

This page contains a list of the greatest Dutchs Explorers. The pantheon dataset contains 498 Explorers, 15 of which were born in Netherlands. This makes Netherlands the birth place of the 10th most number of Explorers behind Norway and Italy.

Top 10 Explorers

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Dutchs Explorers of all time. This list of famous Dutchs Explorers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Dutchs Explorers.

  1. #1
    Photo of Abel Tasman

    Abel Tasman

    1603 - 1659

    HPI 79.90100 langs

    Abel Tasman was a Dutch explorer who was the first European to explore New Zealand. He was born in 1603 and died in 1659.

  2. #2
    Photo of Willem Barentsz

    Willem Barentsz

    1550 - 1597

    HPI 78.4976 langs

    Willem Barentsz is most famous for his explorations of the Arctic and for his discovery of the Barents Sea.

  3. #3
    Photo of Jan van Riebeeck

    Jan van Riebeeck

    1619 - 1677

    HPI 75.3541 langs

    Jan van Riebeeck was a Dutch colonist who founded the first European settlement in South Africa.

  4. #4
    Photo of Jacob Roggeveen

    Jacob Roggeveen

    1659 - 1729

    HPI 73.0544 langs

    Jacob Roggeveen was a Dutch explorer who was the first to discover Easter Island in 1722.

  5. #5
    Photo of Willem Schouten

    Willem Schouten

    1567 - 1625

    HPI 69.6732 langs

    Willem Schouten was a Dutch explorer who was the first European to discover Tasmania.

  6. #6
    Photo of Willem Janszoon

    Willem Janszoon

    1570 - 1631

    HPI 68.5937 langs

    Willem Janszoon is most famous for being the first European to land in Australia.

People by Birth Decade

Browse notable Dutchs Explorers grouped by birth decade. Each decade shows the top 10 by HPI; expand to see everyone.

العربية中文NederlandsEnglishFrançaisDeutschMagyarItaliano日本語PolskiPortuguêsРусскийEspañol