This is a list of circumnavigations of Earth. Sections are ordered by ascending date of completion.
Global
Nautical
16th century
The 18 survivors, led by Juan Sebastián Elcano, of Ferdinand Magellan's Spanish expedition (which began with 5 ships and 270 men); 1519–1522; westward from Spain; in . After Magellan was killed by Lapulapu off the Philippines on 27 April 1521, the circumnavigation was completed under the command of the Basque Spanish seafarer Juan Sebastián Elcano who returned to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain, on 6 September 1522, after a journey of 3 years and 1 month. These men were the first to circumnavigate the globe. The survivors of García Jofre de Loaísa's Spanish expedition 1525–1536 including Andrés de Urdaneta; westward from Spain. None of Loaísa's seven ships completed the voyage, but Santa María de la Victoria reached the Moluccas before being wrecked in a Portuguese attack. Successive chiefs of the expedition (Loaísa, Elcano, Salazar, Iñiguez, De la Torre) died during the voyages. Andrés de Urdaneta and other fellow men survived, reaching the Spice Islands in 1526, to be taken prisoner by the Portuguese. Urdaneta and a few of his men returned to Spain in 1536 aboard Portuguese ships via India, the Cape of Good Hope and Portugal, and completed the second world circumnavigation in history. One of the four survivors was Hans von Aachen, who was also one of the 18 survivors of Magellan's expedition, making him the first to circumnavigate the world twice. Francis Drake; expedition against the Spanish Main 1577–1580; westward from England; in ; discovered the Drake Passage but entered the Pacific via the Strait of Magellan; first English circumnavigation and the second carried out in a single expedition. Drake was the first to complete a circumnavigation as captain while leading the expedition throughout the entire circumnavigation. Martín Ignacio de Loyola; 1580–1584, westward from Spain. Thomas Cavendish; 1586–1588; westward from England; in . Martín Ignacio de Loyola; 1585–1589, eastward from Spain (via Macau (then a Portuguese territory), China, and Acapulco, Mexico) to become the first to circumnavigate the world eastwards and first to use overland routes in his circumnavigation. João da Gama; 1584 (or 1585)–1590; eastward from Portugal; from Lisbon to India, Malacca, Macau (then Portuguese) and Japan. Gama crossed the Pacific at a higher northern latitude; was taken prisoner in Mexico and carried in Spanish ships to the Iberian Peninsula. One of the first to go eastwards, mostly by sea.
17th century
The survivors of the expedition of Jacques Mahu; 1598–1601; westward from Holland; Of Mahu's five ships only one returned. The survivors of the expedition of Olivier van Noort; 1598–1601; westward from Holland; Of Van Noort's four ships only one returned. Francesco Carletti; Florentine merchant; 1594–1602; westward from Italy; travelled across the American continent overland, through Panama. All Carletti's other travel was by sea until he ended in the Netherlands; he travelled from there overland back to Italy. Carletti was perhaps the first to travel all legs as a passenger, not as a ship's officer or a crew member. Carletti described his journey in his autobiography, "My Voyage Around the World", translated into various languages. Joris van Spilbergen; 1614–1617; westward from Holland. Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire; 1615–1617; westward from Holland; in Eendraght; Discovered Cape Horn and the first expedition to enter the Pacific via the Drake Passage. Admiral Jacques l'Hermite and vice-admiral John Hugo Schapenham and rear-admiral Jan Willemszn Verschoor; 1623–1626; westward from Holland. Pedro Cubero; 1670–1679; eastward from Spain; the first maritime circumnavigation including significant travel overland. William Dampier and Ambrose Cowley (English); 1679–1691 and 1683–1686; westward from England, travelling together in parts of their voyages and producing the first maps of the Galapagos Islands while raiding Spanish shipping between Panama and Peru. Gemelli Careri; 1693–1698; eastward from Naples; the first tourist to circumnavigate the globe, paying his own way on multiple voyages, crossing Mexico on land.