<Tr> <Th> Rank </Th> <Td> Admiral of the Ocean Sea </Td> </Tr> <P> Christopher Columbus (Italian: Cristoforo Colombo (kriˈstɔːforo koˈlombo); c. 1451--20 May 1506) was an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonizer . Born in the Republic of Genoa, under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean . Those voyages and his efforts to establish settlements on the island of Hispaniola initiated the permanent European colonization of the New World . </P> <P> At a time when European kingdoms were beginning to establish new trade routes and colonies, motivated by imperialism and economic competition, Columbus proposed to reach the East Indies (South and Southeast Asia) by sailing westward . This eventually received the support of the Spanish Crown, which saw a chance to enter the spice trade with Asia through this new route . During his first voyage in 1492, he reached the New World instead of arriving in Japan as he had intended, landing on an island in the Bahamas archipelago that he named San Salvador . Over the course of three more voyages, he visited the Greater and Lesser Antilles, as well as the Caribbean coast of Venezuela and Central America, claiming all of it for the Crown of Castile . </P> <P> Columbus is the European explorer credited with establishing and documenting routes to the Americas, though he was preceded by the Viking expedition led by Leif Erikson in the 11th century . Moreover, the voyages of Columbus led to the first lasting European contact with the Americas, inaugurating a period of exploration, conquest, and colonization that lasted several centuries . These voyages thus had an enormous effect on the historical development of the modern Western world . He spearheaded the transatlantic slave trade and has been accused by several historians of initiating the genocide of the Hispaniola natives . Columbus himself saw his accomplishments primarily in the light of spreading the Christian religion . </P>

Which explorer was the first to sail to the caribbean islands
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