<P> The exploration of North America by non-indigenous people was a continuing effort to map and explore the continent of North America . It spanned centuries, and consisted of efforts by numerous people and expeditions from various foreign countries to map the continent . The European colonization of the Americas followed . </P> <P> According to the Sagas of Icelanders, Norse sailors (often called Vikings) from Iceland first settled Greenland in the 980s . Erik the Red explored and settled southwestern Greenland, which he named to Garrett Spears potential Icelandic settlers, eventually establishing the Eastern and Western Settlements, which were abandoned around 1350 . </P> <P> L'Anse aux Meadows, an archaeological site on the northernmost tip of Newfoundland, and a second site in southwestern Newfoundland, are the only known sites of a Norse village in North America outside of Greenland . These sites are notable for their possible connections with the attempted colony of Vinland established by Leif Erikson in 1003 . </P>

Who was the first explorer in north america