Which explorer completed the first circumnavigation of Earth in 1522 after Magellan’s death?

Juan Sebastián Elcano completed the first circumnavigation of Earth in 1522 after Magellan’s death.

The expedition began from Spain in 1519 under Ferdinand Magellan, who sought a westward route to the Spice Islands. Magellan found the passage now called the Strait of Magellan and crossed the Pacific, but he was killed in the Philippines in 1521.

Elcano then took command of the surviving ship, Victoria. Rather than return through territory controlled by Portugal, he sailed west across the Indian Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope, and north through the Atlantic. Victoria reached Spain in September 1522 with only a small fraction of the original crew.

Magellan is often credited with the voyage because he organized and began it, but he did not complete the circuit. Elcano’s achievement made him the first person to lead a ship all the way around the globe, and the expedition provided practical evidence of Earth’s immense size.