European discoveries

1512 The Portuguese explorers,Antonio d' Abreu and Francisco Serrao, of the East Indies, receive the first information about the "Papoia islands" and its black inhabitants.

1526 A Portuguese ship, under the command of Jorge de Meneses, becomes stranded  near the north coast Vogelkop peninsula and must wait there for favorable winds. The Portuguese navigators name the island, Papua, after the curly hairy inhabitants. The European history of the discovery of New Guinea begins.

1537 The mutiny of the Spanish Captain, Hernandeo de Grijalva, by his crew occurs on the way from Peru to the spice islands (Molukken). They arrive shipwrecked, in the vicinity of the Schouten Islands in the north of New Guinea and capture local peoples, only to sell them later as slaves.

1545 Inigo Ortiz de Retes   (South America) arrives with the Spanish "San Juan" in an attempt to overtake the Molukken (East Indies). It anchors before some islands at the north coast Neuguineas and gives names the island "Nueva Guinea," because the, “curly hairy swarthy population.” reminds them of the peoples of Guinea on the coast of Africa.  For the first time the name "Nueva Guinea" 1569 appears on the Mercator’s map of the world. 

1606 The Spanish sailor, Luis Vaes de Torres, sails along the south coast of New Guinea. The Torres Straight between New Guinea and Australia is named after him. Later in 1770, James Cook is the first to prove that Australia and New Guinea are separated by the Torres Straight.

1616-17 Jacob Le Maire and Willem Schouten explore the area near the north coast of and record the discovery of a large river mouth; that of the Sepik river.

1623 Arrving from the South coast, Jan Carstensz, of the of the Dutch East India Company, sees snow covered mountains in the interior of the island. A dispatched boat is attacked by a group of locals.

1660 The Dutch East India Company announces their domination over the Sultan of Tidore and the Papuan islands.

1643–1793 of Dutch, English, French and German navigator are discovered and named bays, littoral and islands (new Ireland, new Hannover, Neubritanien, Bougainville, Huon gulf, Bismarck archipelago. Tobriand- and d' Entrecasteaux islands).