Christopher Colombus set out from Spain on a mission to travel west across the ocean in order to get to which country, India, or China?

Arpeggionist

He'd hoped to find his way to the East, which was India and China. His original destination was actually the island known to him as Cipangu, what we know today as Japan. If he could find Japan, so he told Ferdinand and Isabella, he would know his way to China and India and the treasures of the East. Dec 29 05, 4:34 PM

iamtheotaku

Colombus was looking for India, but stepped upon the "New World", which was what they called the USA at first arrival. Dec 29 05, 8:22 PM

Arpeggionist

Actually, Columbus never set foot on what is now the US. The first place he landed was in the Carribean, the Bahamas, to be exact. Some of Columbus'original place names are still in use today in the Carribean and Central America. Dec 30 05, 3:22 AM

JoshCaleb12

... and Columbus actually thought at first that he had reached India, or islands surrounding India, hence the present day name of "West Indies" for the islands in the Caribbean, and also the name "Indians" for the Native Americans. Dec 30 05, 10:16 PM

dudeman94

Neither just "the west indies" Dec 31 05, 3:16 PM

ShadowandFlame

alright, thx for the answers and all, but I would like to point out that Colombus did not name what is now the USA America when he first found it. It is a common misperception that he is the founder of America. I disagree with that because technically, Amerigo Vispuchi, an Italian Sailor recognized that the Americas was not part of Asia, but a whole seperate area. This made people realize how big the world really is. Dec 31 05, 3:38 PM

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