Lopes Gonçalves or Lopo Gonçalves was a Portuguese explorer of the African coast. He was the first European sailor to cross the

equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...

, the first to reach the point where the coast turns south and the first to reach

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

. In 1473 or 1474 he and Rui de Sequeira, pushing Portuguese exploration east along the

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

n coast, reached the point where the coast begins to run south. He followed it south, crossed the equator, passed Cape Lopez in Gabon, which is named after him, and reached Cape St. Catherine, which is about 2 degrees south.

References

* J. H. Parry, The Age of Reconnaissance, 1963, page 149 15th-century Portuguese explorers 15th-century explorers of Africa Portuguese explorers of Africa Maritime history of Portugal {{Portugal-explorer-stub