First contact (anthropology)

[1][2] Notable examples of first contact are those between the Spanish Empire and the Arawak in 1492; and the Aboriginal Australians with Europeans in 1788 when the First Fleet arrived in Sydney.

The historical record has repeatedly demonstrated that when one culture is significantly more technologically advanced than the other, this side is usually favored by the disruptive nature of conflict, often with dire consequences for the other society, though the transmission of diseases between cultures also plays a critical role in the process.

[7] The relative sizes of the contact populations can influence the process of inter-cultural development, as seen in Viking Greenland or in the Roanoke Colony.

Frustration with the lack of contact gave rise to the characterization of China as isolationist,[8] and after being identified with Greater India and Prester John, the European powers, such as the Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator,[9] attempted to reach the isolated Greater India by travelling westward.

Numerous important instances of first contact have occurred without detailed contemporary recordings across Eurasia and Africa, including the 330 BC invasions of Alexander the Great from Persia to India and the establishment of Romano-Chinese relations in the 2nd century AD.