Spanish and Portuguese explorers had reached the coasts of Africa, Asia, and the Americas by the 16th century, but no one had yet circumnavigated the globe. In 1519, the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan set out from Spain with five ships to find a western route to the Spice Islands of Indonesia. Magellan's voyage was the first to circumnavigate the world, although Magellan himself did not complete the journey. He was killed in a battle in the Philippines in 1521, but his ships continued on, eventually returning to Spain in 1522.