When Columbus arrived in America in 1492, there were already an estimated thirty to forty million people living in North and South America. It has therefore been quite easy for some to refute the idea that Columbus 1 America. How and when these inhabitants came to America has been the source of much scientific research and
discussion.
Most archeologists agree that the first Americans, the true “discoverers” of America, came from northeastern Asia. There is also a 2 amount of proof that inhabitants have been in the Americas for at least 15000 years. To get to the Americas, these people had to cross over the 55-mile-wide Bering Strait that 3 Asia and North America. According to one theory, these people crossed over during periods when a land bridge 4 between the two continents. During Ice Ages, so much of the Earth's water was 5 that the sea levels dropped, and it was possible to walk from Asia to North America.