Question: Who fathered the leader of the first expedition to reach Hanoi's continent by sailing west across the ocean bordering eastern Russia?

Prior to that, Sullivan spent 6 years as the network's South Asia correspondent. Michael D. Sullivan is the Senior Asia Correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR) based in Hanoi since 2003. Sullivan has received awards from the Overseas Press Club, South Asia Journalists Association, and, with Jennifer Ludden, Loren Jenkins, and Paul Glickman, won the 1998 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for international radio. Sullivan has been at NPR since 1985. <SEP> The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR; Russian: Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, tr. Rossiyskaya Sovetskaya Federativnaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika  listen (help·info)) commonly referred to as Soviet Russia or simply as Russia, was a sovereign state in 1917–22, the largest, most populous, and most economically developed republic of the Soviet Union in 1922–91 and a sovereign part of the Soviet Union with its own legislation in 1990–91. The Republic comprised sixteen autonomous republics, five autonomous oblasts, ten autonomous okrugs, six krais, and forty oblasts. Russians formed the largest ethnic group. To the west it bordered Finland, Norway and Poland; and to the south, China, Mongolia and North Korea whilst bordering the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Black sea and Caspian Sea to the south. Within the USSR, it bordered the Baltic republics (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia), the Byelorussian SSR and the Ukrainian SSR to the west. To the south it bordered the Georgian, Azerbaijan and Kazakh SSRs. <SEP> asia is the largest continent on earth. it covers 8.8% of the earth's total surface area (or 30% of its land area), and has the largest coastline, at 62,800 kilometres (39,022 mi). asia is generally defined as comprising the eastern four - fifths of eurasia. it is located to the east of the suez canal and the ural mountains, and south of the caucasus mountains (or the kuma -- manych depression) and the caspian and black seas. it is bounded on the east by the pacific ocean, on the south by the indian ocean and on the north by the arctic ocean. asia is subdivided into 48 countries, three of them (russia, kazakhstan and turkey) having part of their land in europe. <SEP> The Portuguese Vasco da Gama, accompanied by Nicolau Coelho and Bartolomeu Dias, is the first European to reach India by an all - sea route from Europe. <SEP> explorers flying the flag of spain reached the new world beginning in 1492 with the discovery of america by christopher columbus. spanish expeditions colonized and explored vast areas in north and south america following the grants of the pope (contained in the 1493 papal bull inter caetera) and rights contained in the 1494 treaty of tordesillas and 1529 treaty of zaragoza. these formal acts gave spain the exclusive rights to colonize the entire western hemisphere (excluding eastern brazil), including all of the west coast of north america. the first european expedition to actually reach the west coast was led by the spaniard vasco núñez de balboa, who reached the pacific coast of panama in 1513. in an act of enduring historical importance, balboa claimed the pacific ocean for the spanish crown, as well as all adjoining land and islands. this act gave spain exclusive sovereignty and navigation rights over the entire west coast of north america. <SEP> He rose in the ranks of the military Order of Santiago. Estêvão da Gama was appointed "alcaide-mór" (civil governor) of Sines in the 1460s, a post he held until 1478; after that he continued as a receiver of taxes and holder of the Order's commendas in the region. Vasco da Gama's father was Estêvão da Gama, who had served in the 1460s as a knight of the household of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu.