Nikolai Mikhaylovich Przhevalsky (Russian: Никола́й Миха́йлович Пржева́льский, also transliterated Przewalski (Polish-style) and Prjevalsky, was a Russian geographer of Polish background and a renowned explorer of Central and Eastern Asia. Although he never reached his ultimate goal, the holy city of Lhasa in Tibet, he traveled through regions then unknown to the West, such as northern Tibet, modern Qinghai and Dzungaria (northern Xinjiang). He contributed significantly to European knowledge of Central Asia and was the first known European to describe the only extant species of wild horse, which is named after him.