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The Portuguese Empire [a] was a colonial empire that existed between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire , it ushered in the European Age of Discovery . It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas , Africa and various islands in Asia and Oceania .
From the House of Braganza restoration in 1640 until the end of the reign of the Marquis of Pombal in 1777, the Kingdom of Portugal was in a transition period. Having been near its height at the start of the Iberian Union, the Portuguese Empire continued to enjoy the widespread influence in the world during this period that had characterized the period of the Discoveries.
The history of Portugal can be traced from circa 400,000 years ago, when the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Homo heidelbergensis.. The Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, which lasted almost two centuries, led to the establishment of the provinces of Lusitania in the south and Gallaecia in the north of what is now Portugal.
The Iberian Union is a historiographical term used to describe the personal union of the Kingdom of Portugal with the Monarchy of Spain, which in turn was itself the dynastic union of the crowns of Castile and Aragon, and of their respective colonial empires, that existed between 1580 and 1640 and brought the entire Iberian Peninsula except Andorra, as well as Portuguese and Spanish overseas ...
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A map of the Portuguese Empire and its claims, strongholds, trade waters, and economic interests. The Portuguese Empire at the end of the 15th century.. During the 15th century, the Portuguese Empire laid its foundations across the world as the world's first modern colonial empire, and what would be the longest.
Portuguese presence in Africa started in 1415 with the conquest of Ceuta and is generally viewed as ending in 1975, with the independence of its later colonies, although the present autonomous region of Madeira is located in the African Plate, some 650 km (360 mi) off the North African coast, Madeira belongs and has always belonged ethnically, culturally, economically and politically to Europe ...
All forts in this list are outside the modern territory of Portugal, and were built for the purpose of colonialism and the Portuguese Empire. Some of the forts were in Portuguese hands for a brief period - often a few years before the Portuguese were expelled, while others were held for centuries. Portuguese explorers have discovered many lands ...