They continue to be bound by a common language and ancestral lines in Portuguese Brazilians, which can be traced back hundreds of years.

Today, Brazil and Portugal share a privileged relationship,[2] as evidenced in aligned political and diplomatic coordination, as well as economic, social, cultural, legal, technical and scientific cooperation.

[8] The economic activity was concentrated on a small population of settlers engaged in a highly profitable export–oriented sugarcane industry in the Northeast.

[10] The Inconfidência Mineira of 1788–1789, led by the patriot and revolutionary Joaquim José da Silva Xavier (popularly known as Tiradentes), was the first major movement against Portuguese rule in Brazil.

[12] as well as the derrama  [pt], an annual tax quota of 100 gold bars imposed on the state of Minas Gerais; if it was unmet, the Portuguese crown could force the Brazilian people to pay the remaining balance.

[12] Inspired by the American Revolution, a group including military men, clergymen, poets, and intellectuals from Minas Gerais conspired to rise up in rebellion on the day the derrama was imposed, but three individuals informed the colonial government and the participants were arrested.

[13] In 1808, the Portuguese ruler, Prince Regent John VI, fled to Rio de Janeiro to escape the French invasion of Portugal.

[7] For 13 years, Rio de Janeiro functioned as the capital of the Kingdom of Portugal in what some historians call a "metropolitan reversal"—i.e., a former colony exercising governance over the entirety of the Portuguese empire.

In 1816, with the death of Queen Maria, John VI was crowned King of Portugal and Brazil in Rio de Janeiro.

[14] In 1894 relations were strained between the two states after Portugal granted refuge to Brazilian rebels after the Revolta da Armada incident.

On 2 April 1894, the uprising was crushed and 493 rebels, including 70 officers and the mutiny leader, Admiral Luís Filipe de Saldanha da Gama, sought refuge on board the Portuguese warships.

Despite protests from the Brazilian government, Portugal granted refuge to the rebels and sailed to the Rio de la Plata, where most of the refugees disembarked.

[citation needed] Relations between the two countries was said to be based on Brazil's sheer size, thus its economic market and generally more powerful economy.

However, Portuguese links with Brazil were weaker than that of other European empires like the United Kingdom, whose colonies sent soldiers to fight in both World Wars.

Since 21 April 2000, Brazilian citizens can travel to Portugal (and vice versa) without a visa, on account of the "Status of Equality" treaty that was signed between the two states.