Evolution of the Portuguese Empire

This article is a comprehensive list of all the actual possessions of the Portuguese Empire.

[1][2][3][4] Portuguese founded factories in various places in Europe, with a purely commerce-focused strategy, different from the other continents.

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, some 955 km (583 mi) from the European mainland.

Unlike the Spanish, the Portuguese did not divide their possession in South America in several vice-royalties.

Labrador and Corte-Real brothers later explored and claimed Greenland and eastern modern Canada from 1499 to 1502.