Portugal and Spain became the early leaders in the Age of Exploration. They made Spain rich with the gold and silver they found in the Americas. Portugal sent out Vasco da Gama who found a trade route around the southern tip of Africa and to India.

• In theory, the Treaty of Tordesillas divided the New World into Spanish and Portuguese spheres of influence.
• After Spain and Portugal agreed to the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, the other countries of Europe did not obey its terms.

Ferdinand and Isabella wanted the pope’s blessing to protect the recent discoveries made by Christopher Columbus, the Genoese navigator who claimed a new world for Spain. He responded by issuing papal bulls – solemn edicts – establishing a line of demarcation between Spanish and Portuguese territories around the globe.

The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed in Tordesillas, Spain on June 7, 1494, and authenticated in Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly-discovered lands outside Europe between the Portuguese Empire and the Spanish Empire (Crown of Castile), along a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of …

Since Portugal and Spain share the same peninsula, their landscapes and climate are similar. Geographically, Portugal is defined by its long coastline, making it abound with beaches. The north of the country is mountainous and wet while the south is drier and has rolling plains with many beaches near the Algarve.

The main Portuguese goal was trade, not colonization or conquest. Soon its ships were bringing into the European market highly valued gold, ivory, pepper, cotton, sugar, and slaves. The slave trade, for example, was conducted by a few dozen merchants in Lisbon.

What was Portugal’s strategy for controlling Indian Ocean trade? Controlling key ports and areas along the trade routes. How did the Russian kingdom expand to become one of the largest land empires in the early modern period? The Russians headed to Siberia, where they encountered and conquered nomadic peoples.