Early modern period
Portuguese Empire
- Period
- AD 1502 – AD 1910
- Duration
- approx. 408 years
- Greatest extent
- around AD 1820
- Area (max.)
- approx. 8.2 million km²
Profile
Strength
Superior ships and guns secured bases from Brazil to Macau, yet the home country stayed small.
Famous figures
- Henry the Navigator
- Vasco da Gama
- Pedro Álvares Cabral
- Afonso de Albuquerque
- Manuel I
Wars & battles won
- Conquest of Ceuta (1415)
- Battle of Diu (1509)
- Conquest of Goa (1510) and Malacca (1511)
Wars & battles lost
- Battle of Alcácer Quibir (1578)
- Loss of many bases to the Dutch (17th century)
- Independence of Brazil (1822)
Languages
- Portuguese
Period and duration
Portuguese Empire — according to the map data from AD 1502 to AD 1910, roughly 408 years. The dates refer to the time the empire is drawn as its own territory on the world map; historians sometimes date its founding and end differently.
Greatest extent
Portuguese Empire — greatest extent around AD 1820: the mapped borders then cover about 8.2 million km², roughly 5.5% of Earth's land area. The area is calculated from the border lines of the map and is therefore an approximation.
Predecessors and successors
States that ruled the same territory directly before and after:
Before (AD 1501)
No predecessors in the map data.
After
Neighbours around AD 1820
The largest states in the region at the same time:
- Russian Empire
- Qing Dynasty
- Spanish Empire
- British Empire
- Ottoman Empire
- United States of America
- Kazakh Khanate
- Qajar Dynasty
Learn more
- Open the world map in AD 1820 — tap the empire for a detailed description
- Portuguese Empire on Wikipedia
- All 371 empires at a glance
Borders and dates: Cliopatria / Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0). Coastlines: Natural Earth. Text: Centaurian.