The overseas territories accruing to Portugal as a result of the country’s leadership of the first phase of European overseas expansion, beginning in the 15th century. Portuguese imperialism was stimulated by a scientific interest in maritime exploration, a desire to profit from the spice trade of the Orient, and a determination to spread the Christian religion in non-Christian lands. By about 1530 the Portuguese empire included the islands of Cape Verde, Madeira, and the Azores, a large part of Brazil, fortress settlements in East and West Africa, continuous stretches of the coastlines of Angola and Mozambique, Indian Ocean bases like Ormuz, Goa, Calicut, and Colombo, and scattered Far Eastern posts including those in the Moluccas, Macao, the Celebes, Java, and Malacca.

The empire’s wealth derived mainly from coastal entrepôts and its representatives often had to face highly developed Muslim civilizations. Thus, except in Brazil, there was little conquest or colonization along the lines of the contemporary Spanish empire. The Portuguese crown was slower than the Spanish to establish a bureaucratic system of administration, but from 1643 the Overseas Council performed a similar role to that of the Spanish Council of the Indies. At the colonial level, however, the various viceroys, governors, and captains-general retained considerable freedom of action. The empire enriched Lisbon, the court, and an increasingly foreign merchant community, but little of the new wealth was reinvested in the mother country. During the 17th century the Dutch empire in Asia was assembled largely at the expense of the Portuguese.