Portuguese maritime exploration facts for kids
Portuguese maritime explorations were daring ocean journeys made by sailors from Portugal during the 1400s and 1500s. These brave voyagers ventured out into uncharted waters across the globe. They drew detailed new maps of lands and seas unknown to Europeans. Their expeditions took place during a thrilling time called the Age of Discovery.
Portuguese sailors mapped huge portions of the African coastline, South America, and Asia. These distant lands were then known to Europeans as the East Indies and West Indies. Portugal changed world navigation forever by finding fast ocean routes to distant trading hubs.
These organized journeys began in 1419 along West Africa under Prince Henry the Navigator. In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias sailed around the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean. Ten years later, Vasco da Gama completed the sea journey to the Indian subcontinent, landing at Calicut.
Portuguese navigators soon sailed further east toward southeast Asia and reached Japan in 1542. Across the Atlantic Ocean, nobleman Pedro Álvares Cabral landed in South America during the famous discovery of Brazil in 1500. Through new shipbuilding and clever navigation, Portugal became a world power on the ocean.
Contents
- The Amazing History of Portuguese Maritime Explorations
- Amazing Science and Navigation Tools at Sea
- Complete Chronology of Discoveries and Journeys
The Amazing History of Portuguese Maritime Explorations
Portugal has a long coastline facing the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. For centuries, its people looked to the sea for fishing and trade. Long before large ocean expeditions started, Portuguese leaders knew that ocean trade brought great wealth.
Early Origins and Medieval Sea Trade
In 1297, King Dinis of Portugal encouraged local merchants to sell their surplus goods abroad. Back on May 10, 1293, he had organized an early maritime insurance fund. Portuguese merchants living in the County of Flanders used this fund to protect their ships.
Traders sent sweet wine and dried fruits from Algarve to Flanders and England. They shipped essential salt from Setúbal and Aveiro across northern Europe. Portugal also exported fine leather and kermes, which was an expensive scarlet dye. In return, Portugal imported strong armor, weapons, beautiful cloth, and tools from Flanders and Italy.
King Dinis hired an experienced sea captain from the Republic of Genoa named Manuel Pessanha. In 1317, he appointed Pessanha as the first Admiral of the kingdom. Pessanha promised to bring twenty warships and skilled crews to train Portuguese sailors.
These warships defended the sunny coasts against pirate attacks by the Barbary corsairs. This partnership created the foundation for the permanent Portuguese Navy. It also welcomed wealthy merchants from the Republic of Genoa to live in Lisbon.
Genoese traders had lost major routes in the Black Sea to rivals. They sailed to North Africa to purchase wheat, gold, and fine olive oil. They also operated trading ships connecting Portugal to Bruges and ports in England. Italian business experts from Genoa and Florence helped Portugal compete with the powerful Republic of Venice.
During the late fourteenth century, deadly outbreaks of bubonic plague hit Europe hard. Farmland was abandoned as populations shrank and rural workers struggled to find employment. The sea offered exciting new opportunities for work, trade, and exciting adventure.
Between 1325 and 1357, King Afonso IV of Portugal funded commercial ships for deep-sea expeditions. Under Admiral Pessanha, Portuguese and Genoese sailors explored far out into the Atlantic. In 1341, they sailed toward the volcanic Canary Islands off Africa.
The nearby kingdom of Castile claimed ownership of the Canary Islands in 1344. This friendly rivalry pushed Portugal to build even better ships and train braver crews. Early expeditions caused terrible harm to the native Guanches people living on the islands. European landing parties took captives, severely harming the unique island population over time.
Exploring the Vast Atlantic Ocean Between 1418 and 1488
In 1415, Portuguese forces sailed across the water to capture the city of Ceuta. Taking Ceuta gave Portugal control over ships moving through the narrow Strait of Gibraltar. Portuguese leaders hoped to spread Christianity and find exciting wealth for young nobles.
Prince Henry the Navigator took part in the famous capture of Ceuta. In 1420, Henry became the grand master of the wealthy Order of Christ. He controlled profitable resources across Algarve, which gave him funds for exploration voyages.
Henry sponsored daring journeys down the dry, sandy coast of western Mauritania. He invited skilled merchants, bold shipbuilders, and brave captains to join his quest. His brother, Prince Pedro, gave Henry a complete royal monopoly over newly explored trade.
In 1418, two brave captains named João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira set sail. A sudden ocean storm blew their small ship toward Porto Santo. In 1419, Zarco and Teixeira spotted a lush, green island nearby named Madeira.
They returned to Madeira with captain Bartolomeu Perestrelo to set up permanent settlements. Settlers planted fields of wheat and sweet sugarcane across the fertile volcanic ground. Sugar was very valuable in Europe and brought immense profits to Prince Henry.
Portuguese sailors attempted to claim Grand Canary in the neighboring Canary Islands. Spanish settlers already lived there, sparking protests between the royal courts of Castile and Portugal. Meanwhile, cartographic studies show that Portuguese ships located the distant Azores around 1427.
Portuguese families began settling the green volcanic Azores islands in 1432. These islands sat at least 745 miles (1,200 km) away from the western coast of Portugal. Navigating back and forth proved that Portuguese captains could travel across huge ocean distances.
Sailors still felt terrified when approaching an African landmark called Cape Bojador. Sailors feared boiling water, fierce sea monsters, and giant currents beyond this point. Prince Henry wanted to know how far African lands stretched to the south.
He hoped to find the secret routes of the trans-Saharan gold caravans. Henry also dreamed of finding the legendary Christian empire of Prester John. In 1434, a brave captain named Gil Eanes sailed past Cape Bojador safely.
He proved the ocean was completely safe to sail further south along Africa. Passing this spot encouraged sailors to explore past the great Sahara desert. Explorer Diogo de Silves had mapped the island of Santa Maria in 1427. Other brave mariners soon mapped and settled all the remaining islands of the Azores.
Prince Henry suffered a painful military defeat during the Battle of Tangier in Morocco. He had urged his royal brother, King Edward, to send an army. The Portuguese force was trapped, and Prince Ferdinand, the king's youngest brother, was held captive.
Following this terrible loss, Prince Henry moved away to quiet Sagres. He spent his remaining years organizing voyages until he passed away in 1460. In 1443, Prince Pedro granted Henry complete control over southern sailing routes.
Later, powerful Papal bull documents like Dum Diversas in 1452 gave official church approval. A second decree named Romanus Pontifex in 1455 confirmed Portuguese rights to southern ocean routes. These official documents helped Portugal keep foreign ships out of its newly mapped waterways.
Around 1440, Portuguese shipwrights began building an amazing new ship called the caravel. The caravel had a shallow bottom, making it perfect for exploring rocky shores. Its strong wooden rudder was firmly attached directly to the sternpost for precise steering.
Caravels used triangular lateen sails adapted from Arab designs across the Mediterranean. These special triangular sails let ships sail windward against the blowing breeze. Caravels sailed faster and turned much better than old, heavy European cargo ships.
Sailing captains mapped southern lands step by step, measuring their position by latitude. Ships reached the green shores of Senegal and the Cape Verde Peninsula in 1445. That same year, Henry built Portugal's first overseas feitoria (trading post) on Arguin island.
This fortified post near Mauritania welcomed merchant caravans carrying gold and exotic goods. In 1446, bold explorer Álvaro Fernandes sailed past modern-day Sierra Leone. By the 1460s, Portuguese ships finally entered the tropical waters of the Gulf of Guinea.
Advancing Deep into the Southern Hemisphere
Because early African voyages were expensive, King Afonso V leased trade rights in 1469. A wealthy merchant named Fernão Gomes received trading privileges across the Gulf of Guinea. Gomes paid 200,000 real coins each year for his special trading license.
He also promised to explore 100 leagues (480 km) of unknown African coastline every year. Gomes hired skilled captains like João de Santarém, Pedro Escobar, and Lopo Gonçalves. He also sent out brave navigators Fernão do Pó and Pedro de Sintra.
His captains easily passed the target distance and crossed the equator into the Southern Hemisphere. In 1471, Gomes's fleet sailed to Elmina on the Gold Coast of modern Ghana. There, local African traders exchanged bright gold dust for European linen cloth and metal pans.
Gomes established a buzzing trading station at Elmina, which meant "The Mine." In 1481, King João II took back direct royal control of this trade. He ordered the construction of São Jorge da Mina, a massive stone fortress at Elmina.
Portuguese navigator Diogo Cão discovered the roaring mouth of the Congo River in 1482. Cão sailed further south in 1486 until he reached Cape Cross in modern Namibia. He sailed close to the southern line known as the Tropic of Capricorn.
To claim newly discovered shores, sailors erected heavy stone crosses known as a padrão. Each pillar carried the royal coat of arms and the sailing date. In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias made a giant breakthrough by rounding the Cape of Good Hope.
Dias proved that the Atlantic and Indian Oceans were connected around southern Africa. Ancient scholars like Ptolemy had wrongly claimed the Indian Ocean was landlocked like a lake. Meanwhile, traveler Pêro da Covilhã journeyed overland through Egypt, Yemen, and secret corners of Madagascar. Covilhã sent helpful letters home urging the king to send ships around Africa directly to India.
Portuguese traders dominated early Atlantic sea routes, creating a powerful trading system. They exchanged European textiles, copper bowls, and glassware for African gold, ivory, and captive workers. Portugal controlled the Atlantic slave trade across West Africa for more than a hundred years.
Sadly, hundreds of enslaved people were brought every year to work in Lisbon. Historians estimate that African people made up ten percent of Lisbon's population back then. Portugal held onto these ocean claims using the legal idea of mare clausum, or closed seas.
The Treaty of Tordesillas and Dividing the Oceans
In 1492, Italian navigator Christopher Columbus sailed west for Spain and discovered the New World. Columbus wrongly believed he had reached the rich spice markets of eastern Asia. This surprise voyage sparked intense arguments between the royal rulers of Portugal and Spain.
Pope Alexander VI helped organize direct peace talks between both competing Catholic kingdoms. In 1494, both nations signed the historic and far-reaching Treaty of Tordesillas. This treaty established an imaginary north-south line across the Atlantic Ocean.
The line ran along an ocean meridian 370 leagues west of Cape Verde. That distance was equal to about 970 miles (1,560 km) west of the islands. Spain received exploring rights to lands west of the boundary line.
Portugal earned exclusive exploring rights to all lands and waters east of the line. Because sailors lacked accurate clocks, they could not measure precise longitude at sea. As a result, Portugal and Spain argued about exact boundary borders until 1777.
Historians believe long treaty negotiations delayed Portugal from following up on the voyage of Dias. Some scholars wonder if Portuguese captains were secretly exploring the southern Atlantic winds instead. In 1497, Portugal felt ready to launch its greatest ocean adventure yet.
Reaching India and Sailing into Brazil
King Manuel I selected nobleman Vasco da Gama to lead four sturdy ships to India. The small fleet left Lisbon on July 8, 1497, carrying 170 skilled crewmen. Da Gama sailed far into the open South Atlantic to catch the strongest circular winds.
His fleet swept past the stormy Cape of Good Hope into the warm Indian Ocean. Da Gama stopped along the coast of East Africa to hire a knowledgeable local navigator. This pilot guided the fleet across the Arabian Sea straight to Calicut in May 1498.
The Hindu ruler of Calicut, known as the Zamorin, greeted the newly arrived Europeans. Da Gama tried trading European goods, but local merchants found his items unimpressive. Following tense arguments, da Gama obtained a letter allowing him to buy fragrant spices.
Da Gama returned home to Lisbon in 1499 with holds filled with valuable black pepper and cinnamon. His historic journey proved ships could sail directly between western Europe and rich Asian ports. The Portuguese Crown soon created the Casa da Índia in Lisbon to manage Asian trade.
In 1500, a huge fleet of thirteen ships sailed under commander Pedro Álvares Cabral. Cabral steered far southwest into the Atlantic Ocean to catch helpful offshore trade winds. On April 22, 1500, Cabral unexpectedly sighted land and made landfall along the South American coast.
This landing marked the official European discovery of Brazil. Cabral claimed this lush, tropical territory for Portugal under the Treaty of Tordesillas. Scribe Pero Vaz de Caminha wrote an enchanting letter describing the friendly local people.
The land held huge forests of reddish dye trees called pau-brasil, or brazilwood. Because sailors found no gold right away, Portugal kept its main focus on Indian spices. Cabral soon turned his fleet back toward Africa to finish his voyage to India.
Building the Portuguese Empire Across the Indian Ocean
Portugal wanted complete control over the profitable Asian spice trade. Spices like pepper, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon were worth fortunes in European cooking and medicine. Portuguese admirals used heavy cannons on their ships to control important sea trade routes.
Along the coast of East Africa, small Islamic trading towns dotted the shores. Portuguese forces attacked or allied with city-states like Mozambique, Kilwa, Brava, Sofala, and Mombasa. Back in 1490, Pêro da Covilhã had secretly traveled overland to visit the kingdom of Ethiopia.
Portugal sent an official diplomatic mission to visit the Ethiopian royal court in 1520. In 1500, Cabral's captain Diogo Dias became separated from the fleet during a wild storm. Dias spotted a massive island in Southeast Africa that he named St. Lawrence, now Madagascar.
Cabral arrived at Calicut in September 1500 and opened a small trading post. Soon, fighting broke out between local merchants and Portuguese sailors in the busy city. Angry crowds attacked the trading station, killing several men, including the royal scribe Caminha.
Cabral bombarded Calicut with heavy ship cannons before sailing south to friendly Kochi. The Maharaja of Kochi welcomed the Portuguese as helpful allies against his rival in Calicut. Cabral bought huge supplies of pepper and returned safely to Lisbon with valuable cargo.
In 1503, Portuguese builders constructed Fort Manuel at Kochi, their first Asian stronghold. Inside the fort, workers built the historic St. Francis Church. King Manuel I of Portugal appointed nobleman Francisco de Almeida as first Viceroy of Portuguese India in 1505.
Almeida established his central naval headquarters at Kochi to control passing merchant shipping. Portuguese soldiers built St. Angelo Fort in Kannur to protect their coastal supply warehouses. The Viceroy's son, Lourenço de Almeida, sailed south to the island of Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka).
Ceylon produced the world's finest cinnamon, which grew wild along lush coastal plains. Young Lourenço signed a defense treaty with the local kingdom of Kotte to buy cinnamon. Later, in 1517, the Portuguese built a stone fortress at the port of Colombo.
In 1506, fleets led by Tristão da Cunha and Afonso de Albuquerque attacked Socotra near the Red Sea. Albuquerque captured the desert trading city of Muscat in 1507 to block Arabian shipping. Forts were built on Mozambique Island and at Mombasa to guard ocean travel routes.
During these busy voyages, Cunha explored parts of Madagascar and spotted the island of Mauritius. Muslim rulers and European trading rivals quickly united to stop this new Portuguese naval threat. In 1509, a huge naval clash called the Battle of Diu took place off India.
The Portuguese fleet fought ships sent by the Ottoman Empire and the Gujarat Sultanate. The alliance also included the Mamluk Sultan of Cairo, Calicut, the Venetian Republic, and Dubrovnik. Almeida's fleet won a decisive victory, giving Portugal control of the northern Indian Ocean.
A second battle, the Siege of Diu in 1538, defeated another Ottoman fleet. In 1510, brilliant commander Afonso de Albuquerque captured the island port of Goa. Goa belonged to the Bijapur sultanate and was famous for importing war horses.
A local Hindu leader named Timoji helped Albuquerque's forces take the city. Goa became the grand capital of Estado da India (the State of India). Albuquerque built a royal mint in Goa to strike gold and silver coins.
Expanding Expeditions Across Southeast Asia and the Far East
In April 1511, Afonso de Albuquerque sailed east to conquer the wealthy city of Malacca. Malacca sat along the narrow strait between modern Malaysia and the island of Sumatra. Merchants from China, Japan, Arabia, Persia, and India gathered there to trade valuable merchandise.
Writer Tomé Pires described Malacca as the most valuable trading hub in the world. Albuquerque built a massive stone fortress named "A Famosa" to protect the harbor. Hearing about the nearby Ayutthaya Kingdom in Thailand, he sent diplomat Duarte Fernandes to visit.
Fernandes became the first European diplomat to build friendly ties with the Siamese kingdom. In late 1511, Albuquerque sent four ships to find the famous Spice Islands. Captain António de Abreu and his companion Francisco Serrão sailed across the Indonesian seas.
They reached the volcanic Banda Islands to buy rare nutmeg and fragrant cloves. Serrão traveled onward to the island of Ternate, where he built a Portuguese fort. Portuguese traders occupied Makassar in 1512 and reached the sandalwood forests of Timor in 1514.
Sailor Jorge Álvares led the first Portuguese trading vessel to southern China in 1513. Álvares anchored his ship at an island near the major trading river of Guangzhou. Chinese officials traded silk and porcelain with the Portuguese, later leasing them land at Macau.
Albuquerque sailed west into the Persian Gulf to take the wealthy island of Hormuz in 1515. Hormuz controlled the entrance to the Persian Gulf, making it an extremely important prize. However, the strong desert city of Aden fought off Portuguese attacks in 1513 and 1516.
Commander António Correia led a successful landing on the island of Bahrain in 1521. Correia defeated the local Jabrid king, Muqrin ibn Zamil, securing Bahrain's valuable pearl fisheries. Portugal built Fort São Sebastião on Mozambique Island to protect ships sailing between Lisbon and Goa.
Meanwhile, Spain claimed the Spice Islands after Fernão de Magalhães circumnavigated the globe. A Spanish expedition under García Jofre de Loaísa arrived at Tidore in 1525. Portuguese soldiers in nearby Ternate fought Spanish crews for years over spice trade rights.
The two crowns finally settled their Asian claims in the Treaty of Zaragoza (1529). Portugal paid Spain 350,000 gold ducats to keep the Maluku Islands entirely for itself. Spain agreed that its boundary would stay far east, keeping the Philippines instead.
Back across the Atlantic, King John III began colonizing Brazil in 1530. He divided the coastline into fifteen large tracts called capitanias hereditárias (hereditary captaincies). Wealthy Portuguese nobles received these lands to settle, farm, and defend with their own money.
Captain Martim Afonso de Sousa patrolled the coast in 1530 to drive away French woodcutters. Sousa founded Brazil's first permanent European town, São Vicente, in 1532. Settlers soon started another town named São Paulo on the high inland plateau.
Only two captaincies became truly successful: Pernambuco in the north and São Vicente. Settlers cleared coastal forests to build huge sugarcane farms and boiling mills. Sadly, landowners forced Native American and African workers to perform this brutal farm labor.
In India, Sultan Bahadur Shah of Gujarat needed help fighting off the invading Mughals. In 1534, he signed the Treaty of Bassein (1534) with Portuguese leaders in Goa. In exchange for military help, the Sultan gave Portugal Daman, Diu, Mumbai, and Bassein.
Catholic missionary Francis Xavier from the Jesuit order arrived in Goa in 1542. He worked under King John III to teach Christianity across India and East Asia. That same year, Portuguese traders Francisco Zeimoto and António Mota reached mysterious Japan.
They landed on the island of Tanegashima, where locals had never seen European firearms. Japanese metalworkers quickly copied their matchlock guns and produced thousands of weapons. In 1557, Chinese authorities allowed Portugal to establish a permanent trading town at Macau.
Macau became a hub for the triangular trade connecting Guangzhou, Nagasaki, and Lisbon. In 1570, Portuguese merchants helped build the port city of Nagasaki in Japan. For several decades, Portuguese ships were Japan's primary trading window to the outside world.
Portuguese explorers succeeded because they turned ocean sailing into a precise practical science. Early sailors stayed close to known shorelines because getting lost at sea meant death. Portuguese navigators learned how to sail far out into the open ocean without landmarks.
They studied astronomy, mathematics, and cartography to find their position on trackless waters. Navigators measured the height of the midday Sun or the North Star above the horizon. To do this, they used brass tools like the mariner's astrolabe, quadrant, and cross-staff.
These instruments gave captains their exact latitude, telling them how far north or south they were. Captains recorded their daily sailing speeds, compass directions, and ocean depths in detailed logbooks. Ship pilots used a clever sailing technique known as the volta do mar (turn of the sea).
Instead of fighting head-on against strong coastal winds, ships sailed far out into the ocean. There, they caught giant circular wind systems that carried them quickly to their destinations. This deep understanding of ocean winds allowed Bartolomeu Dias and Vasco da Gama to round Africa.
Complete Chronology of Discoveries and Journeys
- 1147 — The Voyage of the Adventurers sets sail from Lisbon just before King Afonso I of Portugal takes the city during the siege of Lisbon.
- 1336 — Portuguese and Genoese sailors make an early mapping journey to the Canary Islands.
- 1412 — Prince Henry the Navigator orders systematic voyages to explore the west coast of Africa.
- 1415 — Portuguese troops sail across the Strait of Gibraltar for the Conquest of Ceuta.
- 1419 — Captains João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira find the small island of Porto Santo.
- 1420 — Zarco, Teixeira, and Bartolomeu Perestrelo explore and settle the island of Madeira.
- 1422 — Portuguese ships sail past Cape Nao, which was previously considered the final edge of navigation.
- 1427 — Navigator Diogo de Silves sights the green volcanic peaks of the Azores. Settler Gonçalo Velho Cabral arrives in 1431.
- 1434 — Captain Gil Eanes rounds Cape Bojador, ending old medieval myths about ocean monsters.
- 1434 — Navigators begin using a modern 32-point compass card instead of older 12-point designs.
- 1435 — Gil Eanes and Afonso Gonçalves Baldaia discover Garnet Bay and map Rio de Ouro in West Africa.
- 1441 — Nuno Tristão sails past the white sand dunes of Cape Blanc.
- 1443 — Tristão enters the Bay of Arguin. Prince Pedro grants Prince Henry exclusive rights to southern ocean voyages.
- 1444 — Dinis Dias reaches the lush green headland called Cape Verde.
- 1445 — Álvaro Fernandes explores past Cape Verde and reaches Cape Naze. Portugal builds a fortified feitoria on Arguin Island.
- 1446 — Álvaro Fernandes explores the mangrove rivers of modern Guinea-Bissau.
- 1452 — Navigator Diogo de Teive sights the remote western Azores islands of Flores and Corvo.
- 1455 — The Papal bull Romanus Pontifex confirms Portuguese trading rights south of Cape Bojador and Cape Non (Cape Chaunar).
- 1456 — Italian explorer Alvise Cadamosto, sailing for Prince Henry, explores the eastern Cape Verde islands.
- 1458 — Navigators map three capes along the Grain Coast: Grand Cape Mount, Cape Mesurado, and Cape Palmas.
- 1460 — Prince Henry passes away at Sagres. His captains have mapped Africa down to latitude 8° N and reached longitude 40° W near the Sargasso Sea.
- 1461 — Explorers Diogo Gomes and António de Noli locate more islands in the Cape Verde archipelago.
- 1471 — Captains João de Santarém and Pedro Escobar cross the Equator. Sailors learn to steer at night using the Southern Cross constellation and locate the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe.
- 1479 — The Treaty of Alcáçovas gives Portugal ownership of the Azores, Guinea, Madeira, and Cape Verde, while Castile keeps the Canary Islands.
- 1482 — Diogo Cão discovers the wide mouth of the Zaire River and reaches the Yellala Falls.
- 1484 — Diogo Cão sets up a stone pillar at Walvis Bay along the coast of Namibia.
- 1487 — Afonso de Paiva and Pero da Covilhã travel overland in search of the legendary realm of Prester John in Ethiopia.
- 1488 — Bartolomeu Dias leads the first European crew around the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean.
- 1494 — Spain and Portugal sign the famous Treaty of Tordesillas, dividing the globe between both nations.
- 1495 — Navigators João Fernandes Lavrador and Pêro de Barcelos explore near Greenland and map Labrador in North America.
- 1498 — Vasco da Gama sails across the Indian Ocean to reach Calicut in India.
- 1498 — Duarte Pacheco Pereira explores ocean currents in the South Atlantic near the Amazon River.
- 1500 — Pedro Álvares Cabral makes landfall in South America during the official discovery of Brazil.
- 1500 — Gaspar Corte-Real explores the rocky shores of Newfoundland in North America.
- 1500 — Captain Diogo Dias sights the giant African island of Madagascar.
- 1502 — Vasco da Gama spots the beautiful Amirante Islands near the modern Seychelles.
- 1502 — Miguel Corte-Real sails toward North America. João da Nova finds Ascension Island, and Fernão de Noronha spots his namesake island.
- 1503 — Captain Estêvão da Gama discovers remote Saint Helena Island in the South Atlantic.
- 1505 — Commander Gonçalo Álvares discovers icy Gough Island far to the south.
- 1505 — Lourenço de Almeida sails to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) to purchase sweet cinnamon.
- 1506 — Sailor Tristão da Cunha discovers the remote island group named after him in the South Atlantic.
- 1509 — Diogo Lopes de Sequeira crosses the stormy Bay of Bengal and drops anchor at Malacca.
- 1511 — Envoy Duarte Fernandes visits the royal court of the Ayutthaya Kingdom in Thailand.
- 1511–12 — João de Lisboa and Estêvão de Fróis explore Punta Del Este in the River Plate estuary near Uruguay and Argentina. Backed by merchant Christopher de Haro, they trade with the Charrúa people and learn rumors about the distant Inca Empire.
- 1512 — Captain António de Abreu reaches the Banda Islands, Ambon Island, and Seram. Francisco Serrão reaches the Moluccas.
- 1512 — Pedro Mascarenhas explores Diego Garcia and visits Mauritius. Later in 1528, Diogo Rodrigues names Réunion, Mauritius, and Rodrigues the Mascarene Islands.
- 1513 — Jorge Álvares lands on an island in southern China to trade goods.
- 1514–1531 — Explorers António Fernandes, Sancho de Tovar, and Vicente Pegado become the first Europeans to describe the stone ruins of Great Zimbabwe in southern Africa.
- 1517 — Royal ambassadors Fernão Pires de Andrade and Tomé Pires visit China during the reign of the Ming Dynasty Zhengde Emperor.
- 1519–1521 — Portuguese captain Fernão de Magalhães leads a Spanish expedition around South America into the Pacific Ocean. Experienced crewmen like Duarte Barbosa, João Serrão, Estêvão Gomes, and Enrique of Malacca join the fleet.
- 1525 — Explorer Aleixo Garcia joins an expedition across South America. Leading native Guaraní allies across the Chaco, he reaches the edge of the Inca Empire in the Andes mountains.
- 1525 — Explorers Diogo da Rocha and Gomes de Sequeira visit Celebes and drift toward Palau Island or Yap in the Caroline Islands. Historians wonder if they sighted the Cape York Peninsula or Prince of Wales Islands in Australia, near Adi Island or the Aru Islands. That year, Martim Afonso de Melo explores the Tanimbar Islands.
- 1526 — Portuguese captain Jorge de Meneses discovers the large island of New Guinea.
- 1529 — The Treaty of Saragossa divides control of the Pacific Ocean between Spain and Portugal.
- 1542 — Portuguese sailors Francisco Zeimoto and António Mota land at Tanegashima in Japan.
- 1542 — Navigator João Rodrigues Cabrilho explores the scenic coast of California on behalf of Spain.
- 1557 — Portugal officially receives the busy port of Macau from the Emperor of China to help stop piracy in the South China Sea.
- 1559 — The Portuguese ship Nau São Paulo explores remote Île Saint-Paul in the southern Indian Ocean.
- 1560 — Jesuit missionary Gonçalo da Silveira travels up the Zambezi River to visit the ruler of the Monomotapa kingdom near the M'Zingesi River.
- 1586 — A Portuguese Capuchin friar named António da Madalena becomes one of the first European visitors to see the ancient stone temples of Angkor in Cambodia.
- 1602–1606 — Jesuit traveler Bento de Góis journeys overland from India across Afghanistan and the high Pamir Mountains to reach China.
- 1606 — Navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós spots Henderson Island, Ducie Island, and the islands of Vanuatu.
- 1626 — Catholic missionary Estêvão Cacella travels into the giant Himalayas mountains to become the first European explorer to visit Bhutan.
- 1636–1638 — Pedro Teixeira leads a giant expedition up the mighty Amazon River to Quito in Ecuador.
- 1648–1651 — Pioneer António Raposo Tavares leads a huge trek from São Paulo along the Paraguay River, Mamoré River, and Madeira River to the mouth of the Amazon.
