What did the Portuguese discover first?
Table of Contents
As early as 1341, Portuguese sailors had made their first forays into the tempting waters that lay beyond their shores, exploring the Canary Islands off the northwestern coast of Africa.
What did the Portuguese discover in the Age of Discovery?
The sea route east by south to Cathay. Henry the Navigator, prince of Portugal, initiated the first great enterprise of the Age of Discovery—the search for a sea route east by south to Cathay.

Why were the Portuguese the first European explorers?
Under the leadership of Prince Henry the Navigator, Portugal took the principal role during most of the fifteenth century in searching for a route to Asia by sailing south around Africa. In the process, the Portuguese accumulated a wealth of knowledge about navigation and the geography of the Atlantic Ocean.
Did the Portuguese discover America first?
In 1498, just one year after Italian explorer Giovanni Caboto rediscovered North America and six years after fellow Italian Christopher Columbus “discovered” the New World, Portuguese explorers João Fernandes Lavrador and Pêro de Barcelos were the first modern explorers of much of northeastern North America, including …

Why were the Portuguese the first successful explorers?
What countries did the Portuguese discover?
Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of European exploration, chronicling and mapping the coasts of Africa and Asia, then known as the East Indies, and Canada and Brazil (the West Indies), in what came to be known as the Age of Discovery.
Why the Portuguese were the first successful European explorers?
Who first discovered Portugal?
Vasco da Gama’s squadron left Portugal on 8 July 1497, consisting of four ships and a crew of 170 men. It rounded the Cape and continued along the coast of East Africa, where a local pilot was brought on board who guided them across the Indian Ocean, reaching Calicut in western India in May 1498.
What was one reason the Portuguese were some of the first explorers and colonizers?
Motivated by the desire for new markets and an ongoing opposition to the Muslims, Portuguese sailors had begun to explore the West African coast in the first half of the fifteenth century.
Who was the first Portuguese explorer?
1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea….
Vasco da Gama | |
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Born | 1460 or 1469 Sines, Alentejo, Kingdom of Portugal |
Died | 24 December 1524 (aged approximately 55–65) Cochin, Kingdom of Cochin |