Portugal went from being a small medieval kingdom on the Atlantic coast of the Iberian peninsula to a massive maritime empire. At its height in the 1500s, Portugal controlled parts of South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. As one of the first European countries to take up colonial ventures, Portugal is responsible for the first great wave of globalization: the movement of people, ideas, and spices around the world to an extent never seen before.

Like most of Europe, the region that would one day become Portugal was rocked by regional disputes and conquests. Originally a part of Roman Lusitania, Portugal after the Roman Empire became a part of the Al-Andalus region of the Umayyad Caliphate. But don't let the word "conquest" paint too dark a picture: life in Al-Andalus during the turn of the first millennium would have been a bright spot in comparison with many parts of Western Europe, as, while Europe was going through the Dark Ages, arts and learning flourished across the peninsula via centers such as Cordoba.

Umayyad rule extended until the 1100s, when Dom Afonso Henriques led a successful rebellion. For this, Afonso I is giving the title “The Founder,” in recognition of having established the first independent Portuguese state. Afonso, along with other Christian kings in the region, continued the Reconquista - the campaign to overthrow Moorish (Muslim) rule in Iberia. Famously, Alfonso took Lisbon in 1147, aided (unintentionally) by an influx of English Crusaders taking shelter in Portugal to avoid the stormy Atlantic. Realizing that they could fight their version of the Crusades closer to home, they stayed and helped to expel the Umayyads from the region (they were permitted to loot captured cities and ransom prisoners as payment). In 1249, Afonso III captured the southern city of Faro, solidifying Portuguese dominance within the region. By the 13th century, Portugal’s borders were comparable to what they are today, and they’d made an alliance with the English that was to last through centuries.

With Portugal’s newfound independence came an age of maritime exploration. The Portuguese now controlled powerful port cities as well as the benefits of Umayyad astronomy and math, allowing them to take advantage of their coastline to travel across the known (and eventually unknown) ocean. These two traits allowed Portugal to embark on a gamble - trade with Asia by braving the dangerous waters rather than rely upon all of the middlemen who made up the Silk Road - many of whom were still smarting from the loss of the Umayyads. With this in mind, João I, with his three sons, Prince Duarte, Prince Pedro, and Prince Henry “the Navigator” kicked off the Age of Discovery - Discovery, of course, for the Portuguese; residents of Malacca, Goa, and Angola might have had another word for it. This conquest was in a sense the next step from the Reconquista - the first real overseas colony for the Portuguese was the conquest of Ceuta, in North Africa, very close to the Portuguese coast. The Portuguese continued to “explore” the seas and set up colonies starting along the coast of Africa and moving all the way to India and East Asia. By the early 1500s, there were series of Portuguese colonies nearly spanning the world, including places such as Angola, Mozambique, Somalia, Goa (in India), Malacca (in present-day Malaysia), Timor, and a trade post in Japan. The institution of these colonies and trade routes made Portugal very powerful and very wealthy within a short amount of time, as Portuguese merchants controlled the import and export of gold, spices, but also the trafficking of enslaved persons, leading to increased riches and an increased thirst for new conquests, new trade goods - and new converts to Catholicism, an emphasis that was to doom Portuguese colonies in many places; Malay sultans and Japanese daimyo didn't mind trade, but conversion threatened to break apart their political order (something of which the more canny Dutch took note).

Portugal had a friendly rivalry with their neighbor, Spain, when it came to this exploration. After Christopher Columbus “discovered” America in 1492 and solidified a Spanish claim to that territory, Portugal knew they had to find a way to one-up their neighbor. Portuguese explorers had stumbled upon the coast of Brazil, and, after a bitter dispute with Spain, the Pope had to step in to finally resolve them with the Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided up the New World’s “discoveries” : those east of the line would be Portuguese, and those west would be Spanish. Both sides found this agreeable enough (not that they’d argue with the Pope) and went about their business of conquest, but as European explorers began to fill in the map, it quickly became apparent that Spain had inherited gold-rich Mexico, Peru, and most of North America, whereas Portugal received coastal Brazil. (No one, it seemed, consulted with the indigenous peoples first).

The peace with their neighbor doesn’t last, however, and after a series of unfortunate events in Portugal led to a throne without an heir, Portugal found themselves seated with a Spanish king. Philip II of Spain claimed the throne through his mother’s line and marched on Portugal. After his decisive victories, he was crowned Philip I of Portugal (since he couldn’t be Philip II there, with no prior Philip I). Portugal wouldn’t be independent again until 1640 after the Portuguese Restoration War, and even then, they had to wait another 28 years for Spain to recognize that independence.

Fortune appeared to follow after that when gold was discovered in Brazil. The new flow of wealth helped to enrich Portugal’s economy and gave them a financial cushion, something sorely needed when a magnitude nine earthquake hit Lisbon in 1755. Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, or the Marquis of Pombal for short, survived the destruction and without a pause, went about rebuilding the city. His swift action had the city rebuilt in a year, and in a stroke of brilliance, he had the buildings designed to withstand earthquakes.

Napoleon invaded Portugal as a part of his conquest of Europe in the 1800s, and when he seized Lisbon, the Portuguese capital moved to Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro. Portugal pushed back Napoleon with the help of their English allies – solidifying a bond that had been present since the beginning. But this move was the end of Portugal's Brazilian claim: at the end of the war, Lisbon became the capital once again after Brazil declared its independence from Portugal.

Portugal today remains a strongly Catholic nation, and is a core member of the European Union. It remains famous for its food and drink (including green wine!), melancholic fado music, and cosmopolitan outlook. Portugal and Britain keep close ties, although in peak tourist season the Portuguese might sometimes think twice…