And now, to the blue corner representing Portuguese exploration, we have Vasco da Gama. A couple things about Portugal. First, it has a fair bit of coastline. Secondly, it was relatively resource poor, which meant it relied upon trade in order to grow. Also, the Iberian Peninsula was the only place in Europe where Muslims could be found in large numbers in the 15th century, which meant the Christian crusading spirit was quite strong there, presumably because Muslims had brought so much stability and prosperity to the region. And chief among these would-be crusaders was Prince Henry the Navigator, so-called because he was not a navigator. He was, however, a patron not only of sailors themselves, but of a special school at Sagres in which nautical knowledge was collected and new maps were made and all kinds of awesome stuff happened.