Portugal–South Africa relations as part of a land claim). Bartolomeu Dias did so in 1486, and Vasco da Gama recorded a sighting of the Cape of Good Hope in 1497, en route to India. South Africa had close relations with Portugal, particularly during the time that Mozambique and Angola were Portuguese colonies. South Africa under apartheid was ruled by the National Party, which shared common ground with the anti-communist "Estado Novo" regime of António Salazar in Portugal. Following Britain's decision to grant independence to its colonies in Africa, the government of Hendrik Verwoerd feared that the newly-independent states would fall under the influence
Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks opened more lucrative routes from Europe to the Orient through the Crusader states of the Middle East. By that time, Rus' had strengthened its commercial ties with Western Europe, and the route from the Varangians to the Greeks gradually lost its significance. For a related military route, see Muravsky Trail. Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks The trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks (, , , , ) was a medieval trade route that connected Scandinavia, Kievan Rus' and the Eastern Roman Empire. The route allowed merchants along its length to establish a direct prosperous trade