Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India of the "São Gabriel" and its sister ship, the "São Rafael" that were used by Vasco da Gama to sail past the Cape of Good Hope and continue to India. One of the sailors, Bartolomeu Dias passed the southernmost point of Africa known as the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. He declared it possible to travel to India by going around Africa. The Portuguese were then able to make an immense profit by using their own ships to retrieve the spices. This global expedition was launched on 8 July 1497. It concluded two years later with the entry of
Greater Portugal Greater Portugal Greater Portugal (), also known as Portugalicia (), is a proposed union of the Portuguese-speaking territories including the autonomous region of Galicia, the Eonavian region, the territory of Olivença, and many villages along the Portugal-Spain border that speak any kind of Galician-Portuguese dialect, such as the Fala language. The concept of a Greater Portugal has its origins during the Portuguese Age of Discoveries, when Portuguese navigators and explorers discovered previously uninhabited lands such as the Madeira Islands, Savage Islands, Azores, and several other lands in the Atlantic Ocean. Although the proposal is thought to be a recent political