Portuguese colonization of the Americas Portuguese colonization of the Americas Portugal was the leading country in the European exploration of the world in the 15th century. The Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 divided the Earth outside Europe into Castilian and Portuguese global territorial hemispheres for exclusive conquest and colonization. Portugal colonized parts of South America (mostly Brazil), but also made some unsuccessful attempts to colonize North America in present-day Canada. Based on the terms of the Treaty of Tordesillas, the Portuguese Crown claimed it had territorial rights in the area visited by the Genoese explorer John Cabot in 1497 and 1498 on behalf of the
Portuguese New Zealanders Pereira, was the only victim of the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior in the port of Auckland. On the 10th of July, 1985, two French DGSE agents bombed the Rainbow Warrior, Greenpeace's flagship, which was scheduled to depart New Zealand to disrupt nuclear testing in French Polynesia. This was to date the only foreign attack on New Zealand's soil. Today, the Portuguese are part of an even larger Portuguese-speaking community in New Zealand, that also includes Brazilians, East Timorese and Macanese. Portuguese New Zealanders Portuguese New Zealanders are either Portuguese who migrated to New Zealand, or New Zealanders of Portuguese