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
Islam in the Americas Islam in the Americas Islam is a minority religion in all of the countries and territories of the Americas. Suriname has the highest percentage of Muslims in its population for the region, with 13.5% or 66,307 individuals, according to its 2004 census. However, the United States, in which estimates vary due to a lack of a census question, is generally believed to have the largest population, with between 1.3 and 2.7 million. Some West African slaves taken to the Americas by colonists may likely have been Muslims, although they became forcibly converted to Christianity. Most Muslims in the former British