What happened to portugal in the mid 1500s?

The Kingdom of Portugal in the 15th century was the first European power to begin building a colonial empire. The Portuguese Renaissance was a period of exploration during which Portuguese sailors discovered several Atlantic archipelagos like the Azores, Madeira, and Cape Verde, explored and colonized the African coast, discovered an eastern route to India that rounded the Cape of Good Hope, discovered Brazil, explored the Indian Ocean and established trading routes throughout most of southern Asia, and sent the first direct European maritime trade and diplomatic missions to Ming China and to Japan.

1500 - Pedro Álvares Cabral discovered Brazil on his way to India. 1500 - Gaspar Corte-Real made his first voyage to Newfoundland, formerly known as Terras Corte-Real ... 1505 - Lourenço de Almeida made the first Portuguese voyage to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and established a settlement there.

Explanation:

1500 - Pedro Álvares Cabral discovered Brazil on his way to India. 1500 - Gaspar Corte-Real made his first voyage to Newfoundland, formerly known as Terras Corte-Real ... 1505 - Lourenço de Almeida made the first Portuguese voyage to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and established a settlement there.