Located on the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal is the westernmost country in continental Europe and, in addition to its continental portion, the Portuguese territory has two autonomous regions: the Madeira Archipelago and the Azores Archipelago. The region where Portugal is located began to be occupied hundreds of thousands of years ago, when Homo heidelbergensis and Neanderthals arrived in the region, around 400 thousand years ago. Over time, the region began to be populated by Indo-European peoples, was occupied by the Roman Empire, was invaded by Muslims who arrived from Africa and reconquered again by Christians. This reveals a little of the richness of Portuguese history and, in this video, you will learn a little of that history, from the beginning of human occupation of the region, until the moment when Portugal conquers its independence, giving rise to the Kingdom of Portugal.
Portugal's rich and heroic history continues and, after gaining its independence in 1139, the Kingdom of Portugal managed to evolve into the mighty Portuguese Empire. After completing their part of the reconquest in 1249 and, with the territory already consolidated, the Portuguese turned their attention to maritime explorations. Benefiting from their privileged geographic position, the Portuguese set out on an undertaking to conquer Arab positions in North Africa and the conquest of Ceuta, in present-day Morocco, marks the birth of the Empire of Portugal. The desire to find a more economical way that would take the Portuguese to the Indies in an attempt to monopolize the much coveted spice trade, strengthened even more after the fall of Constantinople that ended up limiting access to this region, led the Portuguese to explore the coast from Africa and, later, discover the long-awaited path to the Indies that ended up taking the Portuguese to all corners of the world. But even after its expansion, the Portuguese Empire faced several succession problems that ended up resulting in conflicts with other emerging powers and shaking old alliances, leading to the weakening and loss of strategic positions around the world.
Portugal's history began to change with the onset of the Napoleonic Wars. After this conflict, the decline of the Portuguese Empire began, culminating in its fall at the end of the 20th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a transition in the Portuguese form of government, which ceased to be a monarchy and became a republic and, from that period on, a great political and social transformation took place in Portugal. The Portuguese Empire gradually lost its colonies during that century and ceased to be the great colonizing power it was in the past.
