The land within the borders of the current Portuguese Republic has been continually fought over and settled since prehistoric times, first by the Celts and the Romans, followed by the Visigothic and Suebiandomination, and later by the Muslim Moorish, who were eventually expelled during the Christian Reconquista of the peninsula. By 1139, Portugal established itself as an independent kingdom from León. In the 15th and 16th centuries, as the result of pioneering the Age of Discovery, Portugal expanded western influence and established the First Global Empire, becoming one of the world’s major economic, political and military powers, and ultimately dividing the world with Spain.
PORTUGAL
