Portugal colonized Brazil for over 300 years, profoundly shaping Brazil's culture, language, religion, and economy. Portugal established Portuguese as Brazil's dominant language and spread Christianity throughout Brazil. The colonization also led to the growth of the slave trade as Portuguese colonists developed large sugar plantations and mines, importing African slaves as laborers. Over time, Brazil grew powerful enough that it broke from Portuguese rule and became an independent nation in 1822, though cultural and economic ties between the two countries still remain strong today.