- Portugal began as a small kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula in the Middle Ages and grew to become a major world power through its global exploration and colonization efforts between the 15th and 16th centuries. - Portugal established trading posts and colonies on every continent, building a vast overseas empire and dominating the spice trade, though it gradually lost territories to other European powers. - Key events in Portugal's rise included capturing Ceuta in 1415, starting the Age of Discovery; the Treaty of Tordesillas dividing newly discovered lands between Portugal and Spain in 1494; and establishing colonies and forts in Asia, Africa and Brazil.