Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
global reach (Boxer 1973). Portuguese caravels were the first European vessels to ex-
ploretheWestAfricancoastand,in1497,toventurebeyondthecontinent'ssoutherntip,
openingaseabornetradewithIndiaandtheFarEast.Portugalinitiated thetrans-Atlant-
ic slave trade as well, shipping Africans from present-day Angola and other parts of the
westcoastofAfricatoPortugal'svastsugarplantationsinBrazil.DutchandEnglishsea
power eventually muscled Portugal out of most markets. The independence of Brazil in
1822 rendered Portugal's long and steep decline irreversible. Portugal nonetheless held
on to a number of territories in various far-flung corners of Africa, India, and Southeast
Asia.
For centuries, the Portuguese presence in these places was confined mostly to coastal
townsandfortifiedtradingposts.Butinthelatenineteenthcentury,duringtheScramble
for Africa, competition from Britain, France, and Germany threatened Portugal's tenu-
ous positions on the continent. Only then was Portugal compelled to move beyond its
coastal enclaves and exercise direct control over the interior of Mozambique, Angola,
and Guinea, for fear that one of the other European powers would claim them instead.
With most local populations in the various hinterlands violently “pacified” and the
boundaries of European control settled, Mozambique and Angola became Portugal's
most populous and important colonies. White settlement, however, proceeded slowly
until the midtwentieth century, when Lisbon sponsored a series of ambitious efforts to
encourage immigration from the metropole to its territories overseas. By the eve of in-
dependence, the white population had reached 190,000 in Mozambique and 324,000 in
Angola (Castelo 2007).
Figure 10.1
Portugal and its possessions in the twentieth century. Key: 1. Cape Verde, independ-
ent in 1975; 2. Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau), independent in 1974; 3. São Tomé and
Príncipe,independentin1975;4.Angola,independentin1975;5.Diu,Daman,andGoa,annexed
