Captaincies of Brazil in the context of "History of Brazil"

Before the arrival of the Europeans, the lands that now constitute Brazil were occupied, fought over, and settled by diverse tribes for thousands of years. The Portuguese landed in the so-called "New World" on April 22, 1500, commanded by Pedro Álvares Cabral, an explorer on his way to India under the sponsorship of the Kingdom of Portugal and the support of the Catholic Church.

Between the 16th to the early 19th century, Brazil was created and expanded as a colony, kingdom, and an integral part of the Portuguese Empire. Brazil was briefly named "Land of the Holy Cross" by Portuguese explorers and crusaders before being named "Land of Brazil" by the Brazilian-Portuguese settlers and merchants dealing with brazilwood. The country expanded south along the coast and west along the Amazon River and other inland rivers from the original 15 hereditary captaincy colonies established on the northeast Atlantic coast east of the Tordesillas Line, an imaginary line in the form of a treaty signed in 1494 that divided the Portuguese domain to the east from the Spanish domain to the west. The country's borders were only finalized in the early 20th century, with most of the expansion occurring before the independence, resulting in the largest contiguous territory in the Americas.