Treaty of Tordesillas

Spain and Portugal agreed to divide newly discovered lands along a meridian in the Atlantic — the west to Spain, the east to Portugal.

After Columbus returned, Pope Alexander VI in 1493 drew a line 100 leagues west of the Azores; Portugal objected and negotiated directly. On 7 June 1494 the two crowns moved the line to 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands (roughly 46° W). Thanks to this line, Brazil at the eastern bulge of South America later fell to Portugal. Other European powers did not recognise the treaty. The Treaty of Zaragoza of 1529 fixed the line on the Asian side.