The Portuguese Global Empire

"What actually happened was, in a very short period of time, the early 16th century, the Portuguese landed in Brazil and established a network of trading posts around the Indian Ocean, all the way to Macao. Beyond Macao, they got to Japan by the 1540s. They put together this phenomenal network that was less territorial and more commercial—the only sizable land settlements they had were in Brazil. The Portuguese were active in India and the Persian Gulf area, the west and east coasts of India, Japan and China."

" Portuguese is the most spoken language in South America." I never thought about this one. I guess it is because Brazil is such a vast territory!
The article can me found at the Smithsonian Magazine