Portuguese Empire

The Portuguese Empire was when a group of people from Portugal, a country in Europe, decided to explore and conquer other lands far away. They did this a long time ago, when you weren't even born, maybe even before your parents were born!

When they explored, they found many new places they had never seen before. Some of these places were very far away, like Brazil, which is on the other side of the big ocean. The Portuguese people set up colonies, or settlements, in these new lands and they became part of the Portuguese Empire.

The Portuguese people did many things in their colonies. They traded, which meant they bought and sold things with the people living there. They also ruled over the colonies and made laws for the people living there to follow. Sometimes, they even forced the people in their colonies to work for them.

The Portuguese Empire was very big and lasted for a long time. It wasn't always good for the people living in the colonies, but it did help spread Portuguese language and culture to new places. Eventually, the empire started to break apart and many of the colonies became independent countries. But the legacy of the Portuguese Empire can still be seen today in the many places where Portuguese is spoken and in the many Portuguese traditions that are still celebrated.