Macau was a Portuguese colony from the establishment of the first official Portuguese settlement of Macau in 1557 to its handover to China in 1999. It comprised the Municipality of Macau and the Municipality of Ilhas. Macau was both the first and last European holding in China.
16th century Portuguese watercolour of the Chinese, contained within the Códice Casanatense.
Church of St. Dominic, among Macau's oldest, and where the first modern newspaper in China. A Abelha da China was published.
Portuguese carrack depicted in a Japanese lacquer screen.
Amacao, by Theodor de Bry, c. 1598
The Portuguese Empire, also known as the Portuguese Overseas or the Portuguese Colonial Empire, was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and later overseas territories, governed by the Kingdom of Portugal. It was one of the longest-lived colonial empires in European history, lasting almost six centuries from the conquest of Ceuta in North Africa in 1415, to the transfer of sovereignty over Macau to China in 1999. The empire began in the 15th century, and from the early 16th century it stretched across the globe, with bases in Africa, North America, South America, and various regions of Asia and Oceania.
The Conquest of Ceuta, in 1415, was led by Henry the Navigator and initiated the Portuguese Empire.
Vasco da Gama's departure to India in 1497.
The carrack Santa Catarina do Monte Sinai exemplified the might and the force of the Portuguese Armada.
16th century Portuguese illustration from the Códice Casanatense, depicting a Portuguese nobleman with his retinue in India