Portugal is a place.
Portugal . During this time , Portuguese explorers pioneered maritime exploration in the Age of Discovery , notably under royal patronage of Prince Henry the Navigator and King João II , with such notable discoveries as Bartolomeu Dias 's reach of the Cape of Good Hope ( 1488 ) , the Vasco da Gama 's sea route to India ( 1497 -- 98 ) and the discovery of Brazil ( 1500 ) .