Empires come and empires go

And speaking of empires, while reading recently about the settlement of the Americas, I kept bumping into the Portugese.  Their empire was the first to span the globe, and it lasted for over 500 years, longer than that of any other European nation.

The map above entitled "Portugal Is Not a Small Country," was created for internal Portugese reasons, after the loss of Brazil, to show that the remaining hegemony was still substantial. 

Found at Strange Maps.  Posted for the Oregon Expat.