The governments of potugal and spain colonized most of south America. Although portugal was never considered a big world power, but they were far superior than others in terms of power in the seas. Portugal had the best ships and the most advanced ship builders at that time. With time that power started fading and the power of spain started rising. The major part of brazil was colonised by the portugese. During the 15th century portugal was the leading nation in terms of European exploration of the world. they were ahead of others in respect of discovering new lands.