Development of Portugal's Atlantic Islands

Timeline

1. 1462–1464Santiago island · Cape Verde islandsIn 1462 António de Noli and Diogo Gomes established the first settlements on Santiago island, incorporating the previously discovered Cape Verde islands into the Portuguese colonial system and providing a midway supply port for ships heading south along the African coast.
2. 1463–1468Azores · AzoresThroughout the 1460s the Azores islands continued to receive immigrants and cultivation under the captaincy system; populations grew on São Miguel, Terceira, and other islands, livestock farming and wheat cultivation expanded, and they became important relay stations for transatlantic trade.
3. 1465–1470Madeira island · Madeira islandsSugarcane cultivation and sugar production on Madeira reached their peak in the 1460s; sugar exports brought handsome returns to the crown and colonists, attracted investment from Italian and Flemish merchants, and consolidated Portugal's economic position in the Atlantic trade network.