Line of Demarcation

Line of Demarcation, line decreed by Pope Alexander VI in 1494 to divide Spanish and Portuguese colonial possessions on a world scale. Running from north to south about 350 mi (563 km) west of the Azores and Cape Verde islands, the Line of Demarcation granted Spanish rights to all land west of the line and Portuguese rights to all land east of it. The line was moved farther west under the 1592 Treaty of Saragossa, thus allowing Portugal to claim what is now eastern Brazil and Spain to claim the Philippine Islands.