User:Peter Ellis/sandbox

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The Treaty of Tordesillas (7 June 1494) divided the Earth into two hemispheres: Portugal was given the right to explore and colonise east of about 46° 37' W and Spain the ocean and lands to the west. When Vasco da Gama and his successors began exploring the Indian Ocean, the anti-meridian (133° 33' E) suddenly became important, as it meant that the Spice Islands were in Portuguese territory. (The line passes through Russian territory near Vladivostok, the Sea of Japan, the Japanese islands of Honshu and Shikoku, the western Pacific Ocean, the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya, the Arafura Sea, and joins the coast of Australia near the Cobourg Penninsular east of Darwin.)

Portugal acted to preserve its case under the Treaty of Tordesillas, with Portuguese explorers landing at Ambon in the Molluccas in 1513. However, the Spanish explorer,Magellan, found the reality during his journey. As a result, the Treaty of Saragossa of 22 April 1529 decided that the line should lie 297.5 leagues (roughly 1,200km) west of the Maluku Islands {and Sulawesi) at approximately 116°E.

This line of agreement passes through eastern Borneo, just east of Bali, and lands on the Australian coast near Karatha. Thus, much of the west coast of Australia was still notionally Portuguese. There are Portuguese reports of landings on this coast.

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