ABSTRACT
One of the most significant long-term effects of Columbus's American landfall in 1492 and Vasco da Gama's voyage to India in 1498 was the dispersion of European peoples across the world. The movements of European peoples produced many distinctive diasporas, reflecting the varied purposes of migrants, their different social and cultural backgrounds and the diverse physical and human environments into which they moved. The first European settlements in Africa and Asia were the Portuguese feitorias, established to provide bases for exchange, the store of merchandise and repair of ships. European settlement in Asia generally followed the Portuguese pattern. Portugal was unable to plant substantial settlements. Its population was too small to supply sufficient numbers, particularly as high rates of mortality from tropical diseases constantly culled its overseas communities. As settlements fanned out across the continent, they acted as conduits for an extraordinary transplantation of Spanish culture. The social effects of European settlement were equally transformational.
